Written by Gary
US stocks are flat at the noon hour (SPY -0.01%), after an agreement on an overhaul of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
North and South American markets are mixed to lower. Shares in Brazil are off as the Bovespa drops 0.63%. The IPC is down 0.09% while the S&P 500 in U.S. is unchanged. |
Traders Corner – Health of the Market
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. | |
U.S. consumer confidence races to near 18-year highU.S. consumer confidence surged to near an 18-year high in August, as households remained upbeat on the labor market, pointing to strong consumer spending that should help to sustain the economy for the remainder of the year. | |
Tiffany’s results beat estimates, profit outlook upTiffany & Co’s results topped Wall Street estimates on Tuesday as a heavy advertising spend drew in both affluent and more price-conscious shoppers to its stores in the Americas and China, prompting the chain to raise its annual profit forecast. | |
Slowing online sales hurt Best Buy’s second quarter, shares dropBest Buy Co Inc on Tuesday reported a drop in quarterly online sales growth and offered a profit forecast for the current quarter that fell short of analyst estimates, sending its shares down more than 7 percent in late morning trading. | |
Wall Street flat after NAFTA deal highU.S. stocks were little changed on Tuesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hovering at all-time highs, a day after the United States and Mexico reached an agreement on an overhaul of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). | |
Thomson Reuters says it will complete Blackstone deal on October 1Thomson Reuters Corp said on Tuesday that it will complete the sale of a 55 percent stake in its Financial & Risk unit to private equity firm Blackstone Group LP on Oct. 1. | |
Canada rejoins talks to stay in NAFTA, deal possible this weekCanada’s top trade negotiator joins her Mexican and U.S. counterparts in Washington on Tuesday in a bid to remain part of a trilateral North American trade pact, as U.S. officials expressed optimism a deal could be reached this week. | |
Global stocks climb as markets celebrate trade dealA global stocks index advanced to more than five-month highs on Tuesday, lifted by investor optimism that a U.S.-Mexico deal will help avert a global trade war. | |
Chipotle launches delivery service with DoorDashChipotle Mexican Grill Inc said on Tuesday it would partner with delivery service DoorDash, as the restaurant chain looks to get more people to eat its burritos and tacos, at a time when traffic at its restaurants is falling. | |
U.S. goods trade deficit rises as exports fallThe U.S. goods trade deficit widened sharply in July as exports of agricultural products tumbled, suggesting trade will likely be a drag on economic growth in the third quarter. | |
Vietnam Demands Monsanto Finally Be Held Liable Over Agent OrangeAuthored by Andrea Germanos via CommonDreams.org, In the wake of a U.S. court ordering Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to man who says its weedkiller Roundup caused his cancer, Vietnam has called on the agrichemical giant to pay reparations to Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange.
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Over A Billion Frozen As Investors Pull Money From Multi-Billion Fund ManagerAt the start of August we reported that Swiss multi-billion asset manager, GAM Holdings announced it has frozen withdrawals at some of its bond funds after a surge in redemptions from clients who sought withdraw their money following the suspension of manager Tim Haywood, the latest in a series of setbacks that sent the company’s shares into a tailspin. Tim Haywood GAM’s troubles started in July amid market speculation that a market neutral quant fund GAM had purchased in October 2017, Cantab Capital Partners, was in trouble, with some pointing fingers at AQR. Perhaps, but it turns out that GAM was also involved when the fund warned of a writedown due to losses at one of its quant hedge funds. The announcement launched a slide in its shares that only accelerated after this week’s suspension of Haywood, who headed the firm’s second-largest “unconstrained” strategy, and a warning by CEO Alex Friedman that clients may allocate less money to the firm because of volatile market conditions, accelerated the slump. Fast forward to today, when GAM Holding … | |
Is Bitcoin The New Safe Haven Trade?Bitcoin and the entire crypto space has caught a solid bid this morning, pushing the cryptocurrency back over $7,000 without any apparent catalyst or major news behind the move. However, according to Andrew Zatlin of Moneyball Economics, one possible explanation is emerging as likely: Bitcoin is becoming the new safe trade. As Zatlin explains, echoing what we first said in September 2015, emerging markets are continuously using bitcoin (BTC) as a way to get their money of their respective countries. Crypto currencies are attractive to individuals in less developed economies for a few reasons: Transaction costs are the same as gold. BTC’s higher price volatility is offset by gold’s higher conversion fees Liquidity favors BTC BTC only requires access to the internet Easier to transport and hide $20,000 of BTC offsets gold’s bulkiness As recent events in Turkey and Iran show, hard currency and precious metal confiscation is a very real threat. Crypto is now a very real alternative. Turkish citizens flocked to bitcoin as the Turkish lira continues to p … | |
Why Markets Rallied on Trump’s Trade DealThe bilateral trade deal with Mexico and any subsequent agreement with Canada may create some frictions for companies and consumers, but it is a relief compared to what might have been. | |
August 2018 Conference Board Consumer Confidence ImprovesWritten by Steven Hansen The latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index’s headline number of 133.4 (1985=100), up from 127.9 in July. | |
MarketWatch First Take: Now would be the time for Apple to buy Tesla, and kick Musk out of the driver’s seatThe idea of a merger between Tesla Inc. and Apple Inc. has been floated for years as a way to get attention. Now, for the first time, it may not be so ridiculous. | |
Tesla stock battered anew as analyst questions Elon Musk’s leadershipTesla shares extended their losing streak to a second day as analysts at Canaccord Genuity trim expectations and cast doubt on the company’s solvency. | |
The Ratings Game: Ionis stock drops 13% as FDA fails to approve key drugInvestors are now wondering whether another, similar Ionis therapeutic, called Tegsedi, will also fail to win approval. |
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