14Jun2019 Midday Update: Wall Street Drops As Broadcom Warning Pushes Chip Stocks Lower, DOW Down 50 Points, Nasdaq Down 0.6%

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are lower today with shares in Mexico off the most. The IPC is down 0.96% while U.S.’s S&P 500 is off 0.30% and Brazil’s Bovespa is lower by 0.28%.

GE poised for significant power orders in Iraq after U.S. push -sources

General Electric Co potentially stands to win a large share of multibillion-dollar contracts to rebuild Iraq’s electricity system, reflecting a change in how Iraq intends to award the work after the United States lobbied for GE, according to sources familiar with the matter.

EU’s Malmstrom hopes Trump, Xi can meet and reduce trade tensions

European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom is hoping U.S. President Donald Trump meets his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at the G20 summit in Japan later this month to try to reduce trade tensions between the two countries.

Wall Street drops as Broadcom warning pushes chip stocks lower

U.S. stocks dropped on Friday, as shares of chipmakers sank on a warning from sector major Broadcom of a broad weakening in global demand and Chinese data pointed to the worst slowdown in industrial growth in 17 years.

PetSmart’s Chewy gets Wall Street tails wagging with $1 billion IPO

Chewy Inc said on Thursday it priced its initial public offering at $22 per share, above its target, and sold more stock than originally planned, valuing the online pet products retailer at $8.77 billion.

Stock edge lower, gold gains on slowdown, geopolitical fears

Equity markets struggled and safe-haven assets like gold were in demand on Friday as weak Chinese data stoked investor anxieties over a global growth slowdown and fears of a U.S.-Iran confrontation added to geopolitical uncertainty.

Solid U.S. retail sales offer economy some respite

U.S. retail sales increased in May and sales for the prior month were revised higher, suggesting a pick-up in consumer spending that could ease fears the economy was slowing down sharply in the second quarter.

Norwegian Air expects Boeing 737 MAX fleet to remain grounded until end of August

Norwegian Air expects Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft to remain grounded until at least the end of August, missing the European summer season, CEO Bjoern Kjos said on Friday.

Exclusive – Business and pleasure: how Russian oil giant Rosneft uses its corporate jets

Jets used for corporate travel by Russian state-owned oil major Rosneft flew at least 13 times to Mallorca, Ibiza, Sardinia and the Maldives when CEO Igor Sechin or people from his social circle were in the same vacation spots.

Carrefour sees more retail sector consolidation, including in France

The boss of Carrefour said on Friday the retail sector was bound to consolidate in the coming years, notably in France, as competition intensifies, and that his mission was to make sure the French retailer came out a winner.

Facebook’s Secret ‘Hate Agent’ Formula Leaked By Insider

An internal Facebook document reveals that the social media giant monitors its users’ offline behavior as part of how the company determines whether a person should be classified as a “Hate Agent,” according to Breitbart’s Allum Bokhari who has reviewed the document.

Buchanan Blasts Dean – Russiagate Is No Watergate

Authored by Patrick Buchanan via Buchanan.org,

“History is repeating itself, and with a vengeance,” John Dean told the judiciary committee, drawing a parallel between Watergate, which brought down Richard Nixon, and “Russiagate” which has bedeviled Donald Trump.

But what strikes this veteran of Nixon’s White House is not the similarities but the stark differences.

Dealers “Lit On Fire” As Giant Stress Event Under Rate Vol Surface Creates “Outrageous Squeeze”

One week ago, Jeff Gundlach urged his twitter followers to take profit on his “top trade of 2019” he had put on just one month earlier at the Ira Sohn conference, buying rate vol, when the trade (in the form of a put-call straddle on TLT) had returned 22%.

In retrospect, Gundlach may have just scratched the tip of the iceberg, to mix metaphors, because after a drop, rate vol in the form of the MOVE index has once again spiked to multi-year highs even as equity vol remains surprisingly subdued (with oil vol somewhere in the middle).

Trump Says “It Doesn’t Matter” If Xi Agrees To Meet At G-20

Perhaps President Trump wanted to distract from Joe Biden, who has just ramped up his campaign, or maybe Trump wanted to distract us from the possibility that we might soon be at war with Iran.

But in a blitz of interviews with ABC and Fox, the president offered his latest update on the possibility of a meeting with President Xi, during which he sounded like he was leaning back toward the meeting likely not happening. Recently, Trump has repeatedly suggested that plans are nearly in place for a meeting, while the Chinese have repeatedly denied this.

Trump is ready to help India’s defence, but has a rider attached

Trump is ready to help India’s defence, but has a rider attachedThe US statement comes after similar warning that S-400 deal with Russia will have “serious implications” on ties.

Economists tell FM their Budget wish list

Economists tell FM their Budget wish listGST simplication, implementation of direct tax code are few suggestion made by the economists to the FM.

It’s a slow turn for consumer companies

It’s a slow turn for consumer companiesLeading consumer goods cos may see lower volume growth even in April-June quarter.

07 June 2019 ECRI’s WLI Growth Rate Goes Deeper Into Contraction

Written by Steven Hansen

ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward declined and has traveled deeper into contraction.

Mortgage rates are dropping — so why aren’t more people buying homes?

Lower interest rates offer real savings, but that may not be compelling enough to would-be home buyers.

In One Chart: Business conditions are at their worst level since the 2008 financial crisis, says Morgan Stanley

The business environment is deteriorating—fast, says Morgan Stanley