Written by Gary
US stock indexes fell sharply today (SPY -0.1.2%), as Mnuchin backs out of Saudi conference.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
North and South American markets are sharply lower today with shares in Mexico off the most. The IPC is down 1.39% while Brazil’s Bovespa is off 1.38% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is lower by 1.24%. |
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. | |
Starbucks to let Mexico’s Alsea operate stores in four European marketsStarbucks Corp said on Thursday it would give its longtime partner Mexico’s Alsea SAB the rights to operate its cafes in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg as the coffee chain tries to streamline its operations in markets where sales have struggled. | |
Blackstone waves off concerns over Saudi fundingBlackstone Group LP , the U.S. buyout firm which is relying on Saudi Arabia to provide half the money for its planned $40 billion infrastructure fund, waved off concerns about funding on Thursday even as controversy rages over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist that has frayed relations between Wall Street and the oil-rich kingdom. | |
U.S. probes 54,400 Ford trucks over tailgate complaintsThe National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Thursday it had opened a preliminary investigation into 54,400 Ford Motor Co pickup trucks after receiving five complaints that tailgates had unexpectedly opened while the vehicles were in motion. | |
Wall Street hit by weak industrial earnings, hawkish FedU.S. stocks fell on Thursday as weak earnings reports from industrials raised worries about rising expenses and the impact of tariffs, adding to concerns over higher borrowing costs after hawkish commentary in the Federal Reserve’s minutes. | |
Square introduces new payment terminal for small businessesSquare Inc, the company led by Twitter Inc Chief Executive Jack Dorsey, on Thursday launched a payment terminal for small business clients, expanding its suite of hardware products. | |
Sales growth accelerates at retailer Casino in third quarter, keeps goalsFrench retailer Casino , which is battling investor concern over its high debt, said that sales growth accelerated in the third quarter, reflecting an improving performance in its core French market and in Brazil. | |
Coca-Cola names company veteran Brian Smith chief operating officerCoca-Cola Co on Thursday appointed company veteran Brian Smith as its chief operating officer, a role that has been vacant since former COO James Quincey became chief executive officer last year. | |
VW to offer buyer incentive for scrapping older German dieselsVolkswagen on Thursday said it will offer trade-in incentives and a bonus for scrapping older diesel vehicles in Germany, in a move to stave off driving bans in polluted cities. | |
Factbox: Trade-in incentives in Germany to replace old diesel carsCarmakers have started offering trade-in incentives in Germany to encourage customers to scrap older diesel vehicles and buy more sustainable engines. | |
Federal Judge “Shocked” To Find Obama State Dept Lied To Protect Hillary From Email Server LawsuitsThe noose appears to be tightening further around the law-less behaviors of the Obama administration in their frantic efforts to protect former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from lawsuits seeking information about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server and her handling of the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. As Fox News reports, the transparency group Judicial Watch initially sued the State Department in 2014, seeking information about the response to the Benghazi attack after the government didn’t respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Other parallel lawsuits by Judicial Watch are probing issues like Clinton’s server, whose existence was revealed during the course of the litigation. The State Department had immediately moved to dismiss Judicial Watch’s first lawsuit, but U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth (who was appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan) denied the request to dismiss the la … | |
EU Slams Italy’s “Unprecedented” Budget Deviation, Euro TumblesIf there was any doubt that the standoff between Italy and the EU would get worse before it gets even moar worse, moments ago any doubts were extinguished when Bloomberg reported that in the letter addressed to Italy’s Finance Minister Giovanni Tria, EU Commissioners Valdis Dombrovskis and Pierre Moscovici said that Italy’s Draft Budgetary Plan for 2019 constitutes an “obvious significant deviation” from EU rules. Specifically, the EU warned that Italy’s proposed 0.8% increase in its deficit is a significant deviation from the structural improvement of 0.6% of GDP recommended by the EU Council, and is “unprecedented in the history” of the Stability and Growth Pact. Additionally, Italy’s planned government spending growth of 2.7% is about 2.6% higher than the maximum allowed under EU rules, which cap this at 0.1%. As a result, the EU Commission warns of “particularly serious non-compliance with the budgetary policy obligations” even as it comically seeks to continue constructive dialogue with Italy to reach final assessment. Meanwhile, both Salvini and Di Maio have made it clear that there will be no negotiation – or adjustment – to the current budget proposal. And one can’t really blame them: after all, from the perspective of Italy, the EU’s hypocritical position boils down to the following: EU to France, Spain: “go ahead and break whatever budget limits you need” EU to Italy: “we will burn you at the stake for what you are about to do” One almost wonders just why the EU is willing to apply one standard when it comes to Spain and France, and a totally different one when the fate of Italy is (again, as Sylvio Berlsuconi remembers all too well) is on the line. And just in case there was any doubt: EU’S MOSCOVICI: THERE IS NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ITALY EU’S MOSCOVICI: ITALY TREATED LIKE ALL OTHER EU COUNT … | |
Netflix Plunges – Erases Post-Earnings GainsNetflix and spill… NFLX is now down 15% from post-earnings highs. Perhaps one of the machines actually noticed the company’s biggest quarterly loss ever?
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Bitcoin Futures Trading Volumes Surge 41% In Q3, CME ReportsAuthored by Helen Partz via CoinTelegraph.com, Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has continued to grow in Q3, the U.S.-based exchange reported in a tweet Wednesday, Oct. 17. image courtesy of CoinTelegraph The CME has revealed that the average daily trading volume (ADV) of Bitcoin futures has increased by 41 percent in Q3 over Q2, while open interest (OI) – or the number of open contracts on Bitcoin futures – has risen by 19 percent in the third quarter. | |
September 2018 Leading Economic Index Economic: Economic Growth could exceed 3.5% For 2H2018Written by Steven Hansen The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S improved this month – and the authors say ” the LEI’s growth has slowed somewhat in recent months, suggesting the economy may be facing capacity constraints and increasingly tight labor markets”. | |
October 2018 Philly Fed Manufacturing Survey Insignificantly DeclinedWritten by Steven Hansen The Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey insignificantly declined but remains in expansion. Key elements declined. | |
Outside the Box: How to make the best of a bad job you can’t leave5 ways to help you regain your purpose — or at least your sanity. | |
The Fed: Quarles says it’s better for Fed to keep on path of rate hikes than assume economy has higher potentialWhile the productive capacity of the U.S. economy may be increasing, it’s better for the Federal Reserve to continue on its path of steady interest-rate hikes until there’s strong evidence of it, a key official said Thursday. | |
The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. is lagging in race to feed China’s giant appetite for porkChina has the world’s biggest appetite for pork. It’s such a beloved staple that the written Chinese character for “home” depicts a pig inside a house. U.S. producers banked on that business being around for years. |
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