Written by Gary
The US equities main benchmarks all closed higher while the Nasdaq posted a new record high today (SPY +1.7%) celebrating the bull market’s ninth birthday.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
Labor force increase is biggest since 2003 as many Americans finally get back to work
‘Pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli sentenced to 7 years in prison —says ‘This is my fault’
Goldman’s long-time CEO Lloyd Blankfein may be preparing to leave
Chart analysts are getting worried about bitcoin: ‘No touch’
In the bull market’s ninth year, ‘winning’ stocks hide lingering pain
Is this bull market really 9 years old?
Taxes are taking a growing percentage of SS benefits from seniors
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | U.S. economy creates 313,000 jobs in February; wage growth slowsWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy added the biggest number of jobs in more than 1-1/2 years in February, but a slowdown in wage growth pointed to only a gradual increase in inflation this year. |
| U.S. eases way to more tariff exemptions under pressure from alliesWASHINGTON/BRUSSELS/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The United States opened the way for more exemptions from its steel and aluminum tariffs on Friday, after pressure from allies and intense lobbying from lawmakers, further diluting the measures just a day after they were formally announced. |
| High-performance U.S. tech stocks drive Nasdaq to record highSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The Nasdaq blasted through a record high on Friday as traders looking to ride recent momentum piled into Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon.com and other high-performance technology names. |
| Wall St. climbs on bull market’s birthday as inflation fears ebbNEW YORK (Reuters) – To celebrate the bull market’s ninth birthday on Friday, the three major U.S. stock indexes rose more than 1 percent, with the Nasdaq touching a record high, as February’s jobs report assuaged fears of inflation and aggressive interest rate hikes. |
| Bull market aging but still has juice to break recordNEW YORK (Reuters) – The bull market for stocks turned nine years old on Friday and, despite being long in the tooth, appears poised to set the record as the longest in history, buoyed by global economic growth and stronger company earnings. |
| ‘Pharma Bro’ Shkreli sentenced to seven years for defrauding investorsNEW YORK (Reuters) – Martin Shkreli, the former drug company executive who made headlines by jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug before he was found guilty of defrauding investors, was sentenced to 7 years and a $75,000 fine on Friday. |
| Goldman CEO Blankfein prepares to exit as soon as year-end: WSJ(Reuters) – Lloyd Blankfein could step down as Goldman Sachs Group Inc chief executive as soon as the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, swiveling the focus tofierce competition between the two contenders to replace him. |
| Bombardier revs up aftermarket business to hit revenue growth targetMontreal (Reuters) – With its new long-range business jet just preparing to take flight, Bombardier is banking on sales of new products and maintenance packages to help it drive promised double-digit revenue growth for its aftermarket service business this year. |
| Toymakers tumble as Toys ‘R’ Us prepares to liquidate(Reuters) – Shares of Mattel Inc and Hasbro Inc , the two largest U.S. toymakers, tumbled on Friday after reports that key customer Toys ‘R’ Us Inc is preparing for potential liquidation, six months after filing for bankruptcy. |
| Stock Bulls Rejoice At Weak Wages, Cohn Exit, & Global Trade WarSpot the odd one out: Dow +700pts, USD Index unchanged, 30Y Yield unchanged, Gold unchanged.
Here’s one way to look at this week… or another…
No matter which you prefer, the stock market overwhelmingly endorsed a lack of wage growth, the start of a global trade war, and the exit of the last globalist from The White House… |
| Not So Fast: White House Says North Korea Must Take “Concrete Actions” Before Trump-Kim MeetingWhen Trump triumphantly accepted the invitation to meet with Kim Jong-Un last night, verbally delivered to the White House by the South Korean delegation, it almost seemed that peace on earth was about to break out after what would otherwise be one of the greatest diplomatic breakthroughs in recent US history. More importantly, the meeting between Trump and Kim, tentatively scheduled “before May”, appeared to have no conditions attached to it. That changed on Friday afternoon, when White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the U.S. will require North Korea to take “concrete and verifiable steps” before President Trump attends an announced sit down with Kim Jong Un.
This is a notable development as the White House had not previously suggested said that there would be any “string attached” for the talks to take place in the next month. “This meeting won’t take place without concrete actions that match the promises that have been made by North Korea,” Sanders said. However, as on Thursday, Sanders did not specify what promises must be kept or what steps North Korea must take for the planned meeting to go through. According to the South Korean delegation, Kim was prepared to suspend his ballistic missile tests in the hopes of opening a dialogue. Perhaps the “c … |
| Trump Lawyers Said To Seek Deal With Mueller: ReportWith Trump’s interview with Mueller looming, the President lawyers are reportedly seeking to negotiate a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that uses an interview with Trump as negotiating leverage, and accelerate a conclusion to the Russia investigation. According to the WSJ, the president’s legal team plans on telling Mueller that Trump would agree to a sit-down interview based on multiple considerations, including that the special counsel commit to a date for concluding at least the Trump-related portion of the investigation. One idea is to suggest a deadline of 60 days from the date of the interview. Another consideration for Trump’s lawyers is “reaching an agreement with Mueller on the scope of his questioning of the president, which they expect to focus largely on his decision to fire former national security adviser Mike Flynn and former FBI director James Comey.” This also confirms that Trump’s legal team is convinced that Mueller is now going after obstruction of justice and interference, and not Russian collusion as the primary angle of attack. Trump is pressing his lawyers to bring about an end to the probe.
Tweeting in January, Mr. Trump said of the investigation: “On and on it goes. Russia & the world is laughing at the stupidity they are witnessing.” Of course, it is feasible that Mueller does accelerate the probe’s conclusion, only with a determination that is the opposite of what Trump would want to hear. * * * The WSJ source notes that … |
| Friday Humor: Dozens Of Nations That Interfered In 2016 Elections Annoyed Russia Got All CreditVia The Onion, Complaining that U.S. investigations into foreign interference in the election have gotten almost everything wrong, officials from dozens of countries around the world expressed irritation Friday that all of the credit for meddling in the 2016 presidential race was going to Russia.
Resentful operatives from Serbia, Uruguay, Swaziland, and 45 other nations said they were incredibly annoyed that Kremlin-backed computer hackers and dark-money financiers were receiving all the media attention, while their own far superior efforts to undermine the U.S. electoral process had so far received no recognition at all. “Do you have any idea how much more sophisticated our attacks on American democracy were than Russia’s?” Laotian president Bounnhang Vorachith said of his government’s efforts to spread misinformation about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton on social media sites.
|
| Market Anniversary an Occasion for Caution, TooThe bull market in American stocks enters its 10th year and should be a reminder of how wrong market forecasters were when it began. |
| Jobs Report Was No Fairy TaleThe blowout jobs report on Friday led investors to believe that the Fed can postpone tightening, but investors should watch distortions from weather and a burst of retail hiring. |
| What Will Determine Blankfein’s LegacyOne Wall Street debate, which is still to be settled, may decide how Lloyd Blankfein’s leadership of Goldman Sachs is ultimately judged. |
| The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s lawyers seek deal with Mueller to spur end of Russia probePresident Donald Trump’s lawyers are seeking to negotiate a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller that uses an interview with the president as leverage to spur a conclusion to the Russia investigation, according to a person familiar with the discussions. |
| Market Extra: Is this bull market really 9 years old?The bull market’s ninth birthday is being celebrated Friday, but is it really that old? It depends who is doing the counting. |
| The Fed: Rand Paul, struggling to get vote on his ‘Audit the Fed’ measure, blames central bank for impasseSen. Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, is struggling to get a Senate floor vote on his bill to audit the Federal Reserve. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
Current Commodity Prices
Commodities are powered by Investing.com
Current Currency Crosses
The Forex Quotes are powered by Investing.com.
To contact me with questions, comments or constructive criticism is always encouraged and appreciated:
