17Apr2019 Midday Update: Mid-day Wall Street’s Main Indexes Were Trading Moderately Lower, DOW Down Below 50 Points, Healthcare Decline Counters Chip Boost

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed. The IPC is higher by 0.24%, while the Bovespa is leading the S&P 500 lower. They are down 1.87% and 0.29% respectively.

Qualcomm gains $30 billion in market value after Apple settlement

Qualcomm Inc added $30 billion to its market value after it resolved a legal battle with Apple Inc, a move that secures its leadership in 5G phone chips and could pave the way for a similar settlement with China’s Huawei Technologies.

BNY Mellon expects net interest revenue to drop again, shares slide

Bank of New York Mellon Corp said on Wednesday it expects net interest revenue to decline again in the current quarter as the world’s largest custodian bank pays higher interest rates to attract deposits, sending its shares down 9 percent.

Continental, Valeo seek EU antitrust action against Nokia

German car parts maker Continental and French rival Valeo have joined Daimler and Bury Technologies to seek an EU antitrust investigation into Nokia’s patent licensing practices for cars, the Finnish tech company said on Wednesday.

Global stock rally on China data capped by flight from healthcare shares

World stock markets pared earlier gains as a continued flight from healthcare shares dragged on Wall Street, overshadowing earlier upbeat economic data from China.

Toyota to sell first hybrid car made in Brazil

Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it will begin building a new version of the Corolla sedan in Brazil that will run on electricity, ethanol and gas, which it says will be the first vehicle of its kind in the world.

Wall Street flat as healthcare decline counters chip boost

Wall Street’s main indexes were trading flat on Wednesday, as a Qualcomm-led rally in chipmakers was offset by a slide in healthcare stocks for the second straight session, although quarterly earnings came in largely positive.

U.S. planes, tractors on EU tariff list over Boeing

Planes, tractors, food and handbags featured on a list of U.S. imports worth $20 billion that the European Union said on Wednesday it could hit with tariffs in a transatlantic aircraft subsidy dispute.

India’s Jet Airways suspends operations after banks reject plea for emergency funds

Embattled Jet Airways said on Wednesday it was halting all flight operations after its lenders rejected its plea for emergency funds, potentially bringing the curtains down on what was once India’s largest private airline.

Jet Airways: How the ‘Joy of Flying’ airline’s dreams soured

Beleaguered carrier Jet Airways halted all operations on Wednesday after its lenders rejected its plea for emergency funding from the airline that was once India’s largest private carrier.

It’s Only April, And U.S. Retailers Have Already Shuttered More Stores Than They Did All Of Last Year

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

If the U.S. economy is in good shape, why have retailers already shuttered more stores than they did in all of 2018? Not only that, we are also on pace to absolutely shatter the all-time record for store closures in a single year by more than 50 percent. Yes, Internet commerce is growing, but the Internet has been around for several decades now. It isn’t as if this threat just suddenly materialized. As Internet commerce continues to slowly expand, we would expect to see a steady drip of brick and mortar stores close, but instead what we are witnessing is an avalanche. If the U.S. economy really was “booming”, this wouldn’t be happening. But if the U.S. economy was heading into a recession, this is precisely what we would expect to see.

Lori Loughlin’s Daughter Is First Student Under Criminal Investigation In Admissions Scandal

A third member of the Loughlin family – the most familiar faces in the recent college admissions scam – is now facing a criminal investigation, according to The Daily Mail. A daughter of Full House star Lori Loughlin, who recently plead not guilty to charges in “the largest ever college admissions scandal” is now the focus of a Department of Justice probe as to her involvement in the case.

Multiple sources have said that the actress’ daughter was on the receiving end of a letter from federal prosecutors in Massachusetts earlier this month regarding the investigation. The letter said that Loughlin’s daughter was the subject of an investigation that could result in criminal charges.

One person who saw the letter said: “It is a not-so-veiled threat. [The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts] is making it pretty clear that they have evidence that very strongly suggests she knew of the illegal plot.”

The tone of the letter was described as “ominous”. A source said that these letters are an indication that prosecutors are working to obtain evidence and possibly pursue additional charges and defendants.

Former Peruvian President Dies In Hospital After Shooting Himself During Police Raid

update: Local media has reported that former Peruvian President Alan García has died after undergoing emergency surgery at a hospital in Lima, following a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

He shot himself just as police raided his Lima home amid corruption allegations in Latin America’s largest graft probe.

According to the AP:

Health Minister Zulema Tomás said doctors provided cardiac resuscitation three times and were proceeding to operate on the 69-year-old former head of state at the José Casimiro Ulloa Hospital in Peru’s capital city of Lima.

The former president was among 230 people across Latin America facing investigation and prison time related to a mass kickback for construction contracts scheme centered on Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht.

Bridgewater Warns Of Much Lower Equity Prices As Margins Shrink

In addition to preaching against the dangers of capitalism and warning that unless America can fix its growing inequality problems, it faces a “revolution”, Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio appears to have been reading the research reports by Michael Wilson.

As a reminder, one of the recurring themes laid out over the past year by the bearish Morgan Stanley chief equity strategist, is that with corporate – and especially tech – profit margins near all time highs, there is little opportunity to further “cut into the muscle” and boost earnings by further shrinking compensation costs, especially with wage growth now solidly above 3%. It’s also the main reason why Q1 earnings season is expected to see a drop in EPS despite continued growth in revenues.

Echoing these concerns in a Wednesday report, Bridgewater cautions that the major drivers of high U.S. corporate profit margins are unsustainable and “now under threat”, and will eventually result in much lower equity prices.

“Over the last two decades, U.S. corporate profit margins have surged and have contributed more than half of the excess return of equities relative to cash,” said the world’s largest hedge fund, according to Reuters. “Without that consistent expansion of margins, U.S. equities would be 40% lower than they are today.”

Reiterating many of the points we discussed in a February article, Bridgewater writes that over the last few decades almost every major driver of profit margins has improved, although as shown in the chart below this has largely been the …

February 2018 Headline Wholesale Sales Improved With Inventories Very High

Written by Steven Hansen

The headlines say wholesale sales improved month-over-month with inventory levels worsening and very elevated. Our analysis shows a deceleration of the rate of growth for the rolling averages.

NewsWatch: Qualcomm-Apple settlement is surprisingly good for Intel, but it’s bad news for Samsung

Here’s who wins and loses with the end to the Apple-Qualcomm lawsuit.

Eco-friendly NYC restaurants are giving discounts to diners who bring their own dishes

More than half of consumers say they’re willing to pay more for products from brands that follow eco-friendly practices.

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates weigh in on the Time 100 list honoring LeBron James, AOC and more

The Times 100 profiles celebrating LeBron James, Mark Zuckerberg, AOC, Michelle Obama and more were penned by other notables.