Written by Gary
US stock index futures are pointing to gains at the start of the week (SPY +0.3%), as the federal government barreled towards another shutdown.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
![]() | European markets are broadly higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 1.14% while France’s CAC 40 is up 1.09% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.83%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
![]() | Investors’ cash buildup comes at a costInvestors sitting on a mountain of cash built up since late last year may be paying a price for playing it too safe in the first weeks of 2019. |
![]() | Iraq still at odds with Exxon, Petrochina over project: ministerIraqi Oil Minister Thamer Ghadhban said on Monday that disagreements remained over profit-sharing between the government and Exxon Mobil and Petrochina over its South Integrated Project. |
![]() | China upbeat on U.S. trade talks, but South China Sea tensions weighChina struck an upbeat note on Monday as trade talks resumed with the United States, but also expressed anger at a U.S. Navy mission through the disputed South China Sea, casting a shadow over the prospect for improved Beijing-Washington ties. |
![]() | Brazil securities watchdog probes Embraer CFO over Boeing deal: paperBrazil’s securities regulator has launched an administrative probe into a top executive at jetmaker Embraer SA regarding an announcement about its proposed joint venture with Boeing Co, newspaper Valor Econômico reported on Monday. |
![]() | Futures climb as U.S.-China trade talks resumeU.S. stock index futures rose on Monday as the latest trade talks between the United States and China began in Beijing, while U.S. lawmakers attempted to hammer out a deal to avoid another government shutdown. |
![]() | Stocks inch higher as investors look ahead to trade talks, BrexitWorld stock markets edged higher on Monday, as investors eyed the resumption of trade talks between the United States and China and watched for signs of progress on Brexit. |
![]() | Google extends chip-making efforts to design hub BengaluruAlphabet Inc’s Google has hired more than a dozen microchip engineers in Bengaluru, India, in recent months and plans to rapidly add more, according to LinkedIn profiles, job postings and two industry executives, as the search firm expands its program to design the guts of its devices internally. |
![]() | Sanctions, OPEC cuts push Asia’s sour crude oil prices above BrentMiddle East oil benchmarks Dubai and DME Oman have nudged above prices for Brent crude, an unusual move as U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran along with output cuts by OPEC tighten supply of medium to heavy oil, traders and analysts said. |
![]() | First U.S. tax filings under Trump’s overhaul off to slow startThe first U.S. tax filing season under the overhaul that President Donald Trump signed into law at the end of 2017 got off to a slow start in the first week, with data released on Friday showing a significant drop in returns and refunds. |
![]() | Is The Brother Of Trump’s Education Secretary Helping Build Concentration Camps For Chinese Muslims?As China’s mass incarceration of members of its Uighur Muslim minority in its far-flung Xinjiang province has elicited condemnation from editorial boards of US newspapers to, more recently, the leader of one of the world’s largest Muslim nations, one of America’s most famous private security contractors – and, incidentally, brother to President Trump’s secretary of education, has found himself caught up in the burgeoning controversy. Five years after gaining the favor of the chairman of one of China’s largest conglomerates, Blackwater founder Erik Prince, who became chairman of Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group (which, instead of offering private mercenary armies for hire, claims to provide training and support services) back in 2013, has been steadily stepping back from the firm he helped build as he cedes more and more control to forces in the mainland. And now, FSG has become caught up in a controversy surrounding China’s detention of more than one million Uighur’s in “re-education camps”, thanks to reports of a contract awarded to FSG to build a “training facility” in Xinjiang that critics feared would be used as a detention center. |
![]() | Blain: “The Current Iteration Of ‘Capitalism’ Has Spawned Increased Global Poverty, Income Inequality, Urban Deprivation, Squalor And Filth”Blain’s Morning Porridge, submitted by Bill Blain What a fascinating world we live in. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos exposing himself, and exposes the National Inquirer for attempted blackmail. A young senator, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, snaring the headlines and proposing a preposterous New Green Deal – while further splitting the Democrats. Europe plunging back into recession. The UK no closer to a Brexit Deal (hang-on, that’s not a headline… that’s just… normal..) Deutsche Bank paying up to demonstrate it can borrow in markets. Santander facing a Euro 50 bln breach of promise lawsuit from Andreas Orcel (proving the Spanish banking adage: At Santander – you are either a Botin or a.. servant..) So much out there… Are all these things linked? Yes – the world we live in determines the functionality of global markets. You might believe Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos was the victim of an Inquirer effort to “catch and kill” a story the paper has on Mr Trump’s activities in Moscow, or you might believe Deutsche Bank’s problems are part of a deeper malaise across European banking. Whatever… the news changes our perceptions. The trick is too separate the chaos of new flow from the tau of markets. Markets are linear functions of buy/sell – they are not necessarily about common sense. To illustrate: last week I wrote about Italy, pointing out just how hopelessly its ensnared and entrapped within the straight-jacket of the Euro, with little prospect of growth, employment or upside. Yet Italian bonds are one of the top performing assets – AND WILL REMAIN SO – because the ECB can’t afford to let Italy go, and Europe sliding back into downturn pretty much ensures they’ll continue to bailout Italy and likely resurrect QE in some form – watch out for something like long-term repos. An article in one weekend paper says the … |
![]() | Latest Round Of Trade Talks Begins In Beijing With Deal In DoubtWith the possibility of a meeting between President Trump and his Chinese counterpart looking increasingly uncertain, a US delegation arrived in Beijing on Monday for another round of trade talks after meetings late last month failed to produce a deal, and instead produced only conflicting reports about whether any substantive progress had been made. An editor from China’s English-language Global Times confirmed that talks between the “mid-level” US delegation, led by Deputy Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish, and the Chinese delegation, led by Vice Premier Liu He, who met with President Trump in the Oval Office last month, had started in Beijing.
In addition to Gerrish, officials from the agriculture, energy and commerce departments are participating in the talks. While preliminary talks began on Monday, Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will travel to Beijing on Thursday for the main event, according to AFP. They will be joined by David Malpass, former Bear Stearns chief economist and President Trump’s nominee to lead the World Bank. Trump said after the last round of talks that no final deal would be reached before he and President Xi had sat down for talks, which would probably take place in Asia. However, the president later co … |
![]() | Global Stocks, US Futures Jump On Fresh Trade Optimism, Dollar Surge Enters 8th DayIt is a sea of green in capital markets to start the week as global stocks and US index futures bounced amid boosted risk sentiment as investors eyed the resumption of trade talks between the United States and China, albeit guardedly now that Trump and Xi are not expected to meet until after the March 1 “springing tariff” deadline, while watching for signs of progress on Brexit. Safe havens such as Treasurys dropped as the dollar strengthened for an eighth day, its best run in three years. While it remains highly unlikely that anything definitive will emerge from this week’s latest trade walks, risk sentiment was boosted after Axios reported on Sunday night that Trump’s advisers discussed holding a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next month, meanwhile China said Vice Premier Liu He will join U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in trade talks in Beijing on Feb. 14-15. “We still have concerns about global growth and that centers on those U.S.-China negotiations,” Kerry Craig, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, told Bloomberg TV from Melbourne. “We’re unlikely to see any massive moves this week saying we’r … |
![]() | Key Words: Nobel-winning economist Krugman warns that a U.S. recession looms in 2019Nobel laureate Paul Krugman says he sees a good chance of a recession hitting the U.S. within a year. |
![]() | The Moneyist: My uncle’s caregiver raided his Social Security to pay for her car payments and cell phone‘His shoes were held together by insulating tape — he said he didn’t have any money.’ |
![]() | SunTrust and BB&T are merging — here’s what customers need to know‘This deal’s going to open the floodgates to a number of more bank acquisitions and a renewed wave of consolidation.’ |
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