03Apr2019 Market Close: Wall Street Stocks Scratch Out Gains, DOW Closes Up 39 Points, With Tech-heavy Nasdaq The Biggest Winner Up +0.6%

Ethiopia to issue first Boeing investigation report

Investigators will release a keenly awaited report on the deadly crash of an Ethiopian Airlines jet on Thursday, Ethiopia’s transport ministry said, giving the first official clues to the second crash of a new Boeing 737 MAX in five months.

Boeing’s new 737 MAX flight control system ‘seems foolproof’: Norwegian CEO

Boeing’s new MCAS flight control system for its 737 MAX aircraft appears foolproof, Norwegian Air Chief Executive Bjoern Kjos said on Wednesday after visiting the plane maker in Seattle.

White House’s Kudlow says U.S.-China talks making progress, could extend

Trade talks between the United States and China made “good headway” last week in Beijing and the two sides aim to bridge differences during talks that could extend beyond three days this week, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said.

Oil eases on U.S. crude stock build but holds near five-month high

Oil prices edged down on Wednesday after U.S. government data showed a surprise build in crude inventories, but futures held near their highest in almost five months as OPEC-led output cuts and sanctions on Iran tightened the supply outlook.

Rising trade hopes boost Wall Street, send chip stocks soaring

U.S. stocks edged higher on Wednesday, extending a strong start to the quarter as rising hopes of a trade deal with Beijing boosted investor sentiment.

Millions of Facebook records found on Amazon cloud servers: UpGuard

Millions of Facebook Inc’s user records were inadvertently posted on Amazon.com Inc’s cloud computing servers in plain sight, researchers at cybersecurity firm UpGuard reported on Wednesday.

Junk bonds suggest U.S. stocks may have further to run

U.S. stocks just wrapped up their best quarter in nearly a decade, coming within a stone’s throw of a record high.

Carl Icahn sold Lyft stake prior to IPO: WSJ

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn sold his roughly 2.7 percent stake in Lyft Inc ahead of the ride-hailing company’s initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

Hopes for U.S.-China trade, soft Brexit boost shares

World stocks rose for a fifth session on Wednesday amid optimism over U.S.-China trade talks and for a softer British exit from the European Union, while oil prices retreated after an unexpected rise in inventories.

Credit, Curves & Crypto Jump As Stocks Shrug Off Dismal Data Dump

Stocks, bitcoin, and bond yields were up on the day despite US macro data crashing to its weakest since April 2017…

Class 8 Heavy Truck Orders Crash 66% In March

Among the latest dismal news about the strength of the US economy, on Tuesday ACT Research released preliminary truck orders for March 2019 which showed that Class 8 truck orders collapsed an astounding 66%. The decline is being attributed to a 300,000+ vehicle backlog potentially prompting fleets to halt purchases in the near term, however it is also likely that concerns about the economic slowdown are also playing a major part in the latest collapse

Pence Issues Turkey Ultimatum: “Choose Between Remaining NATO Member Or Buying Russian S-400”

Two days after we reported that the US had halted delivery of equipment related to the stealthy F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey as part of the ongoing rift over Erdogan’s plans to move forward with taking delivery of the advanced Russian S-4000 anti-air defense system, on Wednesday the US escalated the war of words with its NATO ally when Vice President Mike Pence threatened Turkey’s future role in the NATO alliance, warning it against “reckless decisions,” like following through with the purchase of the Russian-made air defense system.

Beto O’Rourke Reverses Position On Reparations, Pledges To Sign Bill To Study It

Clearly feeling the pressure from progressive Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (not to mention Kamala Harris, a black woman vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination), Texas Congressman and purported “second coming of Bobby Kennedy” Beto O’Rourke has backed off from his opposition to reparations for the descendants of American slaves.

During an appearance at a conference for black activists in New York organized by the National Action Network, an organization founded by Rev. Al Sharpton, O’Rourke and two other Democratic contenders, Andrew Yang and Julian Castro, told Sharpton that they would unequivocally support legislation to create a ‘reparations commission’ to look into the prospect of delivering reparations to the descendants of slaves.

Asked by Sharpton if he would back a measure introduced by Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a fellow Texan, to form the reparations commission, O’Rourke replied that “absolutely I would sign that into law,” according to Fox News.

That bill currently has more than 30 co-sponsors in the House, including Speaker Pelosi.

That’s a 180-degree-turn from last month, when, while campaigning in Iowa, O’Rourke said he wasn’t in favor of reparations, but that he believed it was important for Americans to confront the reality of systemic racism. A few days after that, while campaigning in New Hampshire, O’Rourke said reparations “shouldn’t be the preliminary or initial focus” of the conversation.

Along with O’Rourke, Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, …

Key Words: Senate Democrat backs payment of NCAA student-athletes

It’s a civil-rights matter for at least two reasons, says Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

The meatless Whopper is just the beginning — get ready for vegetarian tuna, steak and eggs

Burger King’s meatless Whopper joins a growing list of plant-based alternatives to some of America’s favorite foods.

Sonos taps KKR’s Brittany Bagley as next CFO

Sonos Inc. announced on Wednesday afternoon that it was hiring Brittany Bagley, who has served on the company’s board of directors, to become its new chief financial officer.