Written by Gary
Equities across the globe and in the US are starting the week with a bounce (SPY +0.3%) building on gains from last week’s strong February jobs data.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are mixed today. The DAX is up 0.40% while the CAC 40 gains 0.06%. The FTSE 100 is off 0.04%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Toolbox trade wars: How a sure winner in U.S. dispute has yet to reap benefitsFRANKLIN PARK, Ill. (Reuters) – Nestled in an industrial park near the end of the runway of O’Hare International Airport, Metal Box International Inc. should be one of the winners of a little-known trade war over toolboxes. |
| Wall Street set to open higher as inflation worries ease(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher opening for Wall Street on Monday, building on gains from last week’s strong February jobs data that allayed fears of rising inflation and faster interest rate hikes. |
| World stocks bask in U.S. jobs data glowLONDON (Reuters) – World stocks surged to a two-week high on Monday after strong U.S. jobs data at the end of last week helped take the edge off investors’ concerns about the potential outbreak of trade war between the United States and other major economies. |
| Singapore-based Broadcom to redomicile to U.S. by April 3(Reuters) – Singapore-based Broadcom Ltd said on Monday it expects to redomicile to the United States by April 3, two days before the chipmaker’s acquisition target Qualcomm Inc holds its annual shareholder meeting. |
| EU says expects contacts, no formal talks with U.S. on tariffs this weekBRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said it expected to be in contact with the United States over steel and aluminum tariffs this week, but added that no formal talks were scheduled. |
| DowDuPont says Andrew Liveris to step down, names CEO for new Dow(Reuters) – U.S. chemicals producer DowDuPont Inc said on Monday its Executive Chairman Andrew Liveris will step down on April 1 and named Jim Fitterling as the chief executive of Dow upon the completion of the spinoff of its materials science unit. |
| South Korea kicks off due diligence on GM’s South Korean unit: KDBSEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea held an initial meeting on Monday for its due-diligence of General Motors’ local unit to decide whether to provide funds for the unit’s troubled operations. |
| Exclusive: Mexican state pension fund spent millions on failing builder – sourcesMEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s state workers’ pension fund plowed more than $20 million into ICA and became the largest shareholder as the builder spiraled toward insolvency, according to people familiar with the matter, with the fund’s investment set to be wiped out in a restructuring. |
| India aviation regulator orders grounding of 11 jets fitted with Pratt & Whitney enginesNEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s aviation regulator on Monday ordered immediate grounding of certain Airbus A320neo aircraft operated by IndiGo Airlines and GoAir fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines made by United Technologies Corp . |
| The Mysterious Chinese Company Looking To Buy RosneftAuthored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com, When a little-known private Chinese company said in September 2017 that it would be buying 14 percent in Rosneft, many analysts were wondering how an obscure fuel trading company rose to such prominence as to become a major global M&A player to the point of agreeing to pay as much as US$9 billion for the stake in Russia’s oil giant.
Six months later, the mystery surrounding CEFC China Energy is not only left unsolved – it has become even more unclear, with a flurry of media reports over the past week revealing that its CEO is under investigation by the Chinese authorities and that the Chinese state has taken over management of the company as it seeks to rein in private businesses and their unrestrained spending. With all the negative news surrounding CEFC China Energy over the past week, analysts are now wondering if the company has fallen out of favor with the Chinese authorities and if the acquisition of the stake in Rosneft is in jeopardy. When it |
| Dropbox Set To Go Public At $6.7BN Market Cap, A Huge Haircut To Its Private ValuationDropbox has filed the terms of its long-awaited IPO, according to which it aims to raise as much as $648 million, by marketing 36 million shares range from $16 to $18 apiece, resulting in valuation between $7 and $7.9 billion. Dropbox’s proposed market cap would be $6.7 billion, far below the $10 billion private company valuation that made it one of the world’s highest valued companies 4 years ago; the market cap is also below the valuation range as Dropbox will also sell restricted stock and options, pushing its value on a fully diluted basis higher than its market value. Still, despite the deep haircut, the cloud storage company – which has pitched itself as unleashing creative energy and inspired work – would be the first big tech company to go public since Snap which went public last spring. First Data Corp went public at a market value of about $14 billion in 2015, making it the biggest such IPO in the past five years. According to Bloomberg, while the company is inching closer to profitability, Dropbox outlined in its deal prospectus its focus to get more of those users to pay up. Investors are sure to have questions for the file-sharing technology leader as it embarks on its marketing roadshow. As the FT notes, like Snap, Dropbox will go public with a dual-class share structure that hands more voting rights and control to executives. The company’s revenue increased more 30% last year to $1.1 billion from $845 million in 2016. In the same period, the company’s net losses shrank to $112 million from $210 million. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and Allen & Co. are leading the offering. The company plans to list on Nasdaq Global Select Market unde … |
| Jeff Bezos Is Smiling: Regulators Approve “Limited Drone Deliveries”Amazon couldn’t be happier. Roughly four years ago, CEO Jeff Bezos surprised investors during a December, 2013 appearance on CBS’ “60 Minutes” when he revealed that Amazon was testing delivery via “octocopter” drones, but that the program wouldn’t be ready for another “four or five years.” Unfortunately, US regulators had other ideas: Initially, the Federal Aviation Administration stubbornly blocked Amazon from testing its drone technology in the US – forcing it to shift its research to the UK, where it quickly developed. Bezos responded by threatening to move even more of Amazon’s research to the United Kingdom. Back in December 2016, the company revealed that it had successfully completed its first commercial drone delivery (in England, of course). During the intervening years, incremental updates about the program’s progress were released in drips and drabs. Now, after a nearly half-decade wait, the FAA is reportedly preparing to approve “limited package deliveries” using drones during the coming months, according to the Wall Street Journal. Ten pilot programs have reportedly been given permission to begin commercial package deliveries, WSJ said. Furthermore, Amazon is pushing the agency to allow detailed designs on a drone (presumably to paint them with the Amazon logo) and other operating rules. |
| “If Mueller Doesn’t Get You, Stormy Will” Maxine Rages After Trump Knocks Her “Low IQ”Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) told MSNBC that she’s “not intimidated” by President Trump, while repeating her own worn out threat that Trump’s impeachment was just a matter of time. Waters then suggested that if special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation doesn’t result in an impeachment, Trump’s alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels (real name Stephanie Clifford) will. “This business about Stormy is not going away,” Waters said. “If for some reason Mueller does not get him, Stormy will. So we know that this is going to go on.”
As a reminder, Waters has been robotically repeating about Trump’s imminent impeachment for over a year. Trump told a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday night that “We have to defeat Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters, a low IQ individual,” Trump then said – going back into another impression, this time of Waters: “Do you ever see her? We will impeach him!” President Trump said mockingly. |
| Getting the Drop on Big Tech IPOsSpotify, Dropbox and Zscaler are planning IPOs, but all must deal with high expectations right out of the gate. |
| A Glittery Prada Turns Investors’ Heads Too FarWhen the Italian luxury goods maker revealed poor first half results last September, its Hong Kong-listed shares slumped 12%. On Monday, after it said sales for the first two months of 2018 were up 7.5%, its stock jumped 15%. Some moderation is in order. |
| Zara’s Blues: What’s Keeping World’s Most Valuable Fashion Retailer DownShares in Zara’s parent company have been plummeting. Should investors be worried? |
| Key Words: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says arming teachers should be an ‘option’Betsy DeVos gave a wide-ranging interview to CBS’s “60 Minutes,” in which she talks about being “misunderstood,” preventing violence in schools and how public schools are still falling behind in the U.S. |
| Key Words: Web’s creator blasts the tech giants that make his invention easy to ‘weaponize’As the World Wide Web celebrates its 29th birthday on Monday, its creator sounds disappointed — and he’s suggesting more regulation for his invention. |
| Market Snapshot: Stock market set to climb after ‘Goldilocks’ jobs reportU.S. stock futures point to gains for Wall Street at the start on Monday, with the Dow industrials set to march further past the 25,000 mark. |
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