Written by Gary
The SP 500 has marked its longest bull-market run with slight gains today (SPY +0.03%), however the DOW is trading in the red as the large caps trend downwards.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 0.74% while Mexico’s IPC is up 0.53% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.02%. |
Traders Corner – Health of the Market
Looking at the last three columns (below), the first one (Actual), is what was reported this morning. The second column (Forecast) is what analysts had forecast and the third column is the previous report. Full calendar HERE.
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Target posts best comparable sales growth in 13 years, shares hit recordTarget Corp reported its best comparable-sales growth in 13 years and said a strong economy lifted customer visits to the most in a decade, sending its stock to a record high on Wednesday. |
| Apple to gain unconditional EU approval for Shazam buy: sourcesApple is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its planned acquisition of British music discovery app Shazam, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. |
| Goldman Sachs secures $1.5 billion sale, leaseback of London HQGoldman Sachs said on Wednesday it had sold its new, unfinished European headquarters in London to South Korea’s National Pension Service for 1.17 billion pounds ($1.49 billion) before moving staff to the site next year. |
| Amazon starts selling fashion, sportswear in BrazilAmazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it will start selling sportswear and clothing on its Brazilian site, bolstering the list of products that third party vendors offer on its local e-commerce marketplace. |
| Dollar, Treasuries yields fall on Trump woesBenchmark U.S. government debt yields slid to six-week lows on a flight to safety bid and the dollar weakened further on Wednesday as investors assess how a conviction and a guilty plea of two former advisers impact U.S. President Donald Trump. |
| S&P edges higher amid caution on Trump, trade and FedThe S&P 500 marked its longest bull-market run with slight gains on Wednesday, although caution prevailed ahead of trade talks, the Federal Reserve’s minutes and the threat to President Donald Trump’s position due to the legal woes of two ex-advisers. |
| Lowe’s new chief shuts Orchard stores, promises streamliningLowe’s Cos Inc on Wednesday promised to cut back slow-moving products and unsuccessful business projects as new Chief Executive Marvin Ellison seeks to turn around a company that has trailed bigger rival Home Depot for years. |
| Fiat Chrysler pressing on with Magneti Marelli spin-off, doesn’t comment reportFiat Chrysler (FCA) is pressing ahead with the spin- off of its parts maker Magneti Marelli, a spokesman confirmed in Wednesday after reports investment firm KKR was in talks to acquire the unit. |
| Credit Suisse freezes $5 billion of Russian money due to U.S. sanctionsOne of Switzerland’s largest banks, Credit Suisse, has frozen roughly 5 billion Swiss francs ($5 billion) of money linked to Russia to avoid falling foul of U.S. sanctions, according to its accounts, further increasing pressure on Moscow. |
| Real Routed Again As Brazilian Election Odds RepriceSince crashing through BofA’s “crisis indicator” 4.00 level, the Brazilian Real has gone into freefall, topping 4.09/USD today as markets continue to reprice to new leftist-victory election odds, and the central bank remains cornered on the sidelines.
As Bloomberg details, all this pessimism reflects what’s really an intense distaste for the Workers’ Party, known locally as the PT, among investors and business executives. They see the government of former President Dilma Rousseff as largely responsible for bringing about the worst recession in a century before she was impeached, and her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as a crook. While the PT has put Lula forth as its candidate, it’s unlikely he will be allowed to run in October because of a corruption conviction. His probable replacement, former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad, gets no more love from traders.
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| Nasdaq Erases Cohen-Chaos Losses – Everything Is Awesome AgainAs the old saying goes: “you can’t keep an over-valued, over-hyped, over-extended market down…” For the sound and fury of last night’s chaotic headlines surrounding Manafort and even more so Cohen (and his exuberant lawyer), it appears fears of impeachment or any impact to Trump’s glorious economy are just a ‘storm in a teacup’…
Mission Accomplished? There’s just one thing…
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| The “National Emergency Loophole”: How Trump Could Intervene In The Market To Crush The DollarFollowing a series of attacks on the Federal Reserve’s rate hike policy and complaints about the strong dollar, some Wall Street observers are saying the possibility that Trump himself will launch a sustained campaign to weaken the dollar as a way to reduce the U.S. trade deficit can no longer be dismissed. While a strong-dollar policy has been a cornerstone for successive U.S. administrations, Trump – like with many other things – has shown a penchant for upending the currency status quo. Since taking office in 2017, he has routinely talked about wanting a weaker dollar to support U.S. manufacturing. Additionally, Trump’s administration has been lukewarm toward America’s traditional strong-dollar stance. As Bloomberg notes in a Wednesday article, in recent months Trump has further stepped up the rhetoric as the dollar has bounced off its lows. In an interview published by Reuters this week, Trump once again accused China and the European Union of manipulating their currencies. Last Friday, he also complained to wealthy Republican donors that he was “not thrilled” with the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increases under Chairman Jerome Powell, which have boosted the dollar.
As a result, after a flurry of tweets in which Trump complained that the dollar is … |
| Smucker Needs to Fix Peanut Butter and JellyFood company Smucker has made smart moves to adjust its portfolio, but without boosting its core brands the stock will keep struggling. |
| July 2018 Headline Existing Home Sales Continue In Contraction Year-over-Year
The headline existing home sales growth “slowed” with the authors saying “In addition to the steady climb in home prices over the past year, it’s evident that the quick run-up in mortgage rates earlier this spring has had somewhat of a cooling effect on home sales”. Our analysis shows home sales three month rolling average is in contraction year-over-year. |
| Key Words: This just might be the best defense of the NFL’s national-anthem protesters you’ll ever hear from a politicianBeto O’Rourke’s take on why kneeling NFL players should be supported by everybody drew rave reviews and went viral overnight. His opponent, Ted Cruz, wasn’t impressed. |
| The Tell: U.S. stocks have trounced emerging markets this year and Deutsche Bank doesn’t expect that to changeInvestors in emerging-market equities have been through a lot this year, and throughout it all many may have been comforting themselves with two words: mean reversion. |
| Why financial wellness programs disappoint and the upside of going grayNews and analysis for those planning for or living in retirement. |
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