14Mar2019 Midday Update: Wall Street Limps Along With No Appreciable Data To Act On, DOW Up 35 Points, Gold Slips To The1293 Level

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed. The S&P 500 is higher by 0.10%, while the IPC is leading the Bovespa lower. They are down 0.93% and 0.40% respectively.

Exclusive: Retailer Pier 1 taps debt restructuring lawyers – sources

U.S. home furnishing retail chain Pier 1 Imports Inc has tapped debt restructuring lawyers to navigate potential negotiations with lenders as it struggles with falling sales, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Microsoft targets video game developers, in challenge to Amazon’s cloud dominance

Microsoft Corp on Thursday said it is combining elements of its video gaming and Azure cloud computing businesses to court game developers, an action designed to use the strength of its Xbox gaming franchise to gain ground on cloud services leader Amazon.com.

Huawei pleads not guilty to U.S. charges in New York court

China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Thursday pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment filed in a New York federal court against the company, as tensions have ratcheted up between the U.S. and Beijing.

European shares rise on ‘no-deal’ Brexit vote, dollar gains

A gauge of global equity markets traded little changed on Thursday as fading risks of a disorderly Brexit lifted European shares but bolstered the dollar ahead of another vote, while Wall Street was flat on uncertainty over U.S.-Sino trade talks.

Trump says U.S. doing well in trade talks with China

President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States was doing very well in trade talks with China, but that he could not say whether a final deal would be reached.

Volvo Cars to pay $310 million dividend, second under China’s Geely

Volvo Cars will pay a dividend of 2.9 billion Swedish crowns ($311 million) after record sales in 2018, the company said on Thursday, with almost all of it slated to boost the coffers of its debt-laden Chinese parent Geely.

Wall Street dips on trade uncertainty, weak new home sales data

U.S. stocks dipped on Thursday weighed down by concerns of a delay in trade talks between the United States and China, and data which showed a higher-than-expected fall in new home sales in January.

Ethiopia crash black boxes probed in France, families mourn

Investigators in France took possession of the crashed Ethiopian Airlines jet’s black boxes on Thursday, seeking clues into a disaster that has grounded Boeing’s global 737 MAX fleet and left scores of families mourning and angry.

Analysis of Ethiopian Airways jet’s black boxes to start Friday: BEA

Ethiopian investigators have arrived at France’s BEA air accident investigation agency and technical analysis of the black boxes recovered from the doomed Ethiopian Airlines plane will begin on Friday, the agency said.

Admission Scandal Fallout: USC, UCLA, Others Hit With First Class Action Lawsuit

The fallout from the “largest college admissions scam ever produced” will be long and arduous for all parties involved, including parents and universities. Today, two days after the revelation of the criminal conduct, the legal ramifications have begun.

USC and UCLA, and other colleges were the first colleges sued by students seeking class status over the scandal, Bloomberg reports. The lawsuit also reportedly names Stanford University, the University of San Diego, the University of Texas at Austin, Wake Forest University, Yale University and Georgetown University.

Two students at Stanford said in a lawsuit Wednesday that “qualified students paid college admission fees without realizing that unqualified students were slipping in through the back door of the admissions process by committing fraud, bribery, cheating, and dishonesty,” according to a report by Courthouse News.

“Past Is Not Prologue” But Over The Long-Run, We’re All Skeptical

Via DataTrekResearch’s Nicholas Colas,

The last 20 years have been the toughest stretch for US stocks since the Great Depression into World War II. The next 5 years will either confirm investors’ worst fears that stocks are no longer “for the long term” or begin to re-instill confidence in the asset class.

The fulcrum issue: avoiding a +10% annual drawdown any time between now and the end of 2023.

Mob Hit: Gambino Boss Gunned Down Outside Staten Island Home

The head of the Gambino crime family, Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali was gunned down on Wednesday night in front of his Staten Island home.

For Theresa May, If At First (And Second) You Fail, Try The Same Thing Again?

Via Rabobank’s Michael Every,

UK Parliament voted against a no-deal Brexit in an indicative vote yesterday. Although this was expected, MPs backed an amendment that took no-deal off the table permanently – rather than temporary as the government intended. Sterling certainly liked the news, briefly touching 1.338 against the dollar. But risks still remain, as the 29 March deadline is approaching fast and no deal is still the default outcome unless something is agreed.

January 2019 Headline New Home Sales Declined

Written by John Lounsbury and Steven Hansen

The headlines say new home sales declined and continues in contraction. Median and average sales prices marginally declined – and the backlog of unsold homes declined.

3 ways people may save for retirement in the future

It’s going to take a village to prepare most Americans for their golden years.

Key Words: ‘The man behind Ted Cruz’s tricks’ says Beto O’Rourke could ‘shatter the glass ceiling for white millionaire male nannies’

As Ted Cruz’s campaign manager in the 2016 presidential race, Jeff Roe was described by Politico as “a take-no-prisoners operative well practiced in political dark arts.” Others reportedly have said he’s “mean” and a “master of sleazy politics.” Nothing about his tweet on Thursday suggests otherwise:

Market Snapshot: Stocks struggle for altitude as investors parse trade news, weak Chinese economic data

U.S. stocks are trading flat as investors digest weaker-than-expected data in China, a grounding of key Boeing jet and a Brexit saga playing out in the U.K.