Written by Gary
The Dow made a bullish start to the week Monday, led by Amazon, as investors bet Cyber Monday would rack up strong gains for retailers. The Dow rose about 1.46%, the S&P500 rose 1.56%, while the Nasdaq Composite added more than 2%. The euro weakened against the dollar on slowing growth in the EU, driving the dollar index back toward the 97 level. Gold faded late in the day while oil rebounded partially from Friday’s plunge.
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The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Trump says he expects to raise China tariffs: Wall Street JournalU.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he expected to move ahead with raising tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from the current 10 percent. | |
GM to slash jobs and production, drawing Trump’s ireGeneral Motors Co said on Monday it will cut production of slow-selling models and slash its North American workforce because of a declining market for traditional gas-powered sedans, shifting more investment to electric and autonomous vehicles. | |
Ford Canada CEO says firm has no plans for GM-style auto plant shutdownFord Motor Co has no plans to carry out an auto plant shutdown in Canada along the lines of the closure announced by General Motors Co, the head of the automaker’s Canadian operation said on Monday. | |
Disney, Fox sued in U.S. for $1 billion over Malaysia theme parkWalt Disney Co and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc were sued for more than $1 billion on Monday by casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd , which accused them of abandoning a contract related to its planned construction of the first Fox-branded theme park. | |
Oil breaks above $60/bbl, but doubts about growth curb gainsOil prices rose nearly 3 percent on Monday, clawing back some of last week’s steep losses, but gains were capped by uncertainty over global economic growth and further signs of increasing supply, including record Saudi production. | |
World stock markets rise on politics and holiday retail hopesWall Street bounced back on Monday, lifted by expectations that retailers raked in online sales during a prime holiday shopping period, while European stocks rallied after signs that Italy was preparing to rework spending plans that have fueled tensions with the European Union. | |
Airbus to resume deliveries to HNA Group after payments disputeAirbus is poised to resume stalled deliveries of jets to China’s debt-laden HNA Group, an Airbus schedule showed on Monday, but deliveries of over $1 billion of large jets remain behind schedule after months of wrangling over late payments. | |
Wall Street rallies as Cyber Monday shoppers log onWall Street bounced back on Monday as bargain hunters returned in force after last week’s sell-off and expectations of a flurry of holiday cyber-spending drove up shares of retailers. | |
Thousands moved out for a new GM factory; now it’s closingGeneral Motors Co on Monday pulled the plug on the Chevrolet Volt hybrid and the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant that builds it, both examples of a costly gamble that is not paying off. | |
Captured Ukrainian Sailors Admit To “Provoking” Russian Navy, Interrogation Video ShowsAfter reportedly arresting some two dozen Ukrainian sailors following Sunday’s near-confrontation in the Kerch Strait between Ukraine and Russian naval ships, Russia’s FSB security service has released video of three men admitting that they provoked Russia into forcefully halting the Ukrainian ships. One of the crew members, who is identified by Russian media as Andrey Drach, an agent with the Main Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of Ukraine’s Security Service, said Russia’s Coast Guard repeatedly warned the Ukrainian ships against entering Russian water.
A second sailor confirmed Drach’s statement. He was identified as Sergey Tsybizov, a sailor aboard the navy ship Nikopol:
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The Politics Of Debt-Serfs & Tax Donkeys: Our Only Choice Is The ‘Least Bad Option’Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, The reality is there is no avenue left for advocacy, grievances or redress in a system dominated by global corporations and self-serving political insiders. What’s striking about the protests in Paris against higher fuel taxes is the universality of the protesters’ expressions of being fed up with a status quo that no longer listens to them. Their commentaries of frustration are echoed around the world, from the U.S. to China: ‘People are in the red. They can’t afford to eat’. The basic problem is obvious: wages have stagnated while taxes, interest on debt and costs of essentials have soared. When officialdom claims the higher fuel taxes are an expression of concern for the environment, it’s difficult not to gag at the hypocrisy: where are the higher taxes on the corporate and private jets, and the bunker-fuel burning freighters that ply the seas in service of globalization? People are frustrated because debt-serfs and tax donk … | |
Ukraine Deploys Reservists To 10 Border Provinces As President Warns Of “Russian Invasion”Galvanizing support by warning about an imminent Russian invasion, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko managed to win approval from the Ukrainian Parliament in a midnight vote on Monday following five hours of contentious debate. Unwilling to simply accept Poroshenko’s claims that he had heard reliable whispers about an imminent Russian invasion, opposition figures pressed Poroshenko on his reasoning for the emergency measures, and ultimately succeeded in forcing him to water down the proposal. But even before Poroshenko’s decree won the approval of lawmakers, the Ukrainian president had already started deploying troops into the streets of his country. Now in a state of martial law, Ukraine has called up its reservists and deployed all available troops to join the mobilization. Initially expected to last for two months, Poroshenko revised his degree to avoid accusations that he would try to interfere in the upcoming Ukrainian election. The decree passed by the Rada will leave martial law in effect for 30 days. The country has also started restricting travel for Russian nationals. NATO Commander Jens Stoltenberg told the Associated Press that Poroshenko had given his word that the order wouldn’t interfere with the upcoming vote.
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Futures, Yuan, Apple Tumble After Trump Says “Highly Likely” US To Move Ahead With China Tariff BoostSo much for any hopes that Trump will push for a trade deal with China at any cost when he meets with the Chinese president later this week. Minutes after the market closed, the WSJ reported that with just four days to go before his summit with China’s President Xi, Donald Trump said he expects to move ahead with boosting tariff levels on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25%, calling it “highly unlikely” that he would accept Beijing’s request to hold off on the increase. In an interview with the WSJ, Trump said that if negotiations don’t work out, he would also put tariffs on the rest of Chinese imports that are currently not subject to duties. “If we don’t make a deal, then I’m going to put the $267 billion additional on,” at a tariff rate of either 10% or 25%, Trump told the WSJ. While Chinese officials have said their priority at the meeting between Trump and Xi was to convince the U.S. to suspend the planned Jan. 1 increase in tariffs on $200 billion in imports from China to 25%, from 10% currently, Trump said that the U.S. was unlikely to accede. And confirming that the US has no intention of easing its hard line stance, no matter what Larry Kudlow says, Trump made it clear that “the only deal would be China has to open up their country to competition from the United States. As far as other countries are concerned, that’s up to them.” Adding insult to injury, Trump said that tariffs could also be placed on iPhones and laptops imported from China, a move which would certainly provoke an angry response from China and could result in a collapse in iPhone sales on the mainland. The administration has been worried about a consumer reaction should such items be subject to levies. “Maybe. Maybe. Depends on what the rate is,” the pre … | |
What We Read Today 26 November 2018Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries (and sometimes longer ones) of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included. This feature is published Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the late afternoon New York time. For early morning review of headlines see “The Early Bird” published Monday through Friday in the early am at GEI News (membership not required for access to “The Early Bird”.). BECOME A GEI MEMBER – IT’s FREE! Most of this column (“What We Read Today”) is available only to GEI members. To become a GEI Member simply subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. | |
November 2018 Texas Manufacturing Survey Continues to ModerateOf the four Federal Reserve districts which have released their November manufacturing surveys – all were in expansion. A complete summary follows. | |
The Wall Street Journal: At U.N., Haley condemns ‘reckless Russian escalation’ with UkraineU.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned Russia over the seizure of three Ukrainian naval ships and Kiev put its troops on military alert in response to an incident that is ratcheting up tensions between Moscow and the West. | |
The Wall Street Journal: Lettuce producers to improve labeling to better target health advisoriesMajor U.S. lettuce producers are preparing to change how they label romaine lettuce as the latest E. coli outbreak shuts down the market for the leafy salad green. | |
The Wall Street Journal: Airbnb hires Amazon finance chief as new CFOAirbnb Inc. has hired another executive from Amazon.com Inc., this time naming Dave Stephenson as chief financial officer of the vacation-rental portal ahead of a potential initial public offering. |
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