11Jul2018 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Pointing To A Lower Opening After US Threatens More China Tariffs, Oil Falls After Libya Ports Reopen, WTI Trading Lower In The 73 Handle

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are sharply lower today with shares in Germany off the most. The DAX is down 1.28% while France’s CAC 40 is off 1.14% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 1.13%.

Canada’s Tim Hortons to open 1,500 stores in China

Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons is pushing into China with plans to open 1,500 outlets in the world’s second largest economy over the next 10 years, the company said on Wednesday.

Oil falls after Libya ports reopen, Trump tariff threat

Global oil benchmark Brent fell more than $2 a barrel on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to levy new tariffs on China and Libya announced the reopening of key oil export terminals.

Stock futures drop after U.S. threatens more China tariffs

U.S. stock index futures dropped sharply on Wednesday after the United States threatened tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, dampening hopes of a compromise on trade.

Stocks, metals hit by new U.S. trade war salvo

Stocks fell and metals prices slumped to their lowest in a year on Wednesday, as U.S. threats of tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods pushed the world’s two biggest economies ever closer to a full-scale trade war.

China says will hit back after U.S. proposes fresh tariffs on $200 billion in goods

China accused the United States of bullying and warned it would hit back after the Trump administration raised the stakes in their trade dispute, threatening 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods.

China’s CIC sovereign fund says trade war would hurt its investments

The president of China’s CIC sovereign wealth fund said on Wednesday that a trade war appeared unavoidable, and that the dispute would have a negative impact on CIC’s investments.

China to its state media: keep calm, don’t inflame trade row with U.S.

China is clearly angry about Washington’s hard line on trade, but has controlled coverage of the row in its media, limiting open commentary and banning attacks on U.S. President Donald Trump, several sources with knowledge of the matter said.

U.S. says the ‘reckoning’ over China trade is too big for WTO

A “reckoning” over China’s unfair trade policies can be put off no longer, but many of the most significant problems cannot be handled by the World Trade Organization, U.S. ambassador Dennis Shea told a WTO meeting on Wednesday.

Uber executive Hornsey resigns in email to staff following discrimination probe

Uber Technologies Inc’s Chief People Officer Liane Hornsey resigned in an email to staff on Tuesday, following an investigation into how she handled allegations of racial discrimination at the ride-hailing firm.

Dr.Copper Is Sick – Global Growth Scare Looms After Biggest Drop In 7 Years

When Dr.Copper is surging, there is no better indication of the world’s economic growth success. However, when Dr.Copper is not surging, it is largely ignored and shrugged off as transitory, inventory- or technical-driven weakness that ‘bucks’ the obvious trend of global growth.

Except that’s total bullshit and the fact that the last 4 weeks have seen the biggest collapse in copper prices since 2011 suggests all is definitely not well in the global synchronous growth narrative.

Furthermore, as Bloomberg notes, just when emerging markets were showing some green shoots, the latest trade attack on Chinese imports by the White House has all the signs of a rally-killer.

Euro Jumps On Report About Earlier Than Expected Rate Hike

As if there wasn’t enough fringe developments to keep track of this morning, the ECB decided to interject with its own latest trial balloon (using Reuters this time), with a strategically timed story according to which the ECB rate hike planning might be more advanced than widely thought, and while policymakers are split (and one can easily imagine which ones leaked the “story”) with some expecting the hike in the fall of 2019, others say the hike could come as early as July, months ahead of the market consensus which is currently toward the end of the year:

ECB POLICYMAKERS SPLIT ON TIMING OF FIRST RATE HIKE, MEANING OF “THROUGH SUMMER”: SOURCES

OTHERS ECB RATE SETTERS SEE SCOPE FOR MOVE AS EARLY AS JULY AS LANGUAGE VAGUE: SOURCES

Most desks are dismissing the report as just an ECB market positioning test and a way to stop out some of the overly aggressive shorts and/or weak hands, however the news briefly managed to wipe away all EUR losses for the day, and it was up 30 pips from session lows at last check.

Turkish Lira Tumbles To Record Low As “Ticking Time Bomb” Looms In Banking System

Having exercised his newly-omnipotent capabilities to alter central bank decrees and appointing a puppet cabinet, Turkish President Erdogan is now urging the general public to borrow in the currency in which they are paid, but, as Bloomberg reports, that warning came too late for the country’s energy companies.

Turkish power producers are emerging as one of the biggest risks to the nation’s banks after they plowed billions of dollars into new power generation, distribution projects and deals over the past 15 years. Now, with the lira depreciating faster than they can raise electricity prices, some utilities earn less per year than what they have to repay in foreign-currency loans, according to the Ankara-based Electricity Producers’ Association.

Domestic banks are the most exposed to loans in foreign currencies, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a note in May.

The NPL ratio for the banking industry rose to just over three percent in the week ended June 29 for the first time since October, according to data from the banking watchdog.

“A realistic estimate of non-performing l …

Saudi Oil Production Surges By Over 400,000 Barrels In June: OPEC

The energy community was looking with particular interest to the latest, just released July OPEC monthly report, for signs of the promised – if only by Saudi Arabia – boost in oil output, and it got what it was looking for, if to a lesser extent than some had expected: in June, OPEC’s collective oil production rose by 173Kb/d to 32.327MM, according to secondary sources.

While the total production rose to the highest level in months, it was well below both year end 2016 and 2017 production, both of which were above 32.6MM as a result of production declines and stoppages among some key OPEC members.

In June, Crude output was boosted mostly in Saudi Arabia, where it increased by over 400K to 10.420mmb/d, with Iraq, Nigeria, Kuwait and UAE also increasing their monthly production. On a self-reported basis, Saudi said it had boosted output by 459kb/d, bringing the total to 10,489mmb/d.

When Will Trade Battles End? Watch Economies, Not Politicians

After a brief May hiatus, a full-fledged Sino-U.S. trade fight looks increasingly likely. The deciding factor might not be what you think.

Don’t Fall for Pepsi’s Sugar High

PepsiCo shares had their biggest percentage increase in nearly a decade Tuesday morning on hopes that the company is arresting the decline of its core, domestic beverages business. Investors are celebrating prematurely.

Why the Strong Dollar Is Bad for Banks

It has been all downhill for international bank stocks this year. One reason why this trend will likely continue is the strengthening dollar.

Nvidia to test fleet of robotaxis with Daimler, Bosch

Nvidia Corp. said late Tuesday it’s partnering with German car maker Daimler AG and Bosch on a robot taxi project that will begin testing in less than a year.

Nvidia scores big win with Daimler, Bosch self-driving-car platform

Tesla, once the mindshare leader in the self-driving-car niche, has fallen behind amid troubles for its Model 3 production.

Tilray IPO: Five things to know about the first pot company to go public on Nasdaq

Canada-based marijuana production and processor Tilray Inc. has laid out its plans to be the first company in the once-clandestine sector to debut on Nasdaq Inc.’s Global Select Market exchange.