26Mar2018 Midday Update: Wall Street’s Morning Surge Fades, DOW Up 300 Points, WTI Crude Slips To The Mid 65 Handle, US Dollar Weaker, Gold Index Trending Higher

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed today. The S&P 500 is up 1.08% while the Bovespa gains 0.51%. The IPC is off 0.88%.

Wall St. surges as trade war fears cool

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose across the board on Monday as fears about a trade war between the United States and China eased following reports that the two countries were willing to negotiate tariffs and trade imbalances.

Facebook shares tumble as U.S. regulator announces privacy probe

(Reuters) – Shares of Facebook Inc fell more than 5 percent on Monday after the U.S. consumer protection regulator made public its investigation of how the social network allowed data of 50 million users to get into the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

China’s premier pledges market opening in bid to avert U.S. trade war

BEIJING (Reuters) – Premier Li Keqiang said on Monday China and the United States should maintain negotiations and he reiterated pledges to ease access for American businesses, as China scrambles to avert a trade war.

Uber sells Southeast Asia business to Grab after costly battle

SINGAPORE/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] has agreed to sell its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab, the firms said on Monday, marking the U.S. company’s second retreat from an Asian market.

Wall Street bonuses rise 17 percent in 2017: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The average Wall Street bonus rose 17 percent to $184,220 in 2017, according to a report released on Monday by New York state’s chief fiscal officer.

U.S. gunmaker Remington files for bankruptcy

(Reuters) – Remington Outdoor Co Inc [FREDM.UL], one of the largest U.S. makers of firearms, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday to carry out a debt-cutting deal with creditors amid mounting public pressure for greater gun control.

Twitter to ban crypto ads as online crackdown widens

LONDON (Reuters) – Twitter is to ban cryptocurrency advertising, joining Facebook and Google in a clampdown on the industry over the risk of giving publicity to potential fraud or large investor losses.

Goldman Sachs’ stock-based pay ratio still much higher than rivals’

BOSTON (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc pays employees a much bigger portion in stock than Wall Street rivals, a trend that has come into sharper focus as the bank overhauls its business strategy.

Exclusive: South Africa investigates $60 million SAP contract

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s anti-corruption agency is investigating a 671 million rand ($60 million) government contract with German software firm SAP, which has admitted misconduct in separate deals involving friends of ousted president Jacob Zuma.

US Charges 9 Iranians With Hacking Into Hundreds Of Universities, Gov’t Agencies

Via Middle East Monitor,

The United States on Friday charged and sanctioned nine Iranians and an Iranian company for attempting to hack into hundreds of universities worldwide, dozens of firms and parts of the US government, including its main energy regulator, on behalf of Tehran’s government between 2013 to 2017.

US officials claimed that the nine Iranian worked on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to carry out the hacking.

The US Treasury Department said it was placing sanctions on the nine people and the Mabna Institute, a company US prosecutors characterised as designed to help Iranian research organisations steal information. It is unlikely that the accused Iranians would be prosecuted in an American court because there is no extradition treaty between the US and Iran.

According to the Justice Department, the group breached computer systems at 144 American universities and 176 universities in 21 other countries, 47 American and foreign companies, the US Department of Labour, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the State of Hawaii, the State of Indiana …

European Stocks Enter Correction As Bank-Battering Continues

Europe’s Stoxx 600 index is now down over 10% from its January highs, officially entering correction…

As (major exporter) Germany leads the drop this month…

And bank stocks continues to get battered…

The Fed’s Dot Plot Would Bury The Indebted US Consumer

Authored by Chris Wood via Grizzle.com,

The new Federal Reserve chairman’s first FOMC meeting last week, and subsequent press conference, confirmed that Jerome Powell is not an egghead obsessed with macroeconomic models. This is refreshing given the highly academic nature of his predecessors Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke, and suggests that he will alter his view on the economy based on the reported data rather than theoretical projections of the future.

This also suggests that the so called ‘dot plots’, which are nothing more than the forecasts of individual Fed governors, should become less important. But for now the financial markets will still pay attention to those dots, most particularly as they are showing three rate hikes next year on top of the three projected this year (though that three has nearly become four).

Fed Dot Plot: FOMC Members’ Fed Funds Rate Forecasts

Note: Based on midpoint of Fed funds rate target range. Red dots denote median forecasts. Source: Federal Reserve

The ‘Dot Plot’ Would Bury the Indebted US Consumer

This would take the upper end of the federal funds rate target range to 3.0% by the end of 2019. That is a level of in …

Facebook Plunges After FTC Probe, German Sanctions Headlines

The Federal Trade Commission has confirmed that it has opened a nonpublic probe into Facebook’s privacy practices, saying it’s committed to protecting consumers’ privacy and data and will hold accountable companies that abuse the FTC guidelines.

In a statement, the FTC said it takes “very seriously” recent press reports raising concerns about the data security at the social media giant, according to Bloomberg.

And with that, the public is getting an important early clue into the shape of the federal response to revelations about Facebook’s handling (abuse?) of user data for commercial purposes.

The FTC investigation, which was reported by Bloomberg last week, is focused on whether Facebook violated terms of a 2011 consent decree over its handling of personal user data.

Additionally, German Justice Minister Barley said Monday in Berlin that Facebook’s data practices couldn’t be tolerated and that sanctions against the company should be levied at the EU level. He added that the company needs to be more transparent about its algorithms.

Facebook shares, which plunged into correction territory last week, collapsed further on the n …

Something’s Gotta Give in the Fed’s Forecasts

A big slug of fiscal stimulus will hit the economy over the next two years, but the Federal Reserve doesn’t seem all that impressed.

Why Facebook Isn’t So Easily Deleted

Facebook’s huge and highly profitable business makes it difficult to hurt.

Barclays: Too Big For a Deal, Too Small to Compete

Does a leading U.K. retail and commercial bank belong with a mid-ranking U.S.-focused investment bank? If you were pitching this as a new business, you’d surely struggle to find backers. But this is where Barclays finds itself.

The Fed: Reports Williams to lead New York Fed prompts criticism over diversity, Wells Fargo

The left reacted with anger over the news this weekend that the New York Fed’s board of directors has selected San Francisco Fed President John Williams as its next leader.

Futures Movers: Oil retreats from multiweek high as U.S., China trade concerns weigh

Oil prices edge down Monday from the multiweek highs they scored last week, with concerns over the possibility of a trade war between the U.S. and China weighing on prices, as China marks the start of trading for its own crude futures contract.

Economic Preview: Is the pressure off? Inflation likely to die down in February, but don’t get used to it

A fistful of trade fights under President Trump is worrying the heck out of Wall Street, but investors are still anxious about the threat of inflation. If it keeps rising, so will U.S. interest rates.