13Jun2018 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Stable Ahead Of Fed Decision, Media Shares Climb, Big Banks Slip Into Bear Market Territory As Rates Rise, WTI Crude Trading In The High 65 Handle

Written by Gary

US stock futures fractionally higher ahead of Fed interest rate decision (SPY +0.1%).

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 Germany’s DAX is up 0.31% and France’s CAC 40 is up 0.28%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Media, telecom shares lift futures; Fed awaited (Reuters) – A court approval for AT&T’s $85 billion takeover of Time Warner lifted media and telecom shares on Wednesday, helping U.S. stock futures ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy announcement.
	AT&T wins court approval to buy Time Warner over Trump opposition WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T Inc won court approval on Tuesday to buy Time Warner Inc for $85 billion, rebuffing an attempt by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to block the deal and likely setting off a wave of corporate mergers.
	AT&T slips after Time Warner buyout gets approval (Reuters) – Shares of AT&T Inc fell 2 percent on Wednesday after a federal judge approved the telecom company’s $85 billion buyout of Time Warner Inc, clearing the path for more deals in a rapidly changing media industry.
	Investors wipe $3 billion off China’s ZTE as U.S. settlement sinks in HONG KONG (Reuters) – Investors wiped about $3 billion off embattled Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp’s market value as it resumed trade on Wednesday after agreeing to pay up to $1.4 billion in penalties to the U.S. government.
	Didi Chuxing tightens car-pooling rules after murder threatens to dent image BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s biggest ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing said on Wednesday its car-pooling service drivers can only pick up passengers of the same sex in early morning and late evening, part of an on-going effort to regain trust following a murder of a female passenger earlier this year.
	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 renews attack on OPEC, says oil prices too high WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday renewed his attack on OPEC and again criticized the coalition of petroleum producing countries for rising oil prices.
	Toyota pumps $1 billion in Grab in auto industry’s biggest ride-hailing bet SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp has agreed to buy a $1 billion stake in Southeast Asia’s Grab in the biggest investment by a carmaker into a ride-hailing firm, at a time when traditional automakers are racing to team up with disruptive tech companies.
	Investors challenge WPP over Sorrell’s departure LONDON (Reuters) – The world’s biggest advertising agency WPP faced a shareholder revolt over its handling of the departure of former CEO Martin Sorrell after large votes against the chairman and the company remuneration report.
	Producer Prices Surge At Fastest Rate Since 2011 After yesterday’s surge to 7 year highs in consumer price inflation had zero impact on bonds or stocks, a very different regime than just a few months ago, one wonders what today’s producer price inflation print will do. After slowing in April to +2.6% YoY, PPI surged in May by 3.1% YoY – the biggest price rise since Dec 2011… Energy prices dominated the increase – rising 4.6% YoY. Final demand goods details: Half of the advance in the index for final demand goods is a …
	Why Has NYSE Blocked Zimbabwe From Accessing Its Website? Authored by Alvine Chaparadza via TechZim.com, The largest equities-based exchange in the world, The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has banned Zimbabweans from accessing its website. NYSE has blocked the country’s IP address hence its preventing Zimbabwean internet users from accessing NYSE’s website. Check out what:
	Seattle Backpedals On Homeless Housing Tax After Amazon, Starbucks Protest The Seattle City Council voted 7-2 on Tuesday to repeal a “head tax” on the city’s largest companies – less than a month after the legislature approved the tax of $275 per employee for local companies that gross at least $20 million annually. The tax would have raised $47 million annually from around 600 businesses to feed and house the homeless – however after dozens of businesses funded an effort to repeal the tax, including Starbucks and Amazon which kicked in $25,000 each, it was repealed. The vote, at a special meeting called by Council President Bruce Harrell, came less than a month after the council approved the tax of $275 per employee, per year to help fund housing and services for homeless people. It also came as leaders of a referendum campaign to repeal the tax had been preparing to submit their signatures. For the city’s leaders, the move amounts to an embarrassing about-face. Only a few weeks ago, Durkan and council members hailed the tax as …
	Trump Slams OPEC Again, Demands Lower Prices: “Oil Prices Are Too High, OPEC Is At It Again” Nearly two months after Trump drew a line in the sand on oil prices, when on April 20 he lashed out at OPEC, tweeting that “Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!”which promptly set a ceiling on crude and prompted Saudi Arabia to scramble to boost production… Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 20, 2018 … moments ago Trump doubled down on his oil- price targeting, and in a lengthy tweetstorm that touched on everything from Marc Sanford’s loss, to the strength of the economy, to the just concluded North Korean summit, his relationship with Kim Jong Un and the cancellation of war games with South Korea, even the announcement of the world cup host nation (US, Mexico and Canada), Trump once again lashed out at OPEC, tweeting that “Oil prices are too high, OPEC is at it again. Not good!” Oil prices are too high, OPEC is at it again. Not good! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018 Translation: Trump realizes that the middle-class is spendin …
	AT&T-Time Warner Judge Fires Starting Gun in the Battle Against Tech Approval of the deal pushes government to the sidelines and encourages media, tech and telecom companies to find partners to compete against Silicon Valley.
	U.S. Politics Is the ABC for ZTE China’s ZTE has narrowly escaped death, only to become living proof of the way political risk can dominate a stock’s fortunes. The Hong Kong-listed shares of the Chinese telecom-equipment maker dropped about 40% Wednesday.
	Grocery Chains Are Being Squeezed From All Sides Pressure from rapidly changing consumer tastes, European discounters and Whole Foods will hurt smaller grocery chains most but the big players like Kroger will struggle to grow.
	IPO Report: Adyen IPO: 5 things to know about the PayPal rival As the recent tech IPO boom bleeds into payments, European financial-technology giant Adyen NV has gotten in on the action.
	Economic Report: Wholesale inflation surges in May due to higher oil prices, PPI show Wholesale costs in the U.S. surged in May against the backdrop of rising oil prices, adding upward pressure on inflation in a steadily growing economy marked by supply bottlenecks and a growing shortages of skilled labor. The producer price index jumped 0.5% in May.
	The Tell: There’s been a quiet revolution on Wall Street—investors won Over the past several years, there has been a massive upheaval in the way individuals access and analyze financial markets, and in the myriad costs they pay for doing so. Overwhelming, the primary beneficiaries of these trends haven’t been the major Wall Street banks, or portfolio managers or financial advisers, but the investors themselves.