14Jun2019 Market Close: Wall Street Traded Down And Sideways, DOW Closes Down 17 Points, Nasdaq Closes Down 0.5%, WTI Settles At 52.48, US Dollar Rises 0.1% To 97.00

Bumble owner to spend $100 million on dating apps

The owner of dating app Bumble said on Friday it would revamp its holding structure and spend $100 million, as it looks to better compete with Match Group’s Tinder.

Italy’s industry ministry open to any discussions on Alitalia, including with Atlantia

Italy’s industry ministry is open to discussions with any investor interested in the rescue of troubled carrier Alitalia, including infrastructure group Atlantia, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

Exclusive: Mexico blamed Walmart’s size, access to rivals’ data in blocking app deal

Mexican officials blocked Walmart Inc’s deal to buy delivery app Cornershop because Walmart could not guarantee a level playing field for rival retailers, whose customers use the app to order groceries and other goods, according to an official document and an interview with the top competition regulator this week.

Wall Street steadies, Broadcom warning hits chip stocks

U.S. stocks were flat to lower in late afternoon trading on Friday, though a warning from Broadcom of a broad weakening in global demand weighed on chipmakers.

Bombardier opening new California rail-car assembly site

Canada’s Bombardier is opening a new facility in California that will assemble rail cars for San Francisco’s rapid transit system by year’s end, and potentially serve other West Coast rail projects.

Global stocks edge lower on data, oil rises on geopolitical fears

Equity markets lost ground on Friday as weak Chinese data stoked investor anxieties over a global growth slowdown and mounting fears of a U.S.-Iran confrontation added to geopolitical uncertainty, sending oil prices higher.

Airbus urges UTC not to be distracted by Raytheon deal

Airbus said on Friday it had urged United Technologies to “keep its eye on the ball” in its role as a commercial aerospace supplier as it moves toward a planned merger with U.S. defense contractor Raytheon.

Dish execs met with DOJ, FCC on T-Mobile, Sprint merger

Dish Network Corp executives met this week with the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust chief Makan Delrahim and Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai on the government’s review of the proposed $26.5 billion tie-up of wireless carriers T-Mobile USA and Sprint Corp.

Broadcom’s $2 billion warning rattles global chip sector

Broadcom Inc sent a shockwave through the global chipmaking industry on Friday with its forecast that U.S.-China trade tensions and the ban on doing business with Huawei Technologies would knock $2 billion off the company’s sales this year.

Campus Wokesters Expose The Descent Of Liberalism Into “A Maw Of Delusion & Bad Faith”

Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

Campus Wokesters with boundary problems got “woke” for real on Thursday when an Ohio jury laid an additional $33-million for punitive damages on top of $11-million in compensatory damages already awarded against Oberlin College for running a “social justice” campaign to ruin the business of a four-generation small-town bakery that followed the shoplifting arrest of three black Oberlin College students there in 2016.

Mitch McConnell: “I Am The Grim Reaper” Of Democrat’s Socialist Agenda

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted a “McConnell’s Graveyard” poster, listing several legislative items, written on tombstones, that have been – according to Pelosi – been blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The list included the For the People Act, the Equality Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act and Gun Violence Prevention:

.@SenateMajLdr is so obsessed with blocking votes on commonsense solutions passed by the House, he’s taken to calling himself “the Grim Reaper.” But Americans are tired of waiting – they want action on their priorities now. #ForThePeople pic.twitter.com/g2vhXvMnHW

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 13, 2019

McConnell’s response was swift, telling Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that “she’s got it right,” referring to Pelosi.

“She’s got it absolutely right. For the first time in my memory, I agree with Nancy Pelosi.”

“I am indeed the ‘Grim Reaper’ when it comes to the socialist agenda that they have been ginning up over the House with overwhelming Democratic support, and sending it over to America,” McConnell added. “Things that would turn us into a country we have never been.”

“None of those things are going to pass the Senate. they won’t even be voted on. So think of me as the Grim Reaper,” McConnell had said.

Watch the full interview below:

Warren Buffett Versus The S&P 500 – Less & Less Oraculous?

Via Political Calculations blog,

Warren Buffett is a legendary investor, one of the few who has consistent beaten the odds by beating the S&P 500, which has earned him the nickname “The Oracle of Omaha”.

Buffett has attained that status by investing the resources of his company, Berkshire Hathaway in other companies, either buying their shares, as in the case of companies like Coca-Cola and JPMorgan Chase, or buying entire private companies, including household names such as See’s Candy and Geico.

If you go back over 30 years, you can see that the cumulative value of Buffett’s investments, as measured by Berkshire Hathaway’s stock, has outperformed the S&P 500. Brian Livingston did just that, going back to 1987, in the following chart, which compares the total return of BRK.A against the total return of the S&P 500:

Senators Switched Key Votes On Gulf Arms Ban Hours After Tanker Attacks

A brief report from AntiWar.com’s Eric Garris suggests Thursday’s tanker attack incident in the Gulf of Oman which the United States promptly blamed on Iran has directly impacted bills placed before the Senate which would ban US arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar.

Garris wrote of the vote which came hours after the Gulf tankers incident: “Both votes were considered highly likely to pass up until they were rushed to the floor today. The timing appears almost certainly to have been related to Thursday tanker bombings in the Gulf of Oman, and shifted a number of Senators’ votes in favor of continuing the arms sales.” He noted that “some senators switched sides to kill the bills” following news of the tanker attacks.

In pre-Budget meet, economists come up with a fix for NBFCs

In pre-Budget meet, economists come up with a fix for NBFCsEconomists have underlined the need for bringing IBC-type framework for NBFC sector.

RBI has a plan to enhance ATMs’ security

RBI has a plan to enhance ATMs’ securityThe RBI has asked banks to ensure their ATMs are grouted to a wall, pillar, or floor by September-end.

What Jaishankar brings to MEA’s table

What Jaishankar brings to MEA’s tableAs our former man in Washington, Jaishankar can also help steady relations with the US.

Economic Report: Mortgage rates hold at two-year lows, giving borrowers another shot at the action

Rates for home loans held steady and declined as financial markets bore the brunt of geopolitical upheaval and concerns about lower growth

Former for-profit college students will have $168 million in student debt cancelled

The debt discharge is part of a deal between the CFPB, state attorneys general and a company that managed private student debt on behalf of ITT.

Futures Movers: Middle East tensions lift oil, but weaker demand prospects push prices down for the week

Crude-oil futures settle higher on Friday, a day after an attack on two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz triggered concerns about disruptions to the global flow of oil. Despite a rally on Thursday, however, prices suffer a loss for the week.