08Mar2019 Market Close: Wall Street Extends Losing Streak After Weak Jobs Report, DOW Closes Down 23 Points, WTI Crude Settles At 55.95

U.S. SEC to review stock trading rules in big potential shakeup

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a review of the main set of rules governing stock trading, opening the door to the biggest potential changes in a decade-and-a-half, the head of the agency said on Friday.

Oil drops 1 percent as economic outlook weakens, U.S. supply surges

Oil prices fell about 1 percent on Friday after disappointing U.S. job growth revived concerns about a slowing global economy and weaker demand for oil.

Wall Street extends losing streak after weak jobs report

Wall Street’s main stock indexes fell for a fifth straight session on Friday and posted their biggest weekly declines since the market tumbled at the end of 2018, as a weak U.S. jobs report ignited more concerns about the global economy.

Trump’s budget to land with a thud on Monday

When President Donald Trump proposes his 2020 federal budget on Monday, official Washington will likely have a quick look, shrug and move on, marking another stage in the quiet decay of the U.S. government’s traditional policy-making processes.

What stood out in the February U.S. jobs report

Headline U.S. job growth hit the brakes in February, registering the smallest gain since September 2017 and the third-smallest during the unprecedented run of 101 consecutive months of payrolls gains.

U.S. February job growth weakest in nearly one and a half years

U.S. employment growth almost stalled in February, with the economy creating only 20,000 jobs, adding to signs of a sharp slowdown in economic activity in the first quarter.

Canada court dismisses bid by SNC-Lavalin to escape corruption trial

Canada’s Federal Court on Friday rejected a bid by SNC-Lavalin Group Inc to challenge prosecutors who insist the construction company must face trial on charges of corruption.

Brazil’s Sao Paulo state to offer tax incentives to automakers

Brazil’s Sao Paulo state said on Friday it would offer fresh tax incentives to automakers, weeks after Ford Motor Co said it would shut down a plant there with 3,000 employees and General Motors Co hinted it might do the same before backtracking.

Global stocks, dollar fall as growth worry abounds

Global stocks fell on Friday and the dollar weakened for the first time in eight sessions after a disappointing U.S. payrolls report fanned concerns that the world economy was slowing.

Venezuela Now 24 Hours In Darkness; Maduro Blames US “Electricity War”

Venezuela’s worst ever power outage in recent history has continued since Thursday, as video and photos continue to come out of the cash and resource strapped country showing entire cities blanketed in darkness.

Stretching into day two of the mass electrical shutdown, 23 out of 24 states remain in darkness, according to the AP, in a prolonged situation now reaching crisis levels given reports that hospitals are struggling to keep back-up generators running and many businesses are forced to remain shuttered.

Trannies Tumble To Worst Losing Streak Since Nixon As Yields Hit 2019 Lows

Biggest US payrolls miss since 2008 and biggest collapse in China exports in years (after the biggest credit injection ever)…

Take your pick from China – tech-heavy small-cap dominated CHINEXT surged over 5% while megacap-heavy China 50 tumbled almost 5%…(SHCOMP ended the week marginally lower with the worst day since October and first losing week of the year)…

Nobody Believes This Market: 2019 Is Now The Worst Year For Stock Outflows Since 2008

For the past two months, we have been highlighting what emerged as one of the greatest paradoxes of this market in 2019: even as stocks kept grinding higher, having almost wiped out all their Q4 losses as recently as last week, investors were locked in non-stop liquidation mode, selling stocks and pulling money out of equity funds week after week after week, for 12 consecutive weeks since December.

We noted most recently this in “How Are Markets Higher: Buyers’ Strike Continues For 11th Straight Week”, “Buyers’ Strike Continues For 12th Straight Week”, “This Is Strange”: Despite Historic Rally, Investors Continue To Dump Equities”, and even though we identified the “buyer” in the form of a persistent short squeeze and another record wave of stock buybacks, the question remained: who would be proven right – the market, which had successfully risen above the critical 2,800 level (if only briefly), or investors whose boycott suggested that few had any trust in the biggest market rally to start the year since 1987.

Stocks Slide On Report Xi Has Removed Mar-A-Lago Trip From Calendar

Update (3:55 pm ET): The White House has rushed to clarify that the reason the meeting isn’t on Xi’s calendar is because “negotiations are still ongoing” about a potential Trump-Xi summit

Sarah Sanders tells me “negotiations are ongoing” a about a potential Trump-Xi meeting to discuss the China trade deal. But there’s nothing officially on the schedule. So it’s not clear what the timing could be on any face to face meeting.

— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) March 8, 2019

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As President Trump tries to push more positive trade talk on the markets, reports that China might be getting cold feet about a sweeping trade deal with the US just keep coming.

With barely 40 minutes left in the session and stocks in the midst of another intraday rally, Fox News poured cold water on the market’s party when it reported that President Xi had removed a tentatively-planned trip to Mar-a-Lago from his calendar. The report appeared to substantiate earlier reports taht the Chinese leader was wary of traveling all the way to Florida, only to leave without a deal.

Economic Report: Housing starts rebound in January as builders bet big on houses rather than apartments

Home builders broke ground on more properties and applied for more permits, welcome news for the housing market and the economy.

Key Words: Rep. Ilhan Omar criticizes Obama and past presidents’ ‘really bad policies’

“We can’t be only upset with Trump,” the Minnesota Democrat told Politico.

Market Extra: This 135-year-old stock index just logged its longest skid in about 50 years

The Dow Jones Transportation Average on Friday produces its lengthiest series of losses since 1972, highlighting a recent slump that has taken hold of the broader stock market.