Written by Gary
US three major indexes closed moderately in the green (SPY +0.4%) inching up on trade optimism but growth worries weigh.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Citgo raises $1.2 billion loan to run operations, refinance debtCitgo Petroleum, the U.S.-based unit of Venezuelan state-run oil firm PDVSA, said on Thursday it raised $1.2 billion through a five-year term loan to cover operating expenses and to refinance existing debt. |
| Apple spotlights services with TV, gaming and credit card offeringsApple Inc attempted to reintroduce itself on Monday as an entertainment and financial services company that also makes iPhones as it launched a streaming television service, a credit card and an online gaming arcade. |
| Ovations, hugs and soaring speeches as Apple embraces HollywoodApple Inc brought in Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston and Jason Momoa to talk up its new television streaming service at a Hollywood-style event on Monday marked by standing ovations, hugs and soaring rhetoric. |
| U.S. lawsuit filed against Boeing over Ethiopian Airlines crashA lawsuit against Boeing Co was filed in U.S. federal court on Thursday in what appeared to be the first suit over a March 10 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash that killed 157 people. |
| Buffett says Apple content plan hard to predict, touts airline safetyWarren Buffett on Thursday said he could not predict the success of Apple Inc’s new suite of services but was confident the public would benefit as content providers vie for their wallets. |
| Wall Street inches up on trade optimism but growth worries weighU.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday, helped by optimism over progress in U.S.-China trade talks, but concerns about an economic slowdown after a cut in fourth-quarter GDP growth limited the day’s advance. |
| WTO says U.S. failed to halt state tax subsidy for BoeingThe World Trade Organization said on Thursday the United States had ignored its request to halt a subsidized tax break for Boeing in its main planemaking state of Washington as a 15-year-old transatlantic trade row edges toward tit-for-tat sanctions. |
| Washington state reviewing WTO Boeing tax case ruling: statementWashington Governor Jay Inslee said on Thursday his state was reviewing a World Trade Organization ruling against Boeing Co on a tax case and will consult with the U.S. Trade Representative on next steps. |
| Exclusive: China shifts position on tech transfers, trade talks progress – U.S. officialsChina has made proposals in talks with the United States on a range of issues that go further than it has before, including on forced technology transfer, as the two sides work to overcome obstacles to a deal to end their protracted trade war, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday. |
| Stocks & Bond Yields Rise With Dollar As Gold Breaks Key Technical SupportNever saw that coming…
Chinese stocks trod water early on but faded into the close… |
| Eurozone, Emerging Markets Will Be Crushed In Next Crisis, IMF & BIS WarnOver the past few days, many investors have asked why, with its currency in freefall again as its reserves evaporate, did Turkey take the drastic measure of sending its overnight swap rate above 1,000% in a clear attempt to crush the shorts. The answer may be simpler than most expect: if Turkey doesn’t prevent the panic from escalating, there may be nobody who can help it. That was the implied message delivered today by the head of the Bank for International Settlements, Agustin Carstens, who said that International Monetary Fund does not have sufficient lending capacity to respond, if a major new emerging market crisis affecting several countries suddenly erupted. Carstens, the former corpulent head of the Bank of Mexico, said that last reviews of IMF quotas, how much member countries pay in and the voting rights that go with that, had failed to ensure it had sufficient financial resources. Which, of course, leaves the question open: if the IMF no longer has the resources to rescue emerging markets and China’s economy is now contracting, who does? |
| FBI Ordered To Let Judge Review Comey ‘Obstruction’ Memos Ahead Of Possible Public ReleaseThe FBI was ordered by a D.C. judge to hand over copies of former director James Comey’s memos about his interactions with President Trump prior to his firing, in order to determine whether they can be released to the public. |
| Worst Start To A Year For Jobless In A DecadeSomething’s not quite right… With economic data disappointing en masse and US equity earnings expectations plummeting, talking heads have one last leg left on the stool of buy-and-hold – jobs, jobs, jobs! The unemployment rate (low), participation rate (people coming back into the workforce), wage growth (rising at fastest pace in 10 years), initial jobless claims (back near multi-decade lows), and JOLTS (more jobs offered than people available). So, why are continuing jobless claims surging in a not-noisy manner higher for the last six months? |
| February 2019 Pending Home Sales DeclineWritten by Steven Hansen The National Association of Realtors (NAR) seasonally adjusted pending home sales index remains in contraction and declined. The quote of the day from this NAR release:
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| The Ratings Game: Lululemon’s positioned to be a menswear disrupterLululemon executives say the company’s men’s business can be as big as the women’s business. |
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| Bond Report: 10-year Treasury yield lifts off 15-month low after bond auctionTreasury yields mostly rise Thursday, lifting off from session lows, following an auction of short-dated government bonds |
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