13Mar2018 Midday Update: Wall Street Lower, DOW Down 30 Points, Equities Direction Unsure As Investors Pause, WTI Crude Slips To The Mid 60 Handle

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed. The IPC is higher by 0.18%, while the Bovespa is leading the S&P 500 lower. They are down 0.64% and 0.20% respectively.

Wall St. higher as easing inflation worries outweigh Tillerson exit

(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes rose on Tuesday as fears of faster interest rate hikes eased after a tepid U.S. consumer prices data and investors shrugged off news of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s ouster.

Broadcom to stay on deal path after Qualcomm halt: analysts

(Reuters) – Broadcom Ltd’s Chief Executive Hock Tan is unlikely to put the brakes on his acquisition spree after the microchip maker’s $117 billion bid for Qualcomm Inc was blocked by U.S. President Donald Trump on national security grounds, analysts said on Tuesday.

Saudi Aramco international listing looks increasingly difficult: sources

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia is increasingly looking to just float oil giant Saudi Aramco locally as plans for an initial public offering (IPO) on an international exchange such as London or New York hang in the balance, sources close to the process said.

Apple, Google see reputation of corporate brands tumble in survey

(Reuters) – Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google corporate brands dropped in an annual survey while Amazon.com Inc maintained the top spot for the third consecutive year, and electric carmaker Telsa Inc rocketed higher after sending a red Roadster into space.

Dick’s Sporting sees hit from firearm policy changes

(Reuters) – Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc , the U.S. retailer who raised the minimum age to purchase firearms following the massacre at a Florida high school, said on Tuesday it expected the impact from the changes to linger throughout 2018.

U.S. consumer prices slow as gasoline falls, rents moderate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer price growth slowed in February amid a decline in gasoline prices and a moderation in the cost of rental accommodation, the latest indication that an anticipated pickup in inflation probably will be only gradual.

Britain to consider taxing digital giants’ revenue

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said it was considering taxing the revenues of internet companies like Facebook and Google until international tax rules are changed to cope with digital firms that can shift sales and profits between jurisdictions.

Amazon recalls power banks due to fire, chemical burn hazards

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc has recalled some of its portable chargers in the United States following reports of overheating and fire, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said on Tuesday.

Microsoft women filed 238 discrimination and harassment complaints: court documents

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Women at Microsoft Corp working in U.S.-based technical jobs filed 238 internal complaints about gender discrimination or sexual harassment between 2010 and 2016, according to court filings made public on Monday.

Five Fast Facts About Trump’s New CIA Director

Submitted by James Miller of The Political Insider

This morning we learned that President Trump finally pulled the trigger on his decision to fire Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, and replace him with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

That left an opening at the head of America’s top intelligence agency. President Trump has indicated that Gina Haspel, the current Deputy Director of the CIA, will get the nomination to lead the agency.

Who is Gina Haspel? Here are five fast facts you need to know about her.

1. Haspel, if confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate, would be the very first female head of the CIA. This is a great achievement, and one that liberals will give no credit to Trump for.

   Haspel has been a career CIA employee and once ran an agency prison in Thailand, where waterboarding was used an an extreme interrogation …

Stocks Tumble Into Red As Breakevens Plunge

The Kudlow bounce is dead (again). Early gains in stocks have evaporated in the last hour as it appears inflation hype is fading fast (and breakevens are plunging)…

And as Breakevens plunge, so stocks have all slumped into the red (led by Financials) – apart from Trannies…

Close Associate Of Late Russian Billionaire Found Dead In Britain

It’s becoming increasingly perilous for Russians living in the UK.

Just days after a chemical toxin was used in an attempted murder on former Russian double agent Sergey Skripal, an attack which has since been blamed on Moscow, this morning a close associate of the late oligarch Boris Berezovsky has been found dead in Britain.

Nikolai Glushkov, a former deputy director of Aeroflot, died at the age of 69, Russia’s Business FM radio station said, according to the Telegraph. The lawyer, Andrei Borovkov, did not mention a cause of death.

Nikolai Glushkov, a close ally of Putin critic Boris Berezovsky

Glushkov left Russia after a Moscow court sentenced him to a two-year suspended sentence for fraud in 2006. In March last year, he was handed a second eight-year sentence in absentia and a one million Russian Ruble fine for allegedly defrauding Aeroflot of $122 million during his tenure as finance director there in the late 1990s.

Glushkov denied all the charges against him. In 2016, he told Russian media that Aeroflot was attempting to sue him in a civil case in the High Cour …

Goldilocks Vs The Bears

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk,

Let’s investigate belief in Goldilocks vs belief in Bears.

John Rubino at DollarCollapse says A Bull Market For The History Books — Bear Market To Follow Shortly.

Why the current expansion/bull market has so long is open to debate. What’s undeniable, though, is the vast amount of malinvestment that has accumulated. The biggest example might be corporations borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars to buy back their stock at record high prices. See Record Buybacks at Worst Possible Time. If those equities subsequently fall by half in a future bear market, today’s buybacks will end up as an object lesson in corporate hubris.

Goldilocks Jobs Report

Don’t Mistake Market Calm for Being Out of the Woods

Investors should search the past for lessons about where we are in the market cycle. 2005 was an instructive moment.

China’s Super-Regulator Can’t Kill Shadow Banking

Investors should celebrate a stronger banking and insurance regulator in China. The demise of Chinese shadow banking, however, remains greatly exaggerated.

Stitch Fix Stays in Fashion

Styling company Stitch Fix continues to grow its revenue and clients, disproving skeptics, as it added 100,000 clients in its latest quarter.

How ‘Come From Away’ went from being a high school musical to a hit Broadway show

‘Nothing has been exactly as we predicted,’ says co-creator David Hein.

Tillerson out as secretary of state as Trump taps CIA chief Pompeo

Rex Tillerson is stepping down as secretary of state after a series of disagreements with President Donald Trump, ending a rocky tenure as the chief U.S. diplomat.

Encore: How much do we spend on long-term care?

Should Medicare long-term care expenditures be included?