Written by Gary
US equities markets slid moderately into the red after a good opening this morning (SPY -0.8%). Healthcare stocks slid and investors worried about rising costs for companies as oil prices rose.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
U.S. argues AT&T hiding real consumer impact of Time Warner dealWASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T sought to hide the high cost to consumers of its $85-billion deal to buy movie and TV producer Time Warner, the Justice Department said in its closing arguments on Monday as the United States tried to block the deal in court. | |
Investors look to Apple’s cash, services as iPhone sales seen stalling(Reuters) – Apple Inc’s multi-hundred billion cash stockpile and stalling growth in services such as iCloud present an opportunity and a concern that some investors hope will be addressed in the company’s quarterly earnings report on Tuesday. | |
Wall Street slides as healthcare drags, oil prices weighNEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street dipped on Monday afternoon, reversing gains from earlier in the session, as healthcare stocks slid and investors worried about rising costs for companies as oil prices rose. | |
McDonald’s serves up quarterly beat on higher global sales, U.S. spending(Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp blew past analysts’ forecasts for profit and revenue on Monday, helped by higher sales in overseas markets and as U.S. customers spent more at its outlets. | |
T-Mobile, Sprint say $26 billion deal would give U.S. tech lead over China(Reuters) – T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp said on Sunday they had agreed to a $26 billion all-stock deal and believed they could win over skeptical regulators because the merger would create thousands of jobs and help the United States beat China to creating the next generation mobile network. | |
Marathon to become top U.S. refiner with $23 billion Andeavor buy(Reuters) – Marathon Petroleum Corp agreed to buy rival Andeavor for more than $23 billion in the largest-ever tie-up between U.S. oil refiners, giving the combined company a nationwide presence and increased access to growing export markets. | |
Exclusive: U.S. EPA grants biofuels waiver to billionaire Icahn’s oil refinery – sourcesNEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a financial hardship waiver to an oil refinery owned by billionaire Carl Icahn, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, exempting the Oklahoma facility from requirements under a federal biofuels law, according to two industry sources briefed on the matter. | |
U.S. treasury chief: ‘Cautiously optimistic’ on China trade talksWASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. and Chinese officials will hold highly anticipated trade talks in China on Thursday and Friday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox Business Network, saying he was “cautiously optimistic” about the meeting. | |
Canada stock market back in business after rare shutdownTORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s stock exchange, the world’s sixth largest, was back in business on Monday after a hardware glitch abruptly ended trading on Friday and the exchange operator TMX Group said it was working to ensure there will be no repeat of the embarrassing market disruption. | |
“Deja Vu All Over Again” In KoreaVia Global Macro Monitor, That was then (2005), North Korea vows to abandon nuclear weapons project Cautious welcome by Bush for road map deal Aid and US promise not to invade seals agreement North Korea has agreed in principle to end its nuclear weapons programme and rejoin the international non-proliferation treaty, marking the biggest breakthrough in its three-year stand-off with the US. Under a draft accord issued by North Korea and five other countries in Beijing yesterday, the reclusive state promised to give up its main bargaining chip in return for energy, economic aid and a US promise not to attack. – The Guardian, Sept 19, 2005 This is now, Kim Prepared to Cede Nuclear Weapons if U.S. Pledges Not to Invade SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, told President Moon Jae-in of South Korea when they met that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States would agree to formally end the Korean War and promise that it would not invade his country, a South Korean government spokesman said Sunday. In a faith-building gesture ahead of a summit meeting with President Trump, Mr. Kim also said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States to watch the shutdown next month of his country’s only known underground nuclear test site. – NY Times, April 29, 2018 | |
No $100 Million Payday For Scaramucci: HNA Drops Deal To Acquire Skybridge: Dow JonesBack on January 2017, we said that there was a reason why Anthony Scaramucci was smiling: It was simple: the Davos regular, who just days earlier had been named assistant to president Trump, and shortly after would infamously be White House communications director for all of 10 days before he was fired, sold a majority stake in his SkyBridge Capital fund of funds to China’s HNA Capital, as part of eliminating his legacy conflicts of interest. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, the deal, which includes the SkyBridge Alternatives Conference, or SALT, was said to be valued at about $200 million according to Bloomberg. SkyBridge’s senior management and investment teams will remain intact while Scaramucci will step down. And since Scaramucci owned about 45% of SkyBridge, he was about to pocket $100 million. So yes, it was a solid payday for the Mooch. Unfortunately it was not meant to last, because as Dow Jones reported moments ago, it appears that the deal has fallen apart: HNA IS SAID SET TO DROP DEAL TO BUY SKYBRIDGE CAPITAL: DJ While many had expected the acquisition to fall apart following China’s crackdown on outbound M&A as well as the US crackdown on all deal by Chinese acquirors, it was unclear if Scaramucci would get a fast-track approval due to his (one-time) proximity to Donald Trump. The answer, we now learn, … | |
Goldman President’s Stark Warning: “Markets Reprice Faster Than People Expect”In the latest warning shot to investors from the world’s most influential bank that the good times are ending, this time coming not from some lowly Goldman strategist predicting that broken markets themselves will cause the next crash, or some chart showing that a bear market is dead ahead… … but the replacement of Gary Cohn himself, Goldman president David Solomon, the man who is set to replace Lloyd Blankfein in the near future warned that investors who have gotten too used to the long bull market “are being motivated more by a search for yield than concern a correction is coming.” While Solomon did not feel compelled to expose those responsible for said rush for yield, and also for the biggest asset bubble in history, he did warn that when the market turns, it will turn so fast, few will be able to get out. “We’re down the road in the cycle, so there’s certainly places where people are further along the greed spectrum than the fear spectrum,” Solomon said Monday in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “In an environment where money has been so inexpensive for such a long period of time, there’s no question that people have been reaching for yield.” Solomon then followed up with the most direct warning he was could without losing clients – after all Goldman is an underwriter to virtually every “growthy” public tech company in the wor … | |
Morgan Stanley Hikes Junior Banker Pay By 25%, Accelerates Promotions To AssociateWith the market having gone nowhere in the first 4 months of 2018, the year is shaping up as a wash for most Wall Street professionals, but not for associates at the bank that recently overtook Goldman Sachs in total revenue. According to Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley will raise junior banker salaries and offer quicker promotions as part of its push to “improve working conditions.” As part of the compensation boost, base salaries for most associates in investment banking and capital markets will rise by 20 percent to 25 percent, the first big raise for associates in almost four years. Indicatively, associates at major investment banks typically receive base salaries of $100,000 to $150,000, according to Options Group, a number that hasn’t changed much the decade. Bloomberg adds that according to a memo sent to staff, associates’ salaries will be raised on Aug. 1. Meanwhile, in a major overhaul to the bank’s “tenure track”, Morgan Stanley analysts will be delighted to learn that they will be promoted to associate after just two years instead of three, according to the memo.
In its attempt to make the ibanking lifestyle more appropriate for the current wave of ubiquitous snowflakedom, the bank is also keeping a tradition of two mandatory one-week vacations annually and limiting staffing on Fridays and weekends. Newly promoted vice presidents also get a four-week sabbatical to rest be … | |
Apple’s Big Payday Will Only Go So FarThe U.S. tax overhaul freed up plenty of cash held overseas by the tech firm, but the latest iPhone cycle seems to have cooled early. Does this set up a potentially difficult report for the company’s fiscal second quarter? | |
With Future Murky, Auto Investors Focus on Change NowHopes of structural change are driving auto stocks, not financial results. | |
The News Is Good for BaiduChina’s search-engine giant has found a way to make its users stick around: tailored news content generated by artificial intelligence. | |
In One Chart: The stock market has no leader right now—here’s why that might be bad newsThe U.S. stock market has been stuck in a tight trading range for weeks, and a key reason for that may be simple: it has no leader to follow. | |
The Tell: Why investors should dread the month of May—especially this yearThe U.S. stock market is preparing to end a positive—but volatile—month of April, and investors may be hoping that performance in May is even better. | |
The Ratings Game: New York Times upgrade by J.P. Morgan cites demand for reliable newsNew York Times’s stock soared Monday after J.P. Morgan appeared to defy President Donald Trump’s view by turning bullish ahead of the media company’s earnings report, the industry tailwind regarding “reliable” news sources. |
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