Written by Gary
DOW is set to rise more than 200 points as Netflix and Intel lead tech rebound (SPY +0.9%).
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are sharply higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 1.85% while London’s FTSE 100 is up 1.37% and France’s CAC 40 is up 1.36%. |
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. | |
 | Stock futures jump on trade talk hopes; jobs data in focusU.S. stock index futures jumped on Friday after China said it will hold a fresh round of trade talks with the United States and ahead of, what is expected to be, a healthy U.S. employment report. |
| Chinese phone maker Huawei punishes employees for iPhone tweet blunderChina’s Huawei Technologies [HWT.UL] has punished two employees for New Year greetings sent on the smartphone maker’s official Twitter account using an iPhone, an internal memo showed. |
| Chinese triad offers a tonic to battered marketsWorld stock markets rallied on Friday after China’s central bank moved to support its slowing economy, Chinese services data pointed to positive growth, and Beijing announced a new round of trade talks with Washington. |
| Qualcomm heads to trial in crucial fight with U.S. antitrust regulatorThe U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case accusing Qualcomm Inc of abusing a monopoly on mobile chip technology is expected to head to the courtroom on Friday for a trial whose outcome could have a major impact on the smartphone industry. |
| Qualcomm enforces ban to halt some Apple iPhone sales in GermanyU.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc took steps to enforce a court order banning the sale of some iPhone models in Germany following a patent dispute, a move that will likely see Apple Inc pull those models from its German stores. |
| China slashes banks’ reserve requirements again as growth slowsChina’s central bank said on Friday it was cutting the amount of cash that banks have to hold as reserves for the fifth time in a year, freeing up $116 billion for new lending as it tries to reduce the risk of a sharp economic slowdown. |
| Marriott cuts estimate on size of massive Starwood hackMarriott International Inc said on Friday that fewer than 383 million customer records were stolen in a massive cyber attack disclosed last month, down from its initial estimate that up to 500 million guests were affected. |
| Ex-Credit Suisse bankers arrested on U.S. charges over Mozambique loansThree former Credit Suisse Group AG bankers were arrested in London on Thursday on U.S. charges of involvement in a fraud involving $2 billion in loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique, U.S. prosecutors said. |
| Audits reveal Deutsche Bank’s links to tax trade scandalThere are “lots of indications” that some managers discussed “the reputational risks” of Deutsche Bank’s involvement in a share-trading scheme that is the subject of Germany’s biggest post-war fraud investigation, according to a conclusion in one of five internal audits seen by Reuters. |
| Trump Blames Democrats For Stock Market “Disruptions”Somewhere, Jerome Powell just breathed a sigh of relief. After months of bashing the Fed and blaming Powell for the stunning market rout that closed out 2018, President Trump has finally figured out a better narrative to assuage the fears of concerned supporters who are anxious about the recent hit to their 401(k)s: Don’t blame the Fed, blame the Democrats. In a Friday morning tweet, Trump followed up on his pre-midterm claim that “if you want stocks to fall, vote Democrat” by blaming Democrats for the “disruption to the Financial Markets” – a “disruption” that Trump described yesterday as a “glitch”. And although Democrats will hold the House for at least the next two years, the president capped off his tweet with an optimistic outlook on markets, arguing that since “we won the Senate, they won the House…things will settle down,” adding “they only want to impeach me because they know they can’t win in 2020, too much success!”
He followed up with a second tweet questioning how Democrats could impeach him when he’s “done nothing wrong” and had “the most successful first two years of any president” – sug … |
| Beijing Has Detained 13 Canadians Since Arrest Of Huawei CFOWhen the US published its latest travel advisory warning its citizens about the “arbitrary law enforcement” risks they could face in China (and offering a list of recommended precautions for those obstinate enough to ignore the government’s warnings), some wondered, why now? With trade negotiations set to begin in earnest next week, one would think that the US wouldn’t want to kick the hornet’s nest (though, in fairness, the DOJ’s steady stream of indictments against Chinese government-sponsored hackers have continued, as has the prosecution of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou). Well, Canada’s Globe and Mail might have just answered that question by confirming that the Beijing’s suspected retaliation against Ottawa over Meng’s arrest has been even more severe than previously believed. According to the paper, 13 Canadians have been detained in China since Dec. 1 – the day Meng was arrested by Canadian authorities after landing in Vancouver.
Spavor and Kovrig Until now, the arrests of only three Cana … |
| Tesla Shareholders Are Dragging Musk’s Ex-Girlfriend Into Securities Fraud LawsuitElon Musk horrified Tesla shareholders over the summer when he revealed that his infamous “Funding secured” tweet heralding his “plans” to take Tesla private at $420 a share was, in fact, an “inside joke” between himself and his then-girlfriend, Canadian electronica musician Grimes (real name Claire Boucher). While it initially went right over the heads of the American financial press, the $420 number incorporated a popular marijuana reference (and also, according to Musk, represented a 20% premium to Tesla’s share price at the time, plus $1).
Musk and Grimes parted ways not long after, but much to her chagrin, Tesla shareholders who were burned by the violent swings in Tesla’s share price triggered by the tweet and the ensuing investigation are trying to drag her into a lawsuit over the tweet, arguing that she might be able to shed some light on Musk’s thinking at the time he sent the tweet.
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| Global Stocks Surge On Renewed Trade Optimism, Chinese RRR CutThe global market rollercoaster continues, with stocks around the world surging on the back of renewed trade optimism and a Chinese RRR cut one day after a vicious rout hit equities following the unexpected Apple guidance cut and a miserable US manufacturing ISM print. Stocks climbed in Europe and Asia and U.S. equity futures indicated a sharply higher open after the US and China confirmed fresh trade negotiations next week, while havens slipped, as Treasuries fell, the yen weakening and gold dipped after hitting $1,300 overnight.
After initially trading lower, S&P futures rebounded after news that vice ministers from the two countries are preparing to hold talks starting Monday, and were trading 1.4% higher on Friday morning after tumbling 2.5% on Thursday. |
| Rail Week Ending 29 December 2018: Rail Counts Up 2.9% in December and 3.7% for 2018Written by Steven Hansen Week 52 of 2018 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) improved according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. The economically intuitive sectors rolling averages improved and returned to positive territory this week.
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| Currencies: Dollar mixed ahead of jobs report, Powell remarksThe U.S. dollar put in a mixed performance Friday versus major rivals as investors awaited U.S. jobs data and remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and as investor appetite for assets perceived as risky got a lift after the People’s Bank of China cut its reserve requirements. |
| Futures Movers: Oil prices headed for 5th straight advanceOil prices tried for their fifth straight gain on Friday as stocks looked to get a bounce from renewed trade talks set for next week between the U.S. and China. |
| This is exactly how much money is sitting ‘on the sidelines’ waiting to come back to the marketIf you’re waiting for trillions to be ‘put to work,’ do the math. |
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