19Apr2018 Market Close: Wall Street Closed Broadly Lower, But End Off Lows Amid Report Trump Not Focus Of Mueller Probe, Apple, Philip Morris, Chips Lead The Slide On Wall Street

Apple, Philip Morris, chips lead slide on Wall Street

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Thursday, as technology stocks from Apple to chipmakers declined following a weak forecast on smartphone demand, while a sharp drop in Philip Morris’s shares after results weighed on the consumer staples sector.

Shire rejects $63 billion Takeda bid as Allergan drops pursuit

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Rare disease drug maker Shire Plc said on Thursday it had rejected a $63 billion cash-and-stock acquisition offer by Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd , while Allergan Plc reversed course on pursuing a rival bid.

AT&T CEO Stephenson says deal needed in content-dependent world

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said on Thursday his company’s bid to buy movie and TV show maker Time Warner would allow the two firms to serve customers better by lowering pay TV rates, rejecting government arguments the deal would raise consumer prices.

New York’s ‘Fearless Girl’ to stare down the Stock Exchange

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The bronze statue of a little girl that became a tourism phenomenon by staring down Wall Street’s massive “Charging Bull” sculpture is to be moved to a nearby spot where its stern gaze will be on the male-dominated New York Stock Exchange, city officials said on Thursday.

Exclusive: China looks to speed up chip plans as U.S. trade tensions boil – sources

BEIJING (Reuters) – China is looking to accelerate plans to develop its domestic semiconductor market amid a fierce trade stand-off with the United States and a U.S. ban on sales to Chinese phone maker ZTE that has underscored the country’s reliance on imported chips.

Trump launches effort to boost U.S. weapons sales abroad

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration rolled out a long-awaited overhaul of U.S. arms export policy on Thursday aimed at expanding sales to allies, saying it will bolster the American defense industry and create jobs at home.

Trudeau says recognizes NAFTA timeline, will stick up for Canada

LONDON (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday he recognized the timelines on seeking a NAFTA trade agreement and was engaging as much as possible to meet an opportunity to make “significant progress”.

Mattel CEO Margaret Georgiadis in talks to leave company: WSJ

(Reuters) – Toymaker Mattel Inc’s Chief Executive Officer Margaret Georgiadis is in discussions to leave the company, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

BlackRock wants regulators to address unequal voting rights

BOSTON (Reuters) – BlackRock Inc on Thursday called on securities regulators to set international standards for shareholder voting rights, suggesting they resolve one of the thorniest debates in corporate governance.

Rosenstein Told Trump He Is Not The Target Of Mueller’s Probe

According to a Bloomberg headline which instantly sent the Dow Jones 100 points higher from intraday lows, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told President Donald Trump last week that he isn’t the target of any part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

ROSENSTEIN SAID TO TELL TRUMP HE’S NOT TARGET OF MUELLER PROBE

As Bloomberg adds, Rosenstein, who brought up the Mueller probe himself, “offered the assurance during a meeting with Trump at the White House last Thursday,” a development that helped tamp down the president’s president’s desire to remove Rosenstein or Mueller, and probably explains why Trump hasn’t gone postal yet following the raid last week of his personal attorney Michael Cohen.

After the Rosenstein meeting, Trump told some of his closest advisers that it’s not the right time to remove either man since he’s not a target of the probe. One person said Trump doesn’t want to take any action that would drag out the investigation.

The news also helped send risk assets sharply higher as it would suggest the risk of impeachment – if the Bloomberg report is accurate – is far lower.

The report confirms what Comey told Trump all along: recall that back in …

Soros’ Open Society Foundation Closing Budapest Office, Moving To Berlin

Less than a month after his former protege (now his arch-nemesis) Viktor Orban led his nationalist Fidesz party to an overwhelming victory in Hungary’s federal election in March, billionaire investor George Soros – who has become a persona non-grata in his native Hungary – has lost another round in its ongoing confrontation with the ruling government, and is closing the offices of his Open Society Foundation in Budapest.

Patrick Gaspard, the head of Open Society, announced the closure in an article by Austria’s Die Presse.

Soros, who recently donated the bulk of his eleven-figure fortune to Open Society – an international chain of liberal nonprofits dedicated to pushing Soros’ pro-immigration, pro-globalization political agenda under the guise of altruism – has been openly feuding with Orban for more than a year, ever since he criticized the Hungarian leader for purportedly running a “mafia state” during a speech in the UK.

And as we anticipated following Orban’s sweeping electoral triumph, life for Soros proxies in Hungary has now become “unbeara …

This Is How Easy It Is To Manipulate The Entire Stock Market

Yesterday, for the umpteenth time in the last few years, we exposed the clear manipulation of VIX at the futures settlement auction – spiking VIX to favor the record long positioning of VIX futures speculators.

With stocks quietly drifting sideways ahead of the US cash open this morning, VIX suddenly spiked reprising a pattern of jerky moves on days when futures on the gauge are settled in monthly auctions…

As a reminder, VIX futures settle on Wednesdays at 9:20 a.m. New York time in an auction by Cboe Global Markets.

As Bloomberg notes, VIX was heading for its longest streak of daily losses in almost a year in early New York trading, before it reversed direction and rose as much as 11 percent.

“A Calamitous Collapse”: Former Podesta Group Employees Reveal Truth Behind Firm’s Downfall

Former Podesta Group employees have spilled the beans about their former boss, Tony Podesta – in a scathing Wall Street Journal article which details the firm’s collapse. As part of the report, The Journal got its hands on “internal Podesta Group accounting,” as well as “financial documents, calendars and communications.”

The D.C. lobbying firm founded in 1993 by John and Tony Podesta folded shop following Hillary Clinton’s monumental loss in the 2016 US election, when a flood of clients ran for the door virtually overnight, realizing the Podesta Group’s influence ended with the Clinton campaign.

The Journal describes Tony Podesta’s fall as a “calamitous collapse” following the 2016 US election:

Then he fell, a calamitous collapse propelled by unexpected blows, delivered by fate and made worse by hubris. Financial problems, legal threats and the election of President Donald Trump took it a …

Qualcomm Is in the Eye of U.S.-China Storm Again

China has said issues with the U.S. chip maker’s proposed $44 billion tie-up with NXP Semiconductors may be “hard to resolve.” That isn’t a good sign either for this deal or broader global deal-making

Why Volatile Markets Are Good News for Careful Investors

Managing money involves a balancing act that trades off risk against return. This year is proving more challenging, with stocks and bonds swinging about. But it also shows how a return to a more normal level of market volatility might be good news for careful investors.

Will ‘Fortnite’ Ambush Profits at Rival Videogames?

The impact of the surprise gaming phenomenon “Fortnite” on rival video-game makers should become more clear over the next couple of weeks when quarterly results are reported.

March 2018 Leading Economic Index Points To Solid Growth For the Rest Of The Year

Written by Steven Hansen

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S improved this month – and the authors say “labor market components made negative contributions in March and bear watching in the near future.”.

Currencies: Treasury yields lead dollar higher, Mexican peso suffers selloff

The U.S. dollar gained ground against its rivals as the session went on as the 10-year Treasury yield edged higher, flirting with the psychologically important 3%-mark.

Trump Today: President calls for border protection as he’s briefed on anti-drug effort

President Donald Trump was briefed Thursday on efforts to combat drug trafficking into the U.S., as he threatened to cut funding for California’s National Guard and said he had a “great” meeting with Japan’s prime minister.

Personal Finance Daily: Amazon Prime’s 100 million members can get this credit card and the financial decision women regret the most

Thursday’s top personal finance stories