15May2018 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street To Open Lower After Disappointing Retail Sales Report, WTI Crude Prices Trend Higher, US Dollar Index Inches Up Into The 93 Level

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are higher today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 is up 0.46% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.36% and Germany’s DAX is up 0.07%.

Stock futures lower as trade fears return; retail sales data awaited

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower on Tuesday as lack of progress in U.S.-China trade talks and disappointing earnings from Home Depot kept investors on edge ahead of retail sales data.

Uber will not require sexual assault victims to sign confidentiality deals

(Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] said on Tuesday sexual harassment or assault victims will have the option to settle claims with the ride-hailing service without a confidentiality provision that prevents them from speaking about the incidents.

U.S. retail sales increase moderately in April

(Reuters) – U.S. retail sales increased moderately in April as rising gasoline prices weighed on discretionary spending, but consumer spending appeared on track to accelerate after slowing sharply in the first quarter.

Comcast’s all-cash bid could pit Murdoch against Fox shareholders

(Reuters) – Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch is used to getting his way at the company he built into a media empire. But a challenge to a $52 billion deal he put together six months ago could test his sway with shareholders.

Home Depot misses comparable-sales forecasts as spring selling dips

(Reuters) – Home Depot Inc on Tuesday missed Wall Street forecasts for sales at established stores, as an unusually long winter hit sales of typical spring products like lawn-mowers and patio furniture.

A bid to save $300 million at HCR ManorCare, and disrupt U.S. healthcare

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Thomas DeRosa is making a $4 billion bet that he can build a national, low-cost healthcare network for America’s aging population that will succeed where so many other models have struggled.

Qualcomm-NXP deal still on hold in China, trade talks with U.S. eyed: sources

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Qualcomm’s proposed $44 billion takeover of rival NXP Semiconductors is yet to see a concrete breakthrough in China, sources said, tempering hopes a lull in trade tensions with the United States had prompted Beijing to speed up its ruling on the deal.

U.S. chipmaker Intel submits plans for $5 billion Israel expansion

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Intel Corp said on Tuesday it had submitted plans to expand its production operations in Israel, with the government saying the U.S. chipmaker would invest about $5 billion.

New Air France-KLM CEO must avert slow descent in France

PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) – Air France-KLM’s next CEO faces an unenviable task if they want to avoid the fate of Alitalia. The manager needs to deal with union resistance to restructuring at its core Air France brand, keep increasingly frustrated KLM staff onside and battle rising oil prices.

Seminole County, Florida To Accept Crypto For Tax Payment

Authored by Ana Alexandre via CoinTelegraph.com,

The Seminole County, Florida, tax collector Joel M. Greenberg announced May 14 that the county will begin accepting cryptocurrency for payment for various services this summer in order to eliminate heavy fees and improve payment accuracy and efficiency.

image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

According to a press release, the county will begin accepting Bitcoin (BTC) and

Frontrunning: May 15

Gazans bury their dead after bloody day of protests (Reuters)

U.S. Embassy Move, Bloodshed Add to Friction With Allies (WSJ)

Britain calls for investigation into Gaza violence (Reuters)

China Data Shows a Hint of Slowdown While Factories Still Hum (BBG)

Iran’s Zarif meets EU foreign policy chief as Europe tries to save nuclear deal (Reuters)

Volcker Rule Rewrite Is Said to Drop Key Trading Burden on Banks (BBG)

North Korea Starts to Dismantle Nuclear-Test Site (WSJ)

Safety, verification questions hang over North Korea’s plan to close nuclear site (Reuters)

A World Apart: Charting the Gulf Between Chinese and U.S. Tariffs (WSJ)

US, China still ‘very far ap …

MH370 Solved? Experts Call It Suicide And “Premeditated Mass Murder” By Pilot

While there has been no official government explanation to the MH370 flight mystery that dominated the news for months after it occurred, experts on Australia’s 60 Minutes have put together what seems to be the most sensible re-creation of events that could explain the mystery of the missing plane.

Stunningly, experts agree that flight MH370 may have come down as an intentional act of mass suicide. The report was picked up by the Washington Post on Monday, who explained that “the plane’s 2014 disappearance and apparent crash were a suicide by the 53-year-old [pilot] Zaharie — and a premeditated act of mass murder.”

“The thing that gets discussed the most is that at the point where the pilot turned the transponder off, that he depressurized the airplane, which would disable the passengers,” said Larry Vance, a veteran aircraft investigator from Canada. “He was killing himself. Unfortunately, he was killing everyone else onboard. And he did it deliberately.”

Two of the most prominent mysteries of the flight were the lack of communication from the plane and …

Soros’ Open Society Foundation Closes Operations In Hungary Under Pressure From Orban

After closing its Budapest office last month, Open Society, the purportedly philanthropic organization created to push a liberal, globalist political agenda espoused by billionaire investor George Soros, said Tuesday that it has officially pulled out of Hungary after accusing Prime Minister Viktor Orban of “repressing civil society,” according to the WSJ.

“Faced with an increasingly repressive political and legal environment in Hungary, the Open Society Foundations are moving their Budapest-based international operations and staff to the German capital, Berlin,” the group confirmed on Tuesday.

Patrick Gaspard, the president of the Open Society Foundations, lashed out at Hungary’s government, accusing it of “denigrating and misrepresenting our work,” while repressing civil society “for the sake of political gain.”

Soros attributed his decision to leave Hungary, the country where he was born, to the ruling Fidesz party’s push to pass a bill known as the “Stop Soros” plan. The bill would place new restrictions on non-governmental organizations found to be meddling in the country’s political affairs. The billionaire investor has criticized the law as anti-Semitic.

Open Society previously said it will move its Hungary operations to Berlin.

Investors May Be the Losers in CBS-Redstone Feud

By trying to end Redstone’s control of CBS, the company’s board may be right but may ultimately end up with a worse deal.

Follow This ‘Prophet’ to the RV Promised Land

The RV industry performed horribly this year after a strong 2017, but investors’ best bet may be Camping World Holdings, not manufacturers like Thor or Winnebago.

Chinese Stocks Aren’t Normal—Whatever MSCI Thinks

Mainland-listed Chinese shares will enter MSCI’s key benchmarks from June. That doesn’t mean all problems with the country’s stock markets are resolved.

CryptoWatch: IBM and Veridium Labs partner to use blockchain technology to improve carbon-credit markets

U.S. multinational IBM is joining forces with Hong Kong-based Veridium Labs to use blockchain, the distributed ledger technology, to increase the efficiency in the carbon credit market and make the process of offsetting carbon credits easier.

Your guide to the Trump drug price plan: who it affects and how

President Trump has said drug companies are ‘getting away with murder.’ That may continue under his new drug plan.

Economic Report: Empire State index climbs to 20.1 in May

The Empire State manufacturing index rose 4.3 points to 20.1 in May, the New York Fed said Tuesday.