12Jun2018 Market Close: Wall Street Ends Mostly Higher Ahead Of Fed Decision, DOW Closes Down 2 Points, US Crude Ticks Up 26 Cents, Settling At $66.36, As OPEC Says Oil Market Outlook Is Uncertain

Written by Gary

US equities large caps were near flat today (SPY +0.1%) while the small caps closed moderately higher. Investors are becoming cautious ahead of the Fed’s policy decision.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	S&P 500 hovers near unchanged as focus turns to Fed NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks were near flat on Tuesday as investors became cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision, while a historic U.S.-North Korea summit failed to impress investors.
	China’s ZTE to resume trading after $1.4 billion U.S. settlement HONG KONG (Reuters) – ZTE Corp said trading in its shares would resume on Wednesday, ending a two-month suspension, after the Chinese telecommunications giant agreed to pay up to $1.4 billion in penalties to the U.S. government and radically overhaul its management.
	AT&T, Justice Department await decision that could determine future of media WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T Inc , which owns DirecTV, awaits a court ruling on Tuesday that will determine if it can buy Time Warner Inc , a decision that could prompt a cascade of pay TV companies buying television and movie makers and the first big test of the Trump administration’s antitrust teams.
	Wells Fargo workers push for more board access, so far in vain (Reuters) – A labor-backed group is stepping up pressure on Wells Fargo & Co to add an employee to a council that has the ear of the bank’s board and management, arguing workers deserve a voice as Wells Fargo works to get past a damaging scandal over sales practices.
	Tesla cuts 9 percent of workforce in search for profit (Reuters) – Electric car maker Tesla Inc is cutting several thousand jobs across the company as it seeks to reduce costs and become profitable without endangering the critical production ramp-up for its Model 3 sedan.
	Trump, in trade feud with allies, say won’t let them take advantage of U.S. SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday kept up his feud with America’s closest allies over trade, saying he could not allow them to continue taking advantage of the United States.
	Exclusive: Saudi Aramco eyes partnerships as it expands refining, petrochems DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco plans to boost investments in refining and petrochemicals to secure new markets for its crude, and sees growth in chemicals as central to its downstream strategy to lessen the risk of a slowdown in oil demand.
	JPMorgan sued over Mexican property transfer NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Mexican real estate developer has filed a $1.2 billion lawsuit accusing JPMorgan Chase & Co of fraudulently inducing it to transfer properties based on a false promise it would sell them.
	L’Oreal to appeal after UK setback in haircare patent row PARIS (Reuters) – L’Oreal , maker of brands like Lancome and Maybelline, said on Tuesday it would seek to appeal a British court ruling favoring a U.S. start-up that accuses the French cosmetics giant of infringing its patent on a haircare product.
	Stocks & Bonds Shrug At Historic Summit, Surging Inflation, Sky-High Optimism An historic Summit in Singapore, near record high business optimism, 7 year high surge in consumer prices, PTJ saying markets may meltup at some point, and bonds & stocks go nowhere… The S&P and Dow struggled to stay green all day…but when 3pmET hit – markets were panic-bid… just because Trannies remain best on the week… Tech outperformed Financials once again…
	Mueller Scrambles To Limit Evidence After Indicted Russians Actually Show Up In Court Special Counsel Robert Mueller is scrambling to limit pretrial evidence handed over to a Russian company he indicted in February over alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, according to Bloomberg. Mueller asked a Washington federal Judge for a protective order that would prevent the delivery of copious evidence to lawyers for Concord Management and Consulting, LLC, one of three Russian firms and 13 Russian nationals. The indictment accuses the firm of producing propaganda, pretending to be U.S. activists online and posting political content on social media in order to sow discord among American voters. The special counsel’s office argues that the risk of the evidence leaking or falling into the hands of foreign intelligence services, especially Russia, would assist the Kremlin’s active “interference operations” against the United States. “The substance of the government’s evidence identifies uncharged individuals and entities that the government believes are continuing to engage in interference operations like those charged in the present indictment,” prosecutors wrote. Improper disclosure would tip foreign intelligenc …
	US Budget Deficit Hits $530 Billion In 8 Months, As Spending On Interest Explodes The US is starting to admit that it has a spending problem. According to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement, in May, the US collected $217BN in receipts – consisting of $93BN in individual income tax, $103BN in social security and payroll tax, $3BN in corporate tax and $18BN in other taxes and duties- a drop of 9.7% from the $240.4BN collected last March and a clear reversal from the recent increasing trend… … even as Federal spending surged, rising 10.7% from $328.8BN last March to $363.9BN last month.
	Bitcoin Tumbles Below $6500 As Cryptos Suddenly Plunge No obvious catalysts for now but the crypto space just took another leg lower with Bitcoin now back below $6,500… Bitcoin is back at its lowest since Feb 2018…which is perhaps the driver of the plunge as it breaks April support lows… It’s been an ugly few days…
	The Market That Still Believes in Global Growth If the economic outlook is under threat, why are high-yield bonds doing so well?
	Xiaomi IPO Gets a Vital Helping Hand From Home Forget Chinese stocks joining MSCI’s indexes: A bigger opening-up is taking place in Chinese markets—for the country’s own technology giants.
	Will the Fed Set Off a Recession Alarm? The chairman of the Federal Reserve, just four months into his term, could be in the uncomfortable situation this week of signaling that a recession is coming.
	Currencies: Dollar gains ground as focus shifts to Fed meeting The U.S. dollar regained firmer footing in the second half of Tuesday’s session, as market participants turned their focus to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, which is expected to culminate in an interest rate hike on Wednesday.
	Doctor’s offices are a hot investment — what does that mean for profit vs. patient care? Private-equity firms are buying doctor’s offices across the U.S. — but critics say profits are coming before patients, and driving up health costs.
	Is the future of therapy online? Swiss drug giant Novartis thinks so Therapy comes with scheduling challenges, stigma and variable quality, a Novartis executive says. But new approaches could change that.