Written by Gary
US stocks fell at the opening this morning as Trump’s comments fueled skepticism over U.S.-China trade talks (SPY -0.4%).
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are mixed. The IPC is higher by 0.68%, while the Bovespa is leading the S&P 500 lower. They are down 0.68% and 0.36% respectively. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Wall Street remains lower on fresh concerns over U.S.-China trade talks(Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s latest comments fueled skepticism over U.S.-China trade talks and ahead of a Federal Reserve report that could indicate the pace of future rate hikes. |
| Comcast prepares to top Disney’s $50 billion offer for Fox(Reuters) – Comcast Corp confirmed on Wednesday it was preparing a higher, all-cash offer for most of the media assets of Twenty-First Century Fox , setting up a bidding war with rival Walt Disney Co , which already has agreed to a $52-billion deal with Fox. |
| Tesla trims up to $14,000 off Model X in China after tariff cutsBEIJING (Reuters) – Tesla Inc has slashed up to $14,000 off its Model X in China after Beijing announced major tariff cuts for imported automobiles, a potential sales boost for the U.S. firm as the world’s largest auto market pivots towards electric cars. |
| Small banks trump Wall Street on Dodd-Frank rewriteWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress on Tuesday rolled back some of the restraints imposed on banks after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, but big players like Goldman Sachs Group Inc , Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co , will not be breaking out the champagne. |
| China signals to state giants: ‘Buy American’ oil and grainsSINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) – China will import record volumes of U.S. oil and is likely to ship more U.S. soy after Beijing signaled to state-run refiners and grains purchasers they should buy more to help ease tensions between the two top economies, trade sources said on Wednesday. |
| Deutsche Bank looks to cut 10,000 jobs to reduce costs: WSJFRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank is planning to cut 10,000 jobs, or about a tenth of its global workforce, as part of efforts to reduce costs, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. |
| U.S. Senate panel to hold hearing on Sprint T-Mobile mergerWASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Senate Committee plans to hold a hearing on June 27 on the proposed $26.5 billion merger of T-Mobile US and Sprint Corp . |
| Facebook users unite! ‘Data Labour Union’ launches in NetherlandsAMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Activists in Amsterdam on Wednesday launched the ‘Datavakbond’ or “data labor union”, which hopes to elect leaders to negotiate directly with Facebook and Google over what they do with users’ data. |
| Trump teases ‘big news’ for U.S. auto workers, offers no detailsWASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pledged to revive American manufacturing, said on Wednesday that “big news” was coming that would be welcomed by U.S. auto workers but he gave no details. |
| FOMC Minutes Preview: Is The “Symmetric” Fed About To Become Less “Accommodative”?Today at 2pm EDT, the Fed will release the minutes from the FOMC meeting held on May 1/2 in which it held rates but tweaked its guidance on inflation. While comments on the natural rate and the yield curve will be of particular focus, Bloomberg notes that per John Williams, the Fed’s era of pledging easy monetary policy may be coming to an end, and today’s minutes could reveal if Williams’ colleagues agree. Meanwhile, as RanSquawk adds, while the release isn’t expected to be a major market mover, it may have a hawkish tilt. Some other observations on what to expect, courtesy of RanSquawk: RATES: At the FOMC’s May meeting. the central bank kept rates unchanged at 1.50-1.75%, as expected. The Fed has already hiked once in 2018; in its March economic projections, it pencilled in three rate rises in 2018, and money markets are pricing this trajectory with over 90% certainty; there are also risks of a fourth hike, which markets are assigning a probability of just over 50%. MAY STATEMENT: The statement, however, saw a few crucial tweaks. The Fed now characterises inflation as “moved close” to 2% (previously it was described as “continued to run below 2%”), and additionally, it added word “symmetric” with regards to its inflation target, which traders eventually interpreted as the idea that the Fed would be prepared to allow an overshoot of inflation without taking aggressive action to rein in price pressures. “The Fed was much gentler with their inflation tweaks than they could have been in the May statement. This is part and parcel of not wanting the market to read too much into changes that are coming at a non-press conference meeting (i.e. Chairman Powell is not there to talk market participants off the ledge),” RBC writes, “but with that said, the mark-to-market on infla … |
| NFL Bans Kneeling, Disrespect During National AnthemAfter a season that saw ratings declines, advertiser abandonment, and political/racial divides flare on and off the field, ESPN reports that NFL owners have unanimously approved a new national anthem policy that requires players to stand if they are on the field during the performance.
The new policy, announced this morning, gives players/staff the option to remain in the locker room if they prefer, but as ESPN notes, subjects teams to a fine if a player or any other team personnel do not show appropriate respect for the anthem. That includes any attempt to sit or kneel, as dozens of players have done during the past two seasons. Those teams will also have the option to fine any team personnel, including players, for the infraction.
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| Trump Shuns Xi As US Uninvites China From World’s Largest Naval ExerciseIn the latest sign that contrary to the official rhetoric, tensions between the US and China are in fact escalating as China reaffirms its dominance of contested territory in the South China Sea (see “China Releases Footage Of Bombers Landing On Disputed Island For The First Time”) the US has disinvited China from the Pacific Rim Military Exercises, the Pentagon told AFP.
According to Inside Defense, the US military revoked the invitation because of Beijing’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea, which have recently included reports that it quietly installed “defensive” missiles capable of striking US territory in the Spratly Islands. More than 20 countries, 40 ships, 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are expected to participate in the exercises. As the WSJ notes, China’s inclusion in the previous two Rimpac exercises was among the most tangible results of an effort by both sides since late 2010 to stabilize military ties that had often been interrupted by China over American arms sales to Taiwan.
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| Turkish Lira Soars After Central Bank Hikes Rate By 3%Update: moments after warning it had held an emergency meeting, the central bank announced it raised the Late Liquidity Window rate to 16.5% from 13.5% TURKEY CENTRAL BANK RAISES LLW RATE TO 16.5% FROM 13.5% The full statement is below:
This is the highest LLW rate since Feb 2009 |
| Why the Property Industry Isn’t Buying WeWorkWeWork has convinced tech investors that short-term office rentals are the next big thing, and well worth a high price. Savvy real-estate investors also like that business, but not at WeWork’s valuation. |
| What Is Happening to Global Growth?The soft patch in the global economy is looking more soft and less like a patch. |
| The Sea of Leverage in Chinese MarketsPassive investors are about to get more involved in Chinese stocks thanks to MSCI’s decision to include several of them in its key indexes. They will find themselves exposed to a market swimming in leverage. |
| April 2018 Headline New Home Sales Slow?Written by John Lounsbury and Steven Hansen The headlines say new home sales declined. Our analysis shows improvement. Sales prices declined.
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| Capitol Report: Here’s why the Trump tax cuts (so far) haven’t boosted the economyTax cuts are often a good tool to boost an economy, but the impact largely depends on whether people think they’ll get more money in their paychecks. Viewed that way, the recent Trump tax cuts probably won’t cause Americans to sharply increase how much they spend. |
| Market Extra: How this global stock-market selloff shows that Trump still calls the tuneInvestors who thought trade was fading into the background just got a wake-up call. |
| Key Words: This is how much you need for elite bankers to consider you a worthwhile clientFor most, $25 million sounds like a ridiculous amount of money, but “for elite private bankers, it buys their basic service.” |
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