Written by Gary
The US stock markets closed higher, but mixed (SPY +0.1%). The SP 500 closed up with a small gain while the Dow closed in the red. American Express shares jump on company’s better-than-expected Q1 earnings.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
American Express shares jump on company’s better-than-expected Q1 earnings
Wells Fargo mourns employee’s death in Southwest accident
Dow Declines Slightly as S&P 500, Nasdaq Post Modest Gains
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
S&P edges higher on energy, industrials but Dow slipsNEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 eked out a small gain while the Dow ended lower after a volatile trading session on Wednesday, with weakness in sectors such as consumer staples and financials offsetting strong gains in the energy and industrial indexes. | |
Morgan Stanley executives tamp down enthusiasm on record profit(Reuters) – Morgan Stanley reported record first-quarter profit on Wednesday thanks to a surge in trading activity, much like other Wall Street banks, but executives warned results through the rest of the year may not be quite as strong. | |
Time Warner CEO says merger with AT&T needed to compete with internet titansWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes on Wednesday defended his company’s planned merger with AT&T as necessary to compete effectively for advertising with internet giants like Google and Facebook. | |
U.S. economic growth on track despite tariff concerns: Fed reportWASHINGTON (Reuters) – “Robust” business borrowing, rising consumer spending, and tight labor markets indicate the U.S. economy remains on track for continued growth, the Federal Reserve reported on Wednesday, with the risks of a global trade war the one big outlier. | |
Exclusive: OPEC’s new price hawk Saudi Arabia seeks oil as high as $100 – sourcesDUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia would be happy to see crude rise to $80 or even $100 a barrel, three industry sources said, a sign Riyadh will seek no changes to an OPEC supply-cutting deal even though the agreement’s original target is within sight. | |
Zuckerberg under pressure to face EU lawmakers over data scandalSTRASBOURG (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg came under pressure from EU lawmakers on Wednesday to come to Europe and shed light on the data breach involving Cambridge Analytica that affected nearly three million Europeans. | |
SunPower buys U.S. rival SolarWorld to head off Trump tariffs(Reuters) – SunPower Corp on Wednesday said it would buy U.S. solar panel maker SolarWorld Americas, expanding its domestic manufacturing as it seeks to stem the impact of Trump administration tariffs on panel imports. | |
Abbott sticks to earlier forecasts, disappoints investors(Reuters) – Abbott Laboratories’ just beat expectations for first quarter profits and revenue on Wednesday but stuck to a full-year profit forecast some investors had expected would be raised, sending the healthcare company’s shares lower. | |
Explainer: Ant Financial’s $150 billion valuation, and the big recent bump-upHONG KONG (Reuters) – Ant Financial’s rapid climb to become the world’s biggest super unicorn valued by some investors at around $150 billion showcases investor enthusiasm for the biggest Chinese tech companies and also how quickly valuations can shift. Just two months ago, bankers and investors were tentatively talking of a figure closer to $100 billion. | |
Banks & Big Blue Battered; Bond Yields Bounce; Big Tech, Bullion, & Bitcoin BidGood is bad, up is down, stocks are safe, war is peace… The Dow underperformed notably, driven mostly by IBM weakness (swiping 84 points off The Dow), but Trannies surged once again… Futures show overnight gains, a dump at the open followed by panic-buying… and then a weak close… Big bank stocks are not loving blockbuster earnings… | |
The Unbearable Lightness Of EarningsAuthored by Baruch Lev via Knowledge Leaders Capital blog, Baruch Lev is the Philip Bardes Professor of Accounting and Finance at the Stern School of Business, NYU. This article first appeared at the Lev End Of Accounting Blog and is shared here with his permission. Today’s Wall Street Journal published an article that caught my attention: “Next Up: The Forgotten Earnings Season.” The article opens:
The article’s author seems surprised by investors’ disregard for earnings, and tries to provide explanations:
Perhaps? Perhaps not? These are speculations. | |
Tesla’s 2018 Goes From Bad To Worse As Safety Regulators Launch ProbeTesla’s “planned” factory shutdowns could end lasting far longer than planned. That is, if California workplace safety regulators have anything to say about it. What has been a volatile and taxing month for Tesla just got worse, because in the latest headache for Elon Musk, Bloomberg reports that California regulators are now looking into workplace safety issues…
… ostensibly prompted by a scathing expose that was published earlier this week by Reveal, questioning whether Tesla … | |
How The Poster-Boy For Bad Financial Management Lost Shareholders $35 BillionAuthored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com, In January 1980, the price of gold hit a record high of $850 per ounce. Then it began a nearly two-decade slide. By the summer of 1999, gold hit $250 per ounce- a level not seen since the 1970s. So naturally it was at this point that the British government made the infamously stupid decision to sell the bulk of their gold reserves. They began dumping their gold on July 6, 1999. And it took more than two and a half years to auction all 395 metric tons. Gold prices remained depressed during the auctions. The Brits received about $275 per ounce on average. Almost immediately after the sale, the price of gold started to rise. By the summer of 2002, gold was over $300 per ounce. It was over $400 in 2003… then $500 in 2005. Gold cracked $1,000 in 2009. And it’s $1,350 today. The British government literally sold most of its gold reserves at the bottom of the market – the so-called “Brown Bottom.” In retrospect the decision looked completely short-sighted and idiotic. And taxpayers were rightfully furious. | |
Morgan Stanley Is a Standout and Priced AccordinglyMorgan Stanley’s first-quarter results pleased investors, and the bank will continue to return capital according to plan, but uncertainty past midyear leaves the shares fairly valued. | |
Apple Faces the MusicMusic is key to growing Apple’s services base, but big profits will have to come from elsewhere. | |
CSX Is Back on TrackCSX CEO Jim Foote went on what he called an “apology tour,” asking forgiveness of customers whose supply lines had been disrupted and promising improvements. After the company reported first quarter results, investors don’t need a similar show of atonement. | |
Look for the Whole Foods rewards program to be folded into Amazon PrimeJefferies analysts say it looks as if Whole Foods will be integrated into the Amazon Prime ecosystem soon. | |
Market Extra: How geopolitics have helped drive this haven currency to a 3-year lowThe euro-Swiss franc pair is trading at a three-year high, eerily close to the floor the Swiss National Bank abandoned back in January 2015. Geopolitical tensions, which should ordinarily make a haven currency like the franc more popular, drove it back to such lows, market participants said. | |
Trump Today: President says he didn’t fire Comey over Russia investigationPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday he didn’t fire former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey over the Russia investigation, as he hailed a high-level U.S.-North Korea meeting and held a second day of talks with Japan’s prime minister. |
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