19Sep2018 Midday Update: Wall Street Mixed, SP500 And DOW Lifted By Financials, Microsoft Pressures Nasdaq Down 0.2%, WTI Rises Into The Mid 70 Handle

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 2.19% while Mexico’s IPC is up 0.18% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.17%.

Goldman Sachs nears deal to sell its fintech app: source

Goldman Sachs is in advanced talks with several financial companies to spin off its three-year-old app, Simon, which sells complex financial products to retail investors, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Global stocks rally for a second day, setting aside trade fears

World stock markets broadly rose for a second straight day on Wednesday, while safe-haven assets such as U.S. bonds and the Japanese yen slipped to multi-week lows, on bets the ongoing U.S.-China trade spat would inflict less damage than feared.

S&P, Dow lifted by financials; Microsoft pressures Nasdaq

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrials Average rose on Wednesday, helped by upbeat housing data and a gain for bank stocks driven by rising Treasury yields, while a drop in Microsoft pressured the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Strap on the Fitbit: John Hancock to sell only interactive life insurance

John Hancock, one of the oldest and largest North American life insurers, will stop underwriting traditional life insurance and instead sell only interactive policies that track fitness and health data through wearable devices and smartphones, the company said on Wednesday.

Amazon’s use of merchant data under EU microscope

EU regulators are quizzing merchants and others on U.S. online retailer Amazon’s use of their data to discover whether there is a need for action, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Wednesday.

China’s Tencent Music seeks $2 billion in U.S. IPO: sources

Tencent Music Entertainment Group, China’s biggest music-streaming company, is seeking to raise about $2 billion in a U.S. listing, according to three people close to the deal, down from the up to $4 billion that had been touted earlier.

Mars aims to tackle ‘broken’ cocoa model with new sustainability scheme

Mars Wrigley Confectionery launched a new sustainability strategy on Wednesday with the aim of combating deforestation, child labor and poverty in what it called the “broken” cocoa supply chain.

China says won’t weaken currency to boost exports, as U.S. tariffs mount

China will not stoop to competitive devaluation of its currency, Premier Li Keqiang stressed, hours after China hit back, with a softer punch than the one landed by the United States, in an escalating tariff war between the world’s largest economies.

EU says McDonald’s, Luxembourg tax deal not illegal

McDonald’s tax deal with Luxembourg did not breach EU state aid rules, EU antitrust regulators ruled on Wednesday, saying the reason the U.S. fast food chain did not pay some taxes was due to the mismatch between U.S. and Luxembourg laws.

How Peter Thiel Made A Killing In Tilray

The momentum stock du jour – Tilray – has captivated trader attentions ever since its IPO at $17 in July, following which it has catapulted in what has been a relentless parabolic fashion. And while most know the general story behind the Canadian pot company, what may come as a surprise is that Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy’s Privateer Holdings, holds more than 58 million of the total 76 million shares outstanding, a stake now worth more than $12 billion after the stock soared more than 10-fold from its July public offering. And, according to Bloomberg, when Tilray’s unlisted Class 1 shares are included, Privateer’s holdings rise to almost 75 million shares, worth more than $15 billion.

The curiously low float – together with a painful short squeeze – is one of the reasons behind the stock’s tremendous move. As Bloomberg notes, the limited number of shares available for trading is also be adding to the volatility, making it more expensive for skeptical investors to short the stock. That however has not daunted the skeptics such as Citron Research, which earlier on Wednesday said it remains short on Tilray, calling the stock’s surge “beyond comprehension” in a Tweet Wednesday.

However, what even fewer know is that one of the biggest winners from Tilray’s explosion, is none other than Peter Thiel who is an investor in Privateer.

Bond Bloodbath Continues As Stocks Are “Up Big”, ‘Unchanged”, & “Tumbling”

Take your pick…

FANG Stocks managed to erase Monday’s losses briefly at the open, then tumbled…

The Dollar index is practically unchanged, but bonds continue to suffer…

Grassley Says He Won’t Delay Kavanaugh Hearing As Moderate Republicans Fall In Line

Democrats’ Hail Mary play to stymie the confirmation of Trump SCOTUS pick Brett Kavanaugh is beginning to fizzle out. As angry Dems demanded that a Monday hearing on the allegations against Kavanaugh be delayed until the FBI has a chance to investigate, turncoat Republicans (on whom the Dems had been depending for votes) instead withdrew their support and fell in line after Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley declared that he would not honor Democrats’ request. Grassley revealed his intention to stand firm late Tuesday after lawyers for Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey, who is claiming that Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her 35 years ago when the two were 17-year-old high school students, said their client wouldn’t be wiling to appear at Monday’s hearing.

According to the Hill, Grassley said Tuesday that there was “no reason” to delay the hearing now that Republicans have invited both Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, his accuser, to testify publicly. However, while Ford’s attorneys have insisted that their client has taken a polygraph test and “deserves to be heard”, Ford has bizarrely insisted that the FBI sh …

U.S.-Canada Nafta Deal “Unlikely” This Week As Pressure On Trudeau Rises

The US-Canada Nafta deal is getting delayed again.

According to Bloomberg, the heavily-negotiated trade agreement between the U.S. and Canada is unlikely to be reached this week, four people familiar with talks said, raising the chance that the latest deadline could be missed.

The Bloomberg sources said that gaps remaining between the U.S. and Canada make a deal unlikely this week without major movement, which now appears unlikely.

The member nations are pushing to publish text of a deal by the end of the month to meet a U.S. trade law deadline required to sign a deal before Mexico’s incoming president takes office; meanwhile Trump has threatened to move ahead without Canada if a deal isn’t reached, and to apply auto tariffs to Canada.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Canadian business and political leaders are increasing the pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to agree on a deal to renew NAFTA and drop his insistence that no deal is better than a bad deal.

With the two sides clearly far apart in some areas, Trudeau has said his Liberal government will walk away if necessary.

However, signs are growing that hitherto solid domestic support for Ottawa’s stance is fraying amid fears of the potential economic damage. The United States takes 75 percent of Canada’s goods e …

Florence Is a Tragedy for Homeowners, Not Insurers

People in the Carolinas are about to rediscover the difference between the damage a storm causes and what is covered by insurance. While wind damage is well covered by insurers, flood damage is absent from most policies.

Marvel Gets a Leading Woman

The coming ‘Captain Marvel’ marks an overdue milestone in the Marvel universe.

Coca-Cola Goes Back to the Future

Many were surprised to see that Coca-Cola, the world’s largest beverage company, is considering dipping its toes into the cannabis market.

August 2018 Residential Building Mixed

Written by Steven Hansen

The headline residential building permits slowed and construction completions improved relative to last month. But we keep our eyes on the rolling averages which told us this was generally a weaker report than last month.

Next Avenue: How to navigate the complexity of claiming Social Security

How can you wade through nearly 3,000 rules and know when to claim?

The Margin: Reefer madness: Tilray’s mind-bending move lights up the internet

Tilray’s monstrous rally, sparked by the DEA’s approval of its plan to import weed to the U.S., continues to blow minds across Finance Twitter and, understandably, has investors jonesing for a piece of the action.

Want to invest in cannabis companies? Watch out for rogue players

The Securities and Exchange Commission is warning of scams.