04Apr2018 Midday Update: Wall Street Making Dramatic Recovery From Steep Losses At The Opening, DOW Now Kissing The Unchanged Line, Bitcoin Traded Lower At 6766 Earlier

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed today. The IPC is up 1.16% while the S&P 500 gains 0.02%. The Bovespa is off 0.73%.

Dow falls 1 percent as China-U.S. trade spat intensifies

(Reuters) – The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped just over 1 percent on Wednesday as big U.S. manufacturers and chipmakers bore the brunt of a deepening trade conflict between China and the United States.

China retaliates, slaps duties on U.S. soybeans, planes; markets skid

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China hit back quickly on Wednesday against U.S. plans to impose tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods, retaliating with a list of similar duties on key American imports including soybeans, planes, cars, beef and chemicals in a move that sent global markets reeling.

Hit to Boeing from Chinese tariffs depends on definitions

SINGAPORE/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China on Wednesday announced plans to place a 25 percent tariff on certain U.S. aircraft, in a move expected to affect some older Boeing Co narrowbody models, according to documents from China’s Ministry of Commerce and the U.S. manufacturer.

Facebook to revise terms of service to include more privacy language

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it planned to revise the written policies that people agree to when they use the social network, adding language about the protection of personal data as it prepares to comply with a strict new European law.

Trump wants ‘level playing field’ on Amazon, taxes: adviser

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is not attacking the business sector with his recent critiques of Amazon.com Inc , but he wants a “level playing field” when it comes to taxes and the online retail giant, his economic adviser said on Wednesday.

Viacom preparing counterproposal to CBS offer: sources

(Reuters) – Viacom Inc is preparing a counterproposal to CBS Corp’s first share exchange offer of 0.55 CBS share for every Viacom share, which Viacom found to be inadequate, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

GM to stop production of Chevrolet Sonic Subcompact car: Wall Street Journal

(Reuters) – General Motors Co will stop production of its subcompact Chevrolet Sonic by as early as this year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Spotify shares jump in record-setting direct listing

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Shares of Spotify Technology SA ended up 12.9 percent on their first day of trade on the New York Stock Exchange, a smooth debut that could pave the way for other companies looking to go public without the aid of Wall Street underwriters.

WPP investigates CEO Sorrell for alleged misconduct, which he denies

LONDON (Reuters) – WPP is investigating an allegation of misconduct against Martin Sorrell, who has built the world’s biggest advertising empire over more than three decades of relentless expansion.

California College Tuition Going Up… But Not For Illegal Immigrant Students

Authored by Rob Shimshock via The Daily Caller,

The University of California system voted in March to raise tuition for out-of-state students by nearly $1,000, a hike that will not apply to illegal alien students.

The system’s board of regents approved the proposal to increase out-of-state tuition by $978 by a 12-3 vote, reported The College Fix, but California law allows illegal alien students to evade this charge by enrolling as in-state students.

“All students — regardless of immigration status — are subject to the same tuition and fee structures, based on their residency status,” UC spokeswoman Clair Doan told the Fix.

California assembly bill 540 mandates that illegal alien students can obtain in-state tuition if they attend high school in the state for a minimum of three years and earn a California high school diploma.

“It’s really incumbent upon Congress to close that loophole now that it’s exposed,” Federation for American Immigration Reform spokesman Ira Mehlman told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

While colleges do not ask students for their immigration status, public schools are constitutionally prohibited from denying K-12 students free public education on the basis of their immigration status, according to the 1982 Supreme Court decision Plyler v. Doe.

“UC does not ask its students nor applicants for their immigration status,” Doan explained. But the spokeswoman speculated that the UC system enrolled approximately 3,700 illegal alien …

“She Could Target YouTube,” Shooter’s Family Warned Police

Suspected YouTube shooter Nasim Aghdam was found by police sleeping in her car in Mountain View, California late Monday night after her family filed a missing person’s report, according to the Press-Enterprise.

Her father Ismail Aghdam told police that his daughter might’ve been heading for YouTube’s headquarters because she “hated” the company and blamed it for censoring her by demonitizing her five YouTube channels, depriving her of income.

But after a brief investigation, the Mountain View police let Aghdam go, telling her family she was all right. This after Aghdam made the six-hour plus journey to the Bay Area from her home in San Diego.

In an interview Tuesday night with the Bay Area News Group, Ismail Aghdam said his 38-year-old daughter told her family a couple of weeks ago that YouTube had been censoring her videos and stopped paying her for her content. “She was angry,” he said in an interview from his Riverside County home.

However, it isn’t clear whether the Mountain View police who found Agdham sleeping in her car were aware of her father’s warnings about her heading to …

Why Elon Musk’s Bankruptcy Joke On Twitter Isn’t Funny

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

Nearly 4,000 years ago in the mid 18th century BC, the King of Babylon passed away, leaving the throne to his 18-year old son Hammurabi. Hammurabi was smart enough to know that his kingship would be incredibly short if he didn’t do something quickly to assert his power.

So as his first order of business, Hammurabi made a bold proclamation that won him incredible support from his people: he forgave ALL citizens’ debt that was owed to the government… including high-ranking government officials.

This proved to be enormously popular. Ancient Babylon had a highly advanced system of credit, and the average Babylonian was heavily indebted.

Interest rates were regulated by the government at between 20% to 33%, though these limits were often circumvented by clever lenders who knew how to bend the rules.

Babylonian laws were written in favor of the lender; no one was allowed to borrow a single shekel unless he agreed to be held personally and completely responsible to repay the loan. Babylonian lenders could even seize a member of the debtor’s family, holding them for up to three years, to enforce repayment.

So you can just imagine what a relief Hammurabi’s proclamation was to the average guy.

It’s quite remarkable what a prominent role debt has played in the history of our species.

Going back another 2,000 years before Hammurabi to ancient Sumeria, a man was legally entitled to sell his wife into slavery, or hand her over to his creditors, in order to repay his debts.

The Book of Leviticus tells us that the Hebrews mandated debt forgiveness every 50 years, what was known as the Year of Jubilee. Under the laws of debt in medieval Hindu …

Stocks Stage Impressive Comeback After Kudlow Urges Market Not To “Overreact”

Having dropped as much as -600 earlier this morning, the Dow has staged another impressive comeback and is up 400 points off the lows, and alongside the S&P, is just 1% down on the day, under 200 points in the red. While there has been no specific catalyst for the move (Bullard has been dovishly jawboning in the background urging no more rate hikes in 2018 as there is no wage growth), traders are attributing the move higher to comments by Trump’s National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow who said that “markets shouldn’t overreact to trade tensions.”

Specifically, Kudlow said that “stock markets shouldn’t over react to trade tensions between U.S. and China” because “proposals by both countries are a first step and haven’t been implemented” and as he also added, it is possible the tariffs will never come to pass.

.@larry_kudlow on market reaction to China’s tariff announcement: “Don’t overreact, we’ll see how this works out… At the end of this whole process, the end of the rainbow, there’s a pot of gold.” pic.twitter.com/ZPeYpYq2Kw

— FOX Business (@Fox …

How Trump’s Tariffs Could Really Hurt China

The Trump administration has detailed $50 billion of tariffs on Chinese imports ranging from television sets to grenade launchers. China has vowed to respond in kind. Is a full-scale trade war now inevitable?

At AT&T Trial, Government Sends a Message About Future Deals

The Justice Department kicked off its antitrust case against AT&T by calling a string of media executives to the witness stand. Their presence, meant to expose the dangers of mega media mergers, is a warning from the government that it will look hard at future deals.

Spotify’s High Valuation Is Bait for Other Tech Unicorns

The public market thinks Spotify is worth almost $27 billion, well above private valuations, which could tempt other big-brand tech companies to follow the same IPO path.

February 2018 Manufacturing New Orders Improved?

Written by Steven Hansen

US Census says manufacturing new orders improved, Our analysis shows the rolling averages declined.

The Ratings Game: Tesla shares gain and bonds rally as liquidity fears ease, but analysts still think capital raising may be needed

Analysts weighing in on first-quarter numbers are not convinced that Tesla will not need to raise capital this year.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s advice on the smart way to spend money

he civil rights leader cautioned against keeping up with the Joneses.

The Ratings Game: Jeff Bezos paid $250 million for the Washington Post, but it could cost Amazon $75 billion, says Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo wonders whether Jeff Bezos’s purchase of the Washington Post is costing Amazon now as President Trump tweets his “concerns” about the company