03Jul2018 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Down, Sharply Sliding After Positive Opening As Tech Shares Sell Off, WTI Crude Falls From $75 To Settle At High 73, Gold Index Trends Upward

Exclusive: China presses Europe for anti-U.S. alliance on trade

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) – China is putting pressure on the European Union to issue a strong joint statement against President Donald Trump’s trade policies at a summit later this month but is facing resistance, European officials said.

Wall Street gains with energy stocks, Facebook weighs

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, when markets close early ahead of the July 4 holiday, boosted by energy stocks, but gains were capped by a drop in technology stocks, with Facebook sliding on renewed concerns over its data scandal.

After Harley spat, Trump says other motorcycle firms may come to U.S

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his administration is working to bring other motorcycle companies to the United States, following Harley-Davidson Inc’s decision to shift some production for European customers overseas.

Shouting CEO, changing rules: inside Tesla’s Model 3-building sprint

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A tense and short-tempered Chief Executive Elon Musk barked at engineers on the Fremont, California assembly line. Tesla Inc pulled workers from other departments to keep pumping out the Model 3 electric sedans, disrupting production of the Model S and X lines. And weekend shifts were mandatory.

Facebook shares drop on report of widened probe on data scandal

(Reuters) – Shares of Facebook Inc fell 2 percent on Tuesday, after a report that a federal probe on the data breach linked to Cambridge Analytica had been broadened and would include more government agencies.

Ex-Intel executive departs Google as chipmaker searches for CEO

(Reuters) – Diane Bryant, a former Intel Corp executive who headed the chipmaker’s data center unit, is leaving Alphabet Inc’s cloud computing unit less than a year after joining and just as her old employer searches for a new chief executive.

Trump moves to block China Mobile’s U.S. entry on security concerns

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – The U.S. government has moved to block China Mobile from offering services to the country’s telecommunications market, recommending its application be rejected because the firm posed national security risks.

U.S. hits Glencore with subpoena related to money-laundering compliance

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. authorities have demanded Glencore hand over documents about its business in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela and Nigeria in relation to a corruption probe, sending the mining company’s shares down more than 10 percent.

Big food firms Nestle, Hershey at odds with farmers over U.S. GMO labeling

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The world’s top food companies and farmers of crops such as beet sugar are pitted against each other as they lobby the U.S. government over plans to label genetically-engineered ingredients.

DNC Chair Tom Perez Declares Socialist Ocasio-Cortez “The Future Of Our Party”

The already-fractured DNC is having an identity crisis. While establishment Democrats Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Chuck Schumer (NY) battle it out with Maxine Waters (CA) over anti-Trump activism, the party is now mounting support for their new rising star – Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after the 28-year-old political neophyte unseated the 4th most powerful Democrat in Congress last month in an upset primary win.

Ocasio-Cortez, a dues-paying member of Democratic Socialists of America (whose leadership has been openly calling for communism) – says that the US should abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), while also claiming that illegal aliens deserve a “right of passage” into the United States.

Heat Wave Is Slowing Stock Trades Between New Jersey Data Centers

The record high-humidity heat wave that’s hammering the Tri-state Area is making life difficult for man and machine alike. According to Bloomberg, the heat is so oppressive it is delaying radio transmissions between the three New Jersey data centers where most of the equity trading attributed to “New York” financial markets actually takes place.

High humidity is impeding radio transmissions Tuesday among three New Jersey data centers where U.S. stocks trade, according to a note Nasdaq Inc. sent customers.

According to the Nasdaq disclosure, it is now taking about 8 microseconds longer to send information from Nasdaq’s facility in Carteret to the New York Stock Exchange data center in Mahwah, and an extra 2 microseconds to send data to Cboe Global Markets Inc.’s exchange in Secaucus.

For HFTs, most of whom use microwaves to transmit orders, and some of which are using lasers, this is an eternity when it comes to frontrunning traditional orderflow or creating mini momentum ignition events at just the right time.

In other words, this is one of the few times when the HFT industry, looking at millions in foregone profits, can legitimately blame the weather on their woes.

Blowback – Nasdaq Plunges After China Blocks Micron Chip Sales

Potentially in response to Trump’s actions on China Mobile, a Chinese court temporarily banned Micron Technology chip sales, cutting the U.S. company off from the world’s largest semiconductor market.

Yesterday we specifically warned that following yet another targeted attack at a prominent Chinese company, it is only a matter of time before China responds in kind, and considering the size and prominence of China Mobile, one wonders how long until China takes aim at none other than the world’s largest company, Apple.

Well it’s not yet Apple but it’s getting there and Micron shares are tumbling on the headlines to 2-month lows…

Bloomberg reports that in a patent ruling in favor of Taiwanese rival United Microelectronics (UMC), the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China issued a preliminary injunction stopping Micron from selling 26 products, including dynamic random access memory and Nand flash memory-related products, UMC said in a statement Tues …

Ron Paul Exposes The Human Suffering Of “Cultural Marxism”

Via Ron Paul’s Facebook page,

Are you stunned by what has become of American culture?

Are you confused as to how every moral principle could be turned on its head so quickly?

Well, it’s not an accident.

You’ve probably heard of “Cultural Marxism,” but do you know what it means?

Marxists, after the tremendous failure of their *economic* ideas, decided to change their angle of attack. There was no way that people could be convinced that Socialism is economically superior to Capitalism.

Socialism produced tyranny and death in the hundreds of millions, while Capitalist nations were bursting with wealth.

So, Marxists shifted to targeting culture instead of the economy.

If Cultural Marxists could *destroy the culture* of Capitalist nations, *then* they would try to use the opportunity to change the governments and economies to their Socialist utopia.

If the people can’t think straight, perhaps then Socialism could be shackled onto them.

Marxists just shifted their targets.

Their original argument of workers being *exploited* by capitalists, didn’t sell. It’s obviously not the case.

So Marxists just shifted their “exploitation” schtick to culture:

– women exploited by men

– gays exploited by heterosexuals

– The old exploited by the young…and vice-versa

– This list goes on and on.

Anything that is true is to be twisted like a pretzel — to the point where people can’t tell what is true anymore.

How do you think they’re doing?

Had enough yet?

Why July Is a Risky Month for Drug Price Backlash

Less than two months after its unveiling, President Trump’s plan to lower prescription drug prices is up for a big test.

Dell Deal Is as Good as It Gets for VMware

The tech giant’s plan to return to public market is one of its least-bad options.

Tariffs Aren’t China’s Strongest Weapon Against the U.S.

China has yet to really deploy one of its most effective means of economic blackmail.

May 2018 Manufacturing New Orders Improved

Written by Steven Hansen

US Census says manufacturing new orders improved. Our analysis shows the rolling averages improved.

Outside the Box: I tested 2 free Social Security retirement calculators, and here’s what I found

When is the best time to claim Social Security benefits? And how to adjust your expected payments if you intend to retire before 62?

Market Extra: How will investors know if there’s a full-blown trade war? Here’s what Wall Street says

Since the start of 2018, Wall Street has been partly rattled by threats from President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on some of the country’s longstanding trade partners, with a recent escalation of tensions raising the question: When will we know when a genuine trade has commenced?

The Ratings Game: The Big 3 airlines to suffer from growing trade dispute, analyst says

Shares of the Big 3 airlines fall after Deutsche Bank downgraded them, citing concerns over heightened geopolitical risks, highlighted by the growing trade dispute.