09Aug2018 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Futures Are Little Changed As Strong Earnings Offset US-China Trade Tensions, DOW Up 22 Points, Dollar Index Holds Modest Gains After Economic Data

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are lower today with shares in London off the most. The FTSE 100 is down 0.69% while France’s CAC 40 is off 0.29% and Germany’s DAX is lower by 0.06%.

Viacom reports revenue below estimates on weak advertising sales

Viacom Inc reported quarterly revenue below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, as domestic advertising sales fell and the media company collected lower fees from cable TV operators and online distributors.

L’Oreal adds to Facebook sales push with virtual make-up tests

Maybelline parent L’Oreal is pairing up with Facebook to roll out virtual tests for shoppers to see how they might look with different lipsticks or eye shadows, adding to its push to drive more sales online and through social media networks.

U.S. sanctions whack Russia’s rouble, Turkey’s lira free-falls

Alarm bells were ringing on Thursday as harsh new U.S. sanctions drove drove down Russia’s rouble Turkey’s lira plunged as worries mounted that Ankara was sliding towards a full-blown economic crisis.

Futures edge higher; S&P flirting with record high

U.S. stock index futures ticked higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 aiming at a fresh record, as the second-quarter earnings season winds down on a strong note.

The ‘Friends’ trend: ’90s fashion revival for back-to-school season

Urban Outfitters Inc , American Eagle Outfitters Inc and other retailers are filling stores with styles from the 1990s in a bet that fanny packs, chunky-soled sneakers and high-waisted “mom jeans” will lift back-to-school sales.

Mazda, Suzuki, Yamaha Motor apologize for improper vehicle tests

Mazda Motor Corp, Suzuki Motor Corp and Yamaha Motor Co improperly tested vehicles for fuel economy and emissions, the Japanese government said on Thursday, revealing fresh cases of compliance failures by manufacturers.

Tribune Media files suit, terminates Sinclair tie-up deal

Tribune Media Co terminated its $3.9 billion deal to be acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group and filed suit, the company said on Thursday, after regulators objected to the acquisition that had received support from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Hungry for growth, food makers seek new flavor of CEO

PepsiCo Inc’s incoming chief executive Ramon Laguarta is the latest of a new generation of leaders tasked with reigniting growth at the world’s best-known food and drink brands as they fight back against media-savvy independent rivals.

GM squeezes pounds and pennies to attack Ford’s pickup profit machine

When General Motors Co engineers were developing the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, some of them joined public tours of Ford Motor Co’s Dearborn, Michigan factory to watch aluminum-bodied F-series trucks go down the assembly line.

“All Bets Are Off” – Ruble, Lira Crushed By US Sanctions

Emerging Market currencies are down broadly but the biggest losers (for now) are the Turkish Lira (record lows) and Russian Ruble (20-mo lows) as both suffer from US government actions.

The Ruble has broken down to its lowest since Nov 2016 (US election)…

The move comes after the U.S. said it was imposing the new restrictions to punish President Vladimir Putin’s government for the March 4 nerve-agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. As Blomberg reports, the threatened measures spooked investors, driving the ruble to the lowest levels since 2016 and pushing stocks like Aeroflot and VTB, which could be targeted by some of the new restrictions, down as much as 6 percent.

“It is clear that major sanctions actions are looming against Russia now either by the Administration, by Congress or both,” Tim Ash, a senior emerging-market strategist at Bluebay Asset Management LLC in London, said. “All bets are off.”

And The Lira is plumbing new record low depths…

“The Outlook Has Become Grim”: Trump Trade War Causing “Rare Cracks” Within China’s Communist Party

Over the weekend, Trump claimed on Twitter that the US is winning the trade war with China for one simple reason: whereas US stocks are back to all time highs, the Chinese market has tumbled and remains mired in a bear market. Now, another indication may have emerged that the US is getting the upper hand in the ongoing trade feud: according to Reuters, the trade war with the United States is “causing rifts” within China’s Communist Party, with some critics saying that China’s overly nationalistic stance “may have hardened the U.S. position.”

While China’s President Xi still retains his undisputed grip on power, some have noted an unusual surge of criticism about economic policy and how the government has handled the trade war, revealing “rare cracks in the ruling Communist Party.” Specifically, Reuters notes that the backlash is being felt at the highest levels of the government, hitting a close aide to Xi, his ideology chief and strategist Wang Huning.

Wang, a prominent and influential academic, has recently also come under attack for his strident views on Chinese power: the architect of the “China Dream”, Xi’s vision for China to become a strong and prosperous nation, Wang has been taken to task by the Chinese leader for crafting an excessively nationalistic image for the country, which has only provoked the United States, the sources said.

“He’s in trouble for mishandling the propaganda and hyping up China too much,” said one of the sources, who has ties to China’s leadership and propaganda system.

Naturally, China did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Wang and his relationship with Xi, or on whether China had erred in its messaging in the trade war. But, in a stark co …

Russia Condemns New “Draconian” Sanctions, Weighs Banning Rocket Engines To US

A furious Russia condemned a new round of U.S. sanctions as “draconian” on Thursday and threatened to retaliate as news of the measures sent the ruble tumbling to two-year lows and sparked a wider asset sell-off over fears that Moscow was locked in a spiral of never-ending sanctions.

“Such measures are absolutely unfriendly and can hardly be associated with the constructive – difficult but constructive – atmosphere at the last meeting of the two presidents,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call.

As reported yesterday, in the latest diplomatic attack launched by Trump, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday it would impose fresh sanctions by the month’s end after determining that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, in Britain, something Moscow denies. The latest sanction announcement came just days after a bipartisan group of senators proposed a law mandating “crushing sanctions” – including on purchase of new sovereign debt and on big state banks – to punish Russia for election interference.

As NBC first reported, the new sanctions would come in two tranches:

The first, which targets U.S. exports of sensitive national-security related goods, comes with deep exemptions and many of the items it covers have already been banned by previous restrictions.

The second and more serious tranche, activated after 90 days if Moscow fails to provide “reliable assurances” it will no longer use chemical weapons and allow on-site inspections by the United Nations or other international observer groups, could include downgrading diplomatic relations, suspending the state airline Aeroflot’s ability to fly to the United States and cutting off nearly all exports and imports.

The added sanctio …

Futures Flat As China Charges Higher; Ruble, Lira, Kiwi Collapse

If yesterday global stocks largely ignored Wednesday’s slump in Chinese stocks, today they are doing the mirror image, barely responding as the Shanghai Composite rebounds strongly from near 2018 lows. European shares slid while U.S. index futures were mostly flat following a positive session in Asia that saw Chinese equities shrug off the latest tariff escalation between DC and Beijing. European stock markets struggled on Thursday with trade war worries, Russia’s ruble tumbled after the United States imposed fresh sanctions on the country and Turkey’s lira dropped to a new low.

Energy majors led the drop in Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index following yesterday’s sharp drop in crude. European equities traded lower (Eurostoxx 50 -0.1%) with heavier underperformance in the FTSE 100 following a plethora of large cap ex-dividends, as well as the abovementioned weakness in energy names. Consumer discretionary outperforms on the back of Adidas (+8.2%) lifting the sector and supporting the DAX 30 (Unch) amid earnings.

Chinese and Hong Kong stocks pushed firmer earlier, while Japanese shares dropped. China’s Shanghai Composite surged 1.8%, reversing yesterday’s losses, led by technology stocks after the government set up a group led by Premier Li Keqiang to d …

Not the Streaming Deal ‘Star Wars’ Fans Are Looking For

Walt Disney’s streaming service could have a troublesome absence when it launches late next year.

The Tell: A duo of factors signal that a stock-market downturn may be at hand

An overvalued market in itself isn’t always a concern in the near term, but a combination of low correlation and high multiples signal some stock market downturn ahead, according to James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group.

CryptoWatch: Lack of valuation tools leaves cryptocurrencies susceptible to big single participants — or bitcoin whales

Digital asset prices limped out of the gates Thursday, as investors took stock after Wednesday’s record fall, which saw most major coins post double-digit losses.

Currencies: Dollar higher ahead of data; New Zealand currency at lowest since 2016

The U.S. dollar trended higher on Thursday, ahead of economic data, while the New Zealand dollar saw a sharp move down thanks to its dovish central bank.