Written by Gary
US stocks tumbled today (SPY -1.32%) on fears of an escalating trade war and that the US economy created the fewest jobs in six months in March pointing to a tightening labor market.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
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Traders Corner – Health of the Market
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What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| U.S. job gains smallest in six months, wage growth picks upWASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. economy created the fewest jobs in six months in March as the boost from mild temperatures faded, but a pickup in wage gains pointed to a tightening labor market, which should allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates further this year. |
| Wall St. losses accelerate as trade concerns mount(Reuters) – U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday on fears of an escalating trade war between the United States and China after President Donald Trump threatened to slap $100 billion more in tariffs and Beijing warned it would fight back “at any cost.” |
| Trump threatens tariffs on $100 billion more China goods; Beijing ready to strike backBEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China warned on Friday it was fully prepared to respond with a “fierce counter strike” of fresh trade measures if the United States follows through on President Donald Trump’s threat to slap tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese goods. |
| EU says Facebook confirmed data of 2.7 million Europeans ‘improperly shared’BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Facebook has confirmed that the data of 2.7 million EU citizens were among those improperly used by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, the EU executive said on Friday. |
| Grab’s Uber deal still has some obstacles to navigateSINGAPORE (Reuters) – Regulatory scrutiny could complicate ride-hailing company Grab’s takeover of Uber Technologies’ Southeast Asian business, but there is little the authorities can do to stop Uber from simply exiting the region, lawyers and analysts said. |
| South Korean prosecutors raid Samsung Elec over alleged union sabotageSEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean prosecutors searched offices at a Samsung Electronics Co Ltd unit on Friday as part of a probe into allegations the conglomerate had sabotaged workers’ efforts to strengthen labor unions, the prosecutors’ office said. |
| Netflix offering more than $300 million for billboard company: sources(Reuters) – Netflix Inc is attempting its largest acquisition, offering more than $300 million to acquire a company that owns billboards across Los Angeles, including West Hollywood’s famed Sunset Strip, according to people familiar with the matter. |
| South Korea urges GM, union to reach wage deal swiftly as tension risesSEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea on Friday urged General Motors Co’s local subsidiary and labor union to reach a wage deal swiftly, saying the government will be able to discuss support for the money-losing unit on condition of an agreement. |
| Samsung Electronics tips record first quarter profit as chip boom winds downSEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd tipped a surprise record first-quarter profit on Friday but market reaction was muted due to growing concerns that the semiconductor boom that has driven the South Korean tech giant’s earnings is about to end. |
| Media Propaganda Doesn’t Start Or End With SinclairAuthored by Annabelle Bamforth via TruthInMedia.com, In recent days, millions of viewers across the country have been subjected not only to a statement concerning “fake news” eerily repeated verbatim by dozens of local television stations across the country, but also to reports uncovering the fact that those stations had been instructed to recite this statement.
CNN’s Brian Stelter “broke” the news in early March, warning that a “promotional campaign that sounds like pro-Trump propaganda” would be hitting local TV stations. The statement reported by CNN was crafted by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the biggest owner of television stations in the United States. A Seattle Post Intelligencer report provided the script that had been given to KOMO News, which is owned by Sinclair:
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| Art Cashin Warns Market Volatility “Unfortunately Reminiscent Of 1987”While Gluskin Sheff’s David Rosenberg has noted the macro/fundamental similarities between today’s tumultuous markets and those of 1987…
UBS’ veteran markets observer Art Cashin sees more ominous signals in the market’s price machinations. As CNBC reports, Cashin said this year’s market volatility reminds him of the 1987 stock market crash.
The echoes are growing louder… |
| Toying With The 200-DayVia Dana Lyons’ Tumblr, After a long stint above it, the S&P 500 tested its 200-day moving average several times over the past week before finally breaking below it; what does this development suggest for the index going forward?
Much attention this week has been paid to the long-awaited break of the 200-day simple moving average (200 SMA) by the S&P 500 (SPX). The big “to-do” is understandable given the fact that the index had spent over 400 consecutive days above the 200 SMA – just the 4th streak over 400 days in the SPX’s history. The question on everyone’s mind is what does the end of the streak mean for the SPX? For us, the most noteworthy aspect to the development was the behavior of the SPX leading up to the 200 SMA break. Specifically, the index “toyed” with the 200 SMA for a week before finally closing below it on Monday. What we mean by that is that it tested the 200 SMA, trading within 1% of it for 5 straight days, prior to Monday’s break. |
| Where The Jobs Were In March: Who’s Hiring And Who Isn’tWhile March was expected to see a jump in hourly earnings from February – which happened as expected, thanks to a 0.3% increase in hourly take home pay, and 2.7% Y/Y to $26.82 – payrolls were set to slide, if perhaps not as aggressively as the 326K to 103K drop revealed. Still, March marked the 90th straight month of U.S. job growth, the longest such streak on record. So with strong wage growth once again taking place, which sectors were responsible? Not surprisingly, it was all of the high paying jobs while minimum wage industries barely contributed. Professional Business Services (ex temp help): +33.6K Manufacturing: +22K Healthcare: +22K (Ambulatory Care: +16K, Hospitals +10K) Wholesale Trade: +11.4 Transportation and warehousing: +9.8K Even the traditional laggards, financial services and information, added 2K jobs each. At the same time, the minimum wage retail trade and temp help saw a drop in employment in March.
Commenting on the composition and wage growth, Southbay Research had this to say:
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| Could China Scuttle Qualcomm’s $44 Billion NXP Deal?NXP Semiconductors is trading roughly 10% below Qualcomm’s offer, reflecting investors’ concerns about the deal going through, but the discount ignores NXP’s leading market position. |
| Anthem May Win by Sitting Out Wave of Health Insurance DealsAnthem may be smart in sitting out the recent deal-making in insurance. Some proposed deals haven’t been popular with shareholders, and approvals may be difficult. Anthem can always make a move later. |
| 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. |
| People say they’re scared about distracted drivers, yet don’t believe they do it tooNew survey finds 1 in 4 people blamed an accident on a smartphone or other distraction. |
| Why hackers are targeting your office gossipThe scary message from cybersecurity experts: Ransomware is on the rise. |
| Don’t have a 401(k) at your job? Your state could come to the rescueNew York is the latest to create a state-run retirement savings plan. |
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