13Aug2018 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Lower, Dow Posts 4-day Losing Streak, DOW Closes Down 0.5%, US Bank Shares Fall As Turkey Crisis Continues To Rattle Investors

U.S. bank shares fall on Turkey contagion fears

U.S. bank shares fell for a third straight session on Monday as investor appetite for risk weakened on worries that a currency crisis in Turkey would spread to other countries.

U.S. economy seen strong in 2018, to slow in 2019: CBO

U.S. economic growth will probably accelerate this year before slowing in 2019 to well below the Trump administration’s 3 percent target as a fiscal stimulus fades, congressional researchers projected on Monday.

Musk talking to Saudi fund, others as he seeks Tesla buyout financing

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Monday a July 31 meeting with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund convinced him he could secure funding to take the electric car-maker private, but that he was still talking to the fund and other investors as he seeks to nail down financing.

Tesla’s slow disclosure raises governance, social media concerns

Tesla Inc’s handling of Chief Executive Elon Musk’s proposal to take the carmaker private and its failure to promptly file a formal disclosure has raised governance concerns and sparked questions about how companies use social media.

Tesla short sellers trim exposure but stay the course

Short sellers betting against Tesla trimmed their exposure to the electric car maker’s stock on Monday after Chief Executive Elon Musk gave new information about his proposal to take the company private.

S&P 500, Dow slip as Turkey’s currency woes spread

The S&P 500 and the Dow industrials fell on Monday as a global contagion of market jitters arising from the plunge of Turkey’s currency spread to Wall Street, while the Nasdaq edged higher on gains from tech stocks.

VF to spin off Lee and Wrangler jeans into public company

VF Corp , one of the world’s biggest apparel makers, will spin off Lee and Wrangler jeans into a separate public company, it said on Monday, allowing it to focus on its more profitable Vans sneakers and The North Face outerwear businesses.

Turkey must ensure independence of central bank: Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Turkey on Monday to ensure the independence of its central bank as other senior officials said that Turkey’s economic woes were causing great concern.

Tourists find silver lining in Turkey’s lira crash

Visitors to Turkey flocked to its high-end shops to snap up bargains on Monday, their purchasing power buoyed by a currency crisis as the country’s lira sank to a record low beyond 7 per dollar.

Global Stocks ‘Miraculously’ Brush Off Emerging Markets Massacre

Overheard everywhere today…

Emerging Market FX was where the headlines were today…

But stocks in China, Europe, and US all saw miraculous ramps as EM tumbled…

Obviously Turkey led the charge… CBRT desperately defended the 7.00 line in the sand for USDTRY..

Peter Strzok Tweets Link To $150,000 GoFundMe For “Lost Income And Legal Fees”

Just-fired FBI agent Peter Strzok hopped on Twitter Monday with a statement from his lawyer and a link to a GoFundMe account set up by the “Friends Of Special Agent Peter Strzok,” which has already raised just under $30,000 in three hours after more than 700 people donated to the fundraiser. Jennifer Kay, a spokeswoman for Strzok’s attorney, confirmed that the Twitter account was authentic according to the Daily Caller.

Deeply saddened by this decision. It has been an honor to serve my country and work with the fine men and women of the FBI. https://t.co/iET9SbeTrv pic.twitter.com/7VTswzjoxE

— Peter Strzok (@petestrzok) August 13, 2018

The page reads:

For the last year, Pete, his work, and his character have been the target of highly politicized attacks, including frequent slanderous statements from President Trump, who actively—and …

Russell Napier: “Turkey Will Be The Largest EM Default Of All Time”

Submitted by Russell Napier of ERIC

Regular readers of the Fortnightly will know that The Solid Ground has long forecast a major debt default in Turkey. More specifically, the forecast remains that the country will impose capital controls enforcing a near total loss of US$500bn of credit assets held by the global financial system. That is a large financial hole in a still highly leveraged system. That scale of loss will surpass the scale of loss suffered by the creditors of Bear Stearns and while Lehman’s did have liabilities of US$619bn, it has paid more than US$100bn to its unsecured creditors alone since its bankruptcy.

It is the nature of EM lending that there is little in the way of liquid assets to realize; they are predominantly denominated in a currency different from the liability, and also title has to be pursued through the local legal system. Turkey will almost certainly be the largest EM default of all time, should it resort to capital controls as your analyst expects, but it could also be the largest bankruptcy of all time given the difficulty of its creditors in recovering any assets. So the events of last Friday represent only the end of the beginning f …

Crypto Bubble Unwind Images: Fast In Altcoins, Slower In Bitcoin

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk,

Ripple, the number three cryptocurrency is down 89% from the top, Ethereum 76%, Bitcoin 67%.

The cryptocurrency bubble is unwinding rapidly from the bottom up.

Bitcoin is holding up the best.

Why Turkey’s Trials Are Rippling Into Europe

Emerging-market currencies aren’t the only ones affected by Turkey’s crisis, the euro is too.

This Year’s Big Disrupter: The Dollar

Much of the disruption to global financial markets this year has come from a source close to home: the U.S. dollar.

What exactly is insider trading—and how do you avoid it?

You don’t have to be the one doing the trading to get in trouble.

This is how the 1% shop for clothes

Your annual paycheck is just a fraction of what these people pay for their wardrobe.

Mark Hulbert: U.S. investors should see this Turkish crisis as a buying opportunity

Just look at how U.S. stocks performed after similar crises.