Written by Gary
US stocks rebounded today as investor fears of a conflict eased and as focus on upcoming earnings grew (SPY +0.8%). As SP 500 recovers, most components remain in correction – or worse.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
Dow closes more than 200 points higher as Wall Street extends rebound rally
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Exclusive: Yellen gets post-Fed payday in private meetings with Wall St. eliteNEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Janet Yellen cashed in with her first paid visit to Wall Street since stepping down as Federal Reserve chair, discussing rate hikes and U.S. President Donald Trump at events on Monday that included a dinner for 40 at a CEO’s Manhattan penthouse. |
| Wall St. rises, on track for third day of gains as trade fears ebbNEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as investor fears of an escalating trade conflict between the United States and China eased and as focus on upcoming earnings grew. |
| Facebook shares rise as Zuckerberg soothes investors(Reuters) – Shares of Facebook Inc rose as much as 4.2 percent on Thursday, after Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said the social network had not seen any meaningful impact on usage or ad sales in the wake of a data privacy scandal. |
| China signals tough stance on trade as U.S. officials push talksBEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China would win any trade war with the United States, the country’s state media said on Thursday, as U.S. officials sought to ease market jitters over escalating tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. |
| As S&P 500 recovers, most components remain in correction – or worseSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – As a stock rebound on Thursday put the S&P 500 on track for its strongest three-day performance since 2016, a look at the recent performance of most of the index’s components paints a different picture, illustrating signs of weakness in Wall Street’s health. |
| Target settles claims it screened blacks, Hispanics out of jobsNEW YORK (Reuters) – Target Corp has agreed to review its policies for screening job applicants and pay $3.74 million to settle a lawsuit claiming its use of criminal background checks kept thousands of blacks and Hispanics from obtaining employment. |
| Texas oil output surge clogs pipelines, depresses pricesNEW YORK (Reuters) – The Permian basin in Texas is leading the way as U.S. oil production has reached an all-time high, but the prolific output is causing bottlenecks as pipelines transporting the crude have filled up more quickly than expected. |
| U.S., China rivalry poses risks, benefits for Latin AmericaMENDOZA, Argentina (Reuters) – As the trade dispute between the United States and China was gaining steam last month, a half-dozen Chinese dancers and a person in a panda bear suit paraded across a stage inside a hotel lobby in the heart of Argentina’s wine country. |
| NAFTA nations ‘moving forward in significant way’: Canada’s TrudeauOTTAWA (Reuters) – The United States, Mexico and Canada are “moving forward in a significant way” at talks to modernize the NAFTA trade pact, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday. |
| BofA’s Striking Admission: Markets Will Soon Begin To Panic About Debt SustainabilyIn the latest BofA survey of European fixed income investors (both IG and high yiled), the bank’s credit analyst Barnaby Martin writes that “after fretting about inflation at the start of the year, April’s credit survey shows that the biggest concern has reverted back to “Quantitative Failure”, driven by the recent data slowdown.” Indeed, as the chart below shows, whereas the evolution of “biggest risks” for Euro investors indicated that strong growth at the start of the year provoked worries over rising inflation, “the recent data moderation has meant that these concerns have quickly given way to worries about a lack of inflation – and thus “Quantitative Failure”.” And yes, it took just three months for the market to make a 180 and worry not about inflation, but deflation, and a Fed that may be pursuing too many rate hikes into 2018. As Martin notes, “the speed at which inflation concerns have flipped highlights the slim margin of error for a “goldilocks” economic backdrop in ’18.”
In retrospect, however, the sudden reversal is probably not that much of a surprise: as we showed this morning, according to the Citi G-10 Eco Surprise index, after hitting the highest level since the financial crisis, economic surprises promptly tumbled into t … |
| Southern California Rattled By Magnitude 5.3 EarthquakeA magnitude 5.3 Earthquake just rattled Southern California and was felt in Los Angeles, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake was centered off California’s coast near Oxnard. There is no tsunami threat at this time.
No injuries or damage have been reported. |
| “I Just Discovered I Owe The IRS $50,000 I Don’t Have, Because I Traded Cryptos”A Reddit user who was “surprised” to learn he owed the IRS roughly $50,000 from his crypto-trading profits – money that he had not set aside when he cashed out his bitcoins at the height of the boom – complained in a viral post that crypto trading “ruined his life.” The alleged trader, who uses the screenname Thoway, explained that he bought eight bitcoins for $7,200 in January 2017 then cashed them out in December for about $120,000. Here’s the catch: his altcoin investments quickly sunk, eating away most of his bitcoin profits. But unbeknownst to him, by selling his bitcoin, Thoway had inadvertently triggered a “taxable event”.
Thoway said his lawyer advised him to cash out his remaining altcoins and give whatever is left to the IRS. Thoway, who has not been identified and has apparently gone “missing” from Reddit since his post went viral, told readers that he earns $47,000 a year as an office assistant. Thoway’s lawyer said he should be able to set up a payment plan allowing him to pay down the debt over a long-period of time, likely ten years. Still, Thoway complains that, during that period, his tax payments will likely siphon off most of what would’ve been his savings, meaning he has essentially been condemned to live paycheck to paycheck for the foreseeable future becau … |
| Stock Uptrends Bend But Don’t Break (Yet)Via Dana Lyons’ Tumblr, After a choppy week, key bull market trendlines are still being tested in many stock indices.
A week ago, we dedicated a blog post to the trendline developments that we posted in our weekly #TrendlineWednesday feature on Twitter. The reason for the unusual post was because of the prolific number of key trendlines being tested at the time in a wide array of indices and stocks. Well, after a volatile week that basically saw the market make little headway, up or down, there has been scant resolution among these trendline tests. Therefore, our #TrendlineWednesday feature is just as prolific as last week’s. Here are this week’s relevant trendlines that we highlighted (among many other worthy candidates): |
| The Big Risk of a Trade War: InflationThere is never a good time to start a trade war, but the shots exchanged by the U.S. and China could be particularly troubling as they stoke a fear that has already rocked markets: inflation. |
| CBS-Viacom Fight Is FixedMedia titans don’t like to lose their empires. But if they must, they prefer to do so on their own terms. For Les Moonves, the long-time chairman and CEO of CBS, the possibility of doing so is rapidly dwindling. |
| Smucker’s Bite-Sized Pet-Food Deal Goes Down EasyNot all pet-food acquisitions are the same. J.M. Smucker’s $1.7 billion deal for Ainsworth Pet Nutrition looks like a winner. |
| Trump Today: Trump Today: President rewrites ‘phony’ trade headline for Washington Post, in fresh slap at BezosPresident Donald Trump attacked the Washington Post on Thursday over what he said was a “phony” trade headline, as he praised Mexico for keeping a caravan of migrants from moving toward the U.S. and railed against illegal immigration before a tax-reform talk in West Virginia. |
| Capitol Report: PwC faces largest-ever auditor malpractice damages verdictThe Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. could collect the largest damage award ever against a global public accounting firm when a federal judge decides what to award the agency after a verdict against PricewaterhouseCoopers. |
| Project Syndicate: Trump’s trade confusion will only make things worse for those hurt by globalizationDonald Trump’s confusion about trade is dangerous, outdated and, frankly, a bit silly, writes Joseph Stiglitz. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
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