Written by Gary
US stock markets rally, DOW closes up 214 points (SPY +1.1%), Netflix surges to record close after earnings. Morgan Stanley issues warning that the end is near for the bull market.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
Dow rallies more than 200 points, Netflix surges to record close after earnings
Morgan Stanley issues warning that the end is near for the bull market
In one chart: The VIX could be telling us the stock market has put in a bottom
8,000 Starbucks stores to halt operations for racial bias training
Dozens of top companies said vulnerable to Equifax hack
Investors Dumping Bank Stocks After Stellar Quarters Isn’t a Good Sign
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Arming the world: Inside Trump’s ‘Buy American’ drive to expand weapons exportsWASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a telephone call with the emir of Kuwait in January, U.S. President Donald Trump pressed the Gulf monarch to move forward on a $10 billion fighter jet deal that had been stalled for more than a year. |
| Wall Street rises on earnings optimism, Netflix soarsNEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday, helped by gains in the technology and consumer sectors, while Netflix and UnitedHealth earnings impressed investors and boosted optimism about the U.S. corporate reporting season. |
| Exclusive: China seeks trade firewall with U.S. allies in rush of ambassador meetings – sourcesBEIJING/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – China’s international trade representative held a series of meetings with the ambassadors from major European nations last week to ask them to stand together with Beijing against U.S. protectionism, according to four sources familiar with the discussions. |
| Starbucks to close 8,000 U.S. stores for one afternoon for racial-bias training(Reuters) – Starbucks Corp will close 8,000 company-owned U.S. cafes for the afternoon on May 29 to train nearly 175,000 on how to prevent racial discrimination in its stores. |
| Investor urges Facebook to set up risk oversight committee(Reuters) – An activist hedge fund that wants Facebook to set up a risk oversight committee asked fellow shareholders on Tuesday to back the proposal, highlighting investor concerns over the company’s handling of controversies such as the recent data privacy row. |
| Goldman’s faith in roaring markets met with skepticism on Wall Street(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc is so confident in its recent business boom that it will pause share buybacks in the second quarter and instead use capital to facilitate trades, loans and deals for customers, its finance chief said on Tuesday. |
| Fed can keep rate hikes gradual without risking inflation: EvansCHICAGO (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve can stick to a series of gradual U.S. interest-rate increases over the next couple of years without much risk of an unhealthy surge in inflation, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said on Tuesday. |
| China currency moves hang in the balance in U.S. trade spat(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest complaint about China devaluing its currency is off base. But the yuan could potentially become a major sticking point in efforts to resolve the trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies. |
| Toys ‘R’ Us turns down bid for stores from toy maker: sourceNEW YORK (Reuters) – Bankrupt retailer Toys “R” Us has rejected an $890 million bid for some of its U.S. stores and locations in Canada from the CEO of Bratz doll maker MGA Entertainment Inc, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. |
| Investors Panic-Buy Tech, Dump Banks As VIX & Yield Curve CollapseThe Treasury yield curve is collapsing…
But because stocks are up…
This is the message from the mainstream media… Nasdaq led the way today, decoupling from everything as US cash markets opened… |
| Dylan’s Weatherman And Asset CorrelationsSubmitted by Nick Colas of DataTrek Research Today we have our monthly asset class/industry sector correlation review. Frankly, the news isn’t great. Correlations remain tight across the spectrum, from US Tech/Financials/Health Care versus the S&P 500 to EAFE/Emerging Markets stocks relative to US equities. Two opportunities, however: Energy and gold/silver are showing low correlations to the S&P and reasonable upside potential. “Risk is the feeling of disutility caused by uncertainty.” I first heard that definition almost 30 years ago in business school, and it has stuck with me ever since. It’s a novel approach, taking notions of riskiness out of the statistical realm and putting them squarely between our ears. Risk management isn’t really about math. It’s about avoiding an undesirable emotion – fear. Take the US equity market’s performance last year as Exhibit A: a 22% total return for the S&P 500 with not a single monthly loss… No feelings of disutility there, or fear… …And this year as Exhibit B: the S&P 500 up 0.3% with drawdowns in two out of three months. Fear has been off the leash for most of 2018 and running around like it owns the place.
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| China Will Abandon Barriers For Foreign AutomakersBarely a week after Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned easing barriers for foreign automotive firms during a widely publicized speech, China’s National Development and Reform Commission said Tuesday that it would phase out requirements that foreign auto makers must share factory ownership and earnings with local Chinese firms by 2022 – a step toward market liberalization that President Donald Trump will likely tout as evidence his aggressive trade policies are working. The phase-out will unfurl in stages: Limits on foreign investment for companies building new energy vehicles, a term covering electric cars powered by batteries or fuel cells, will be removed this year. Limits on those building commercial vehicles and passenger cars will be lifted in 2020 and 2022, respectively. In five years, the commission says, no foreign car company will need to have a joint venture with a Chinese firm, which would sunset a restriction on the industry that has been in place since 1994.
Presently, China forces foreign car makers to set up 50-50 joint ventures with Chinese partners if they want to produce cars locally |
| Woman Who Was Partially Sucked Out Of Southwest Jet After Violent Depressurization Has DiedUpdate: the women who was partially sucked out of the Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 has died, according to the NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt, sending the stock of LUV sliding: NTSB SAYS ONE PASSENGER ON SOUTHWEST FLIGHT HAS DIED NTSB: DEATH IS FIRST FATALITY ON U.S. AIRLINE IN 9 YEARS NTSB CHAIRMAN ROBERT SUMWALT SPEAKS AT NEWS CONFERENCE According to Sumwalt’s press conference, an NTSB go team is sending specialists with expertise in power plants, air worthiness, survival factors and operations to begin an immediate investigation. At that point the engine will be shipped offsite to do detailed “teardown” examination.
* * * Earlier A woman was partially sucked out of a Dallas-bound Southwest Airlines flight after a piece of the jet’s engine flew into and broke a window, according to the father of a passenger, who told NBC10 of the incident. The Boeing 737 was then forced to make an emergency landing at Philadelphia’s airport Tuesday with part of the covering from its left engine ripped off and a window damaged. Neither the airline nor the Federal Aviatio … |
| How Long Until China Cranks Up the Debt Engine?The country’s first-quarter growth was strong, boosted by a seasonal industry rebound. But it masked some worrying signs. |
| U.S. Tech Caught in Crossfire of China Trade FightOne of China’s most successful global companies has been punished by the U.S. government. That means trouble for its suppliers too. |
| Is This as Good as It Gets for the Big Banks?The laggards of American banking are at last producing unambiguously good results. The challenge for the banks now is to prove they can deliver healthy profits in less than ideal conditions. |
| 17Apr2018 Midday Update: Wall Street Rises Sharply, DOW Up 200 Points, Nasdaq Surges As Netflix Powers HigherWritten by Gary The three major US benchmark indexes rose more than 1 percent today (SPY +1.0%), helped by gains in technology companies. Small caps are pushing towards a 2 percent gain for the session.
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| Investing In Penny Stocks Has To Be The Dumbest Thing On Wall Street
Many penny stocks are highly volatile, and there’s often little guarantee the company behind those stocks is legitimate. A little risk is healthy for your portfolio, but with many penny stocks, it’s just plain dumb. Penny stocks have become a breeding ground for pump-and-dump schemes that artificially inflate a holding’s value before selling out. The fraudster turns a huge profit, but the investor is often left with nothing. |
| Rex Nutting: Republicans’ campaign fantasy: The big tax cut fixed everythingIt’s too early to know if the long-term tax policy worked, but that doesn’t stop the GOP spin machine, writes Rex Nutting. |
| Trump Today: Trump Today: President says ‘enjoy’ tax cut as poll shows it’s unpopularPresident Donald Trump marked Tax Day 2018 by trumpeting the law he signed last year, even as the overhaul remains unpopular, according to a new poll. |
| TaxWatch: Beware, the IRS is looking for these red flags this tax seasonTax experts give their opinion on what to avoid when filing your taxes. |
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