13Jul2018 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Fractionally Higher, DOW Closes Up 95 Points, US Rig Count Ticks Higher, Oil Rigs Flat, WTI Crude Settles In The Mid 70 Handle

Written by Gary

The benchmark SP 500 hit a more than five-month high today (SPY +0.1%) on gains in industrials and energy companies, while the safe-haven U.S. dollar slipped after touching a two-week high.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

U.S. rig count ticks higher, oil rigs flat

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Fed emphasizes ‘solid’ U.S economic growth, repeats gradual approach The Federal Reserve on Friday pointed to “solid” U.S. economic growth during the first half of the year in its semi-annual report to Congress, where it also reiterated that it expected to continue to raise interest rates gradually.
	Oil rises but declines for the week as supply concerns ease Oil prices rose about 1 percent on Friday as strike actions in Norway and Iraq hit supplies, but futures were set for a second straight week of decline after Libyan ports reopened and on the view that Iran might still export some crude despite U.S. sanctions.
	China’s imports to U.S. ports start peaking early amid tariff threat Chinese imports to U.S. ports rose more than expected in June, suggesting that some retailers moved up orders to insulate themselves from an intensifying trade war that threatens to send up costs on a growing number of consumer products.
	Trump vows ‘great’ trade deal with UK, abruptly changing tack on May’s Brexit plan President Donald Trump said on Friday the United States and Britain could secure a “great” post-Brexit trade deal, lavishing praise on Prime Minister Theresa May and contradicting his own withering assessment of her strategy publicized hours earlier.
	‘Together Against Trump’, thousands protest peacefully in London Chanting “Donald Trump has got to go,” tens of thousands of protesters marched through London on Friday waving banners and banging pots to demonstrate against the U.S. president on his first official visit to Britain.
	S&P 500 at five-month high, but banks weigh after results U.S. stocks edged higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 hitting a more than five-month high, as gains in industrials and other areas offset a drop in financials after results from three big Wall Street banks mostly disappointed investors.
	U.S. stocks edge higher on industrials; dollar flattens The benchmark S&P 500 hit a more than five-month high on Friday on gains in industrials and energy companies, while the safe-haven U.S. dollar flattened after touching a two-week high.
	Facebook, Twitter, Alphabet to testify at U.S. House hearing The U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday will hold a hearing to take testimony from Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc’s YouTube unit and Twitter Inc on whether social media companies are filtering content for political reasons, the committee chairman said.
	China’s trade surplus with U.S. hits record as exporters rush to beat tariffs China’s trade surplus with the United States swelled to a record in June as its overall exports grew at a solid pace, a result that could further inflame a bitter trade dispute with Washington.
	“Everyone Wins In A Trade War”? Stocks, Bonds, Dollar All Soar After Tariff Tantrum “No one wins a trade war” they said… Well for now, everyone is winning – US, Chinese, and European stocks are up; the dollar is stronger; and the long-bond is up… Bonds and Stocks are bid post-Trade-War-Tantrum… For now Russia is winning the trade war (if stock markets matter) Chinese Stocks love Trade Wars…
	You Now Can’t Leave The U.S. Unless The IRS Lets You Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute, When it comes to human migration, nearly everything we hear nowadays in relation to the United States and Europe is related to immigration into North America and Europe. Historically, however, governments have often been as concerned with emigration as they have been with immigration. This is not surprising since government have always attempted to “monopolize the legitimate means of movement” as noted by historian John Torpey. For Torpey, author of The Invention of the Passport: Surveillance, Citizenship and the State, a preferred method of “regulating international movement” has been the passport. Wendy McElroy puts things less subtly when she describes the passport as a tool the state can use to “exert social control by refusing travel to ‘enemies of the state.'” It should not be surprising, then, that the US government is now cracking down on Americans who have outstanding tax bills — by holding their passports hostage. This could affect
	El-Erian: Why The US Is “Winning” The Trade War Mohamed El-Erian, Allianz’s chief economic advisor, declared Friday that the US will prevail in its trade war against China because China is a “less open economy” than its western rivals. Mohamed El-Erian El-Erian said that earlier this week, which ended in relative terms, we are winning and we will win the trade war,” according to CNBC. “When people realize that at the end of the day, the US will prevail, because [China] is a less open economy, because [the US] is a more dynamic economy, that ultimately you may end up in a situation where the US’ position in global economic terms is better off,” he said. Still, the former one-time heir to Gross may have gone too far in describing Trump’s nontraditional negotiating tactics. El-Erian said as long as the risks are managed, everything will be fine as far as the US is concerned. “One of the upside risks, is that you may end up changing the global landscape in a way that favors the US. Because countries will realize, if we slip into a trad …
	Kunstler: Hope And Change Are At Hand Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com, It seems unfair that the earnest polymath Elon Musk should go broke in the electric car business while Kylie Jenner becomes a billionaire at age 20 hawking lip gloss on Snapchat, but that’s how the American Dream rolls these late days of empire. Perhaps the lesson here, for all you MBA wannabes, is that Mr. Musk could switch his production facilities from cars to lip gloss. Of course, to successfully market his new line of cosmetics on social media, Elon might have to consider sexual “reassignment” surgery — unless he could persuade American men via Facebook and Twitter, that lip enhancement boosts male self-esteem almost as much as the purchase of a Ford F-450 pickup truck at a laughable fraction of the cost. Which raises an interesting question: if President Donald Trump’s most winning personal feature is that magnificent golden hair-do, why doesn’t he (or his family) get out of the pain-in-the-ass hotel business, with all its construction and maintenance issues and dirty sheets, and just put out shampoo?
	Drug Supply Chain Feels the Trump Effect Pfizer’s decision to defer drug price increases could ripple through the drug supply chain, which benefits when drug prices go up.
	Disney and Comcast Raise the Stakes in the Battle for Fox It’s official: The battle for 21st Century Fox assets moved across the Atlantic with dueling bids for satellite-TV provider Sky.
	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.
	Poll: Theories Of Banking Written by John Lounsbury We have a poll running on Twitter which will remain open until 3 am Saturday, 14 July EDT. The poll asks for opinion (or knowledge, if that is the case) of what is the oldest theory of banking. If you haven’t already done so, please respond to the poll.
	Mark Hulbert: This high-flying index is signaling that the stock market and the U.S. economy are just fine Freight Transportation Services Index is booming — and that’s bullish for stocks, writes Mark Hulbert.
	The Ratings Game: These are the retail brands that will be hurt most by Chinese tariffs Analysts weigh in on the retailers and brands that could be most impacted by tariffs.
	Victoria’s Secret can’t even sell its merchandise at a discount L Brands reported struggles selling Victoria’s Secret merchandise, even during the semiannual sale, sending shares down.