04Jun2018 Midday Update: Wall Street Trading Sideways At Elevated Levels, DOW Up Almost 200 Points, WTI Falls Into The 64 Handle

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 1.34% while U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.44% and Mexico’s IPC is up 0.33%.

Wall Street higher as Apple leads tech rally

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks climbed on Monday led by gains in technology shares and Friday’s robust jobs data, which gave investors heightened confidence that the U.S. economy remained strong.

Big Tesla investors look like firewall for Elon Musk

(Reuters) – Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk faces votes at Tuesday’s shareholder meeting that will challenge his grip on the electric carmaker, but he may be able to count on some powerful friends: big fund managers likely to be fans.

Trade war turns Canada’s G7 summit into six-plus-Trump

OTTAWA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week plays host to a summit of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations with six of the seven members outraged at the United States over a slew of recent moves by President Donald Trump.

Microsoft to take on Amazon with $7.5 billion GitHub deal

(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said on Monday it would buy privately held coding website GitHub Inc for $7.5 billion in an all-stock deal to beef up its cloud computing business and challenge market leader Amazon.com Inc .

Walmart sells majority of Brazil unit, takes $4.5 billion charge

NEW YORK/SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Walmart Inc said on Monday that it has sold an 80 percent stake in its Brazilian operations to private equity firm Advent International, exiting an underperforming business in its third major international deal since April.

Saudi Aramco restructures non-oil assets ahead of IPO: sources

DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco has created a subsidiary to house its multibillion-dollar pension fund and could spin off its aviation division, sources said, as it restructures some assets not related to oil and gas ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO).

U.S. CFTC proposes rule to keep higher threshold for swap dealers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. derivatives regulator on Monday proposed maintaining the existing cutoff for U.S. firms to register as swaps dealers, backing off an earlier plan that would have subjected more firms to stricter oversight under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law.

Societe Generale to pay over $860 million to resolve bribery, Libor manipulation cases

(Reuters) – Societe Generale S.A. will pay over $860 million to resolve criminal charges in the U.S. and France for bribing Gaddafi-era Libyan officials and manipulating the Libor rate, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday.

Southwest Airlines bookings drop after fatal engine blowout

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Southwest Airlines on Monday said it now expects its second-quarter unit revenue to decrease by about 3 percent from the year prior, primarily driven by lower bookings in the wake of a fatal engine blowout in April.

Goldman: The Economy Is Growing “Very Rapidly” But That’s As Good As It Gets

After another unexpectedly weak first quarter for US GDP (the 4th in a row), the US economy appears to have suddenly hit the nitrous as the unexpectedly strong Friday payrolls report showed, and from one forecast such as the Atlanta Fed which now sees GDP growing at 4.8%…

… to consensus Q2 GDP, which has surged by 50% over the past year, and is now at 3.1%…

… analysts and economists see another period of above-trend growth for the US economy, in large part thanks to the boost from the Trump fiscal stimulus which is slowly finding its way into the broader econom …

Six Key Events That Could Shape Markets In H2 2018

Via Columbia Threadneedle Investments blog,

The first half of the year reintroduced investors to market volatility. Six key events in the remainder of 2018 could add to the uncertainty…

Geopolitical tensions were a key factor in market gyrations throughout the first six months of 2018, which began with rising fears of a nuclear showdown between the United States and North Korea and ended with the possibility of the latter nation’s nuclear disarmament. Rising interest rates continued to have a dampening effect in the U.S., the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Growing tensions about a potential trade war between the U.S. and other nations, particularly China, loom larger in the second half of the year. Given a fluid situation and ongoing policy discussions, predicting the most likely outcome is sometimes difficult. As these stories unwind, investors and advisors should keep their ears attuned to the potential risks and opportunities of six upcoming events.

June 8: G-7 Summit

Athenahealth CEO On Video Says He Wants To “Do Inappropriate Things” To Female Employee

The wild and often unpredictable persona of Athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anybody who has been following the company over the last decade. What should come as a surprise, however, are continued allegations of domestic abuse and sexual harassment which have been ongoing for years but were updated, supplemented and amplified in a Bloomberg article out over the weekend.

The article details new alleged inappropriate behavior by the company’s chief executive officer. Bloomberg claims to have seen a video of Bush, in 2017, at a healthcare industry event where, dressed up as a character, he states he wants to “jump down on” one of his female employees and “do inappropriate things” to her:

A 2017 video clip seen by Bloomberg of Bush at a health-care industry event features the CEO dressed up as a race car driver, pretending to be the title character from the 2006 comedy “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” and at times reading from a cue card.

Midway through the skit, he says he wants to “jump down on” one of his female employees “and do inappropriate things.” He then briefly pauses. “Uh, but obviously t …

Why Oil Markets Should Fear Trump’s Trade War

Authored by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,

“We’re putting the trade war on hold,” U.S. Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin said on “Fox News Sunday,” nearly two weeks ago. That didn’t go down well with President Trump who promptly restarted the trade war.

Not only did Trump step up trade penalties on China, announcing a few days ago that tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods would go forward, but he moved to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union, the U.S.’ closest allies and trade partners. The tariffs will include a 25 percent levy on steel and 10 percent on aluminum. Months ago, Trump proposed these tariffs, but repeatedly offered exemptions to allies while U.S. officials negotiated with their counterparts to come up with a resolution.

But, the U.S.’ trade par …

Global Markets: A New, More Difficult Stage

If last year in markets was all about strong returns, this year is about rising risks: a brewing trade war, renewed political turmoil and concerns about growth.

The Next Threat to Oil Prices: China

It has been a bad week or two for oil investors, but most concerns have centered on supply. Next up: demand.

Deutsche Bank Is Sick but Not at Death’s Door

Deutsche Bank isn’t teetering on the brink of collapse. Despite Friday’s downgrade from Standard & Poor’s, Deutsche is stronger and has more stable funding than at any time in the past decade.

May 2018 Conference Board Employment Index Declines

Written by Steven Hansen

The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index – which forecasts employment for the next 6 months declined with the author’s saying “The decline in the Employment Trends Index in May is probably a reversion to trend after the very rapid increases in recent months”.

United Airlines attempts to fix boarding process headaches with new system

The company is testing new group numbers at select airports.

This is how Apple’s stock traded around previous WWDCs

Apple Worldwide Developer Conference is usually a dud for investors, the day of, the day after and for the next month, according to data provided by BTIG.

Market Extra: The stock market’s most-loved and most-hated equities have something in common

There are generally two types of stocks that make up the list of this year’s top performers, the most-hated and the most-loved, says Jefferies.