15Jul2019 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Futures Hold Gains After Empire State Manufacturing Data Rebounds, DOW Futures Up Fractionally 40 Points, China Just Posted Its Lowest Growth Rate In Almost 30 Years

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 0.52% while London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.45% and France’s CAC 40 is up 0.20%.

Citigroup profit beats estimates on gains in consumer lending

Citigroup Inc beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit on Monday, as a tight lid on costs and strength in consumer lending helped the third-largest U.S. bank counter weakness in its trading business.

Exclusive: U.S. firms may get nod to restart Huawei sales in two-four weeks – official

The U.S. may approve licenses for companies to re-start new sales to Huawei in as little as two weeks, according to a senior U.S. official, in a sign President Donald Trump’s recent effort to ease restrictions on the Chinese company could move forward quickly.

China second quarter GDP growth slows to 27-year low as trade war bites, more stimulus seen

China’s economic growth slowed to 6.2% in the second quarter, its weakest pace in at least 27 years, as demand at home and abroad faltered in the face of mounting U.S. trade pressure.

Deutsche Telekom loses lawsuit over all-you-can-watch video product

Deutsche Telekom has lost a legal battle to continue offering an all-you-can-watch mobile video product after a court sided with the German regulator, saying it violated European rules on roaming and network neutrality.

Huawei to invest $3.1 billion in Italy but calls for fair policy on 5G: country CEO

China’s Huawei Technologies said it will invest $3.1 billion in Italy over the next three years, as the Chinese telecoms giant called on Rome to ensure the “transparent, efficient and fair” use of its ‘golden power’ on 5G network development.

Oil prices edge higher on Chinese economic data

Oil prices rose slightly on Monday as Chinese industrial output and retail data topped expectations but gains were capped by overall figures showing the country’s slowest quarterly economic growth in decades.

Bitcoin drops more than 10% as scrutiny of cryptocurrencies grows

Bitcoin slumped more than 10% over the weekend to a two-week low as fears of a crackdown of cryptocurrencies grew on mounting scrutiny of Facebook’s planned Libra digital coin.

Trump sees slowing Chinese growth pressuring Beijing on trade

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday pointed to slowing economic growth in China amid restarted trade talks, saying U.S. tariffs were having “a major effect” and warning that “possibly much more” were to come.

Reassuring Chinese data nudges shares higher

Surprisingly upbeat economic soundings from China lifted the global markets mood on Monday, pushing world shares toward an 18-month high and steering the Aussie dollar and copper upwards.

Food Shortage Warnings Begin As Tropical Storm Barry Rips Through America’s Heartland

Authored by Michael Snyder via The End of The American Dream blog,

The middle of the country has been relentlessly hammered by endless rain and unprecedented flooding for months, and now it is about to be absolutely pummeled by Tropical Storm Barry. Needless to say, this is going to cause even more headaches for Midwestern farmers. At this point, millions of acres of prime farmland are not going to be planted at all this year, and there are tens of millions of other acres where crops are really, really struggling. Those farms desperately need some warm, sunny weather for a while, but instead they are about to get hit by another enormous storm. In the end, this could potentially turn out to be the worst growing season in modern history, and it comes at a time when crops are literally failing all over the planet. Sadly, we really struggle to feed everyone on the globe even during the best years, and so what will things look like if worldwide harvests are catastrophic during the second half of 2019?

Peter Thiel Slams “Treasonous” Google For Choosing China Over US Military

During a talk Sunday at the National Conservatism conference in Washington, Peter Thiel, perhaps the most visible tech entrepreneur to back President Donald Trump, earning the eternal enmity of his fellow Silicon Valley denizens (and necessitating a move to LA), had some harsh words for his one-time friends.

The billionaire investor singled out Google for agreeing to work closely with China, trying to get its search engine back into the Chinese market, while deciding to let a US defense department contract that gave the military access to its artificial intelligence tools lapse.

These actions by Google, Thiel suggested, were “seemingly treasonous,” he said during the opening of his speech. Even going so far as to question whether Google parent Alphabet’s AI research program had been “infiltrated” by foreign intelligence.

Global Stocks Rise, S&P Pushes Above 3,000 As Earnings Season Begins

A busy week for macro data and the official launch of Q2 earnings is starting off on the right foot, with global stocks higher around the globe…

Trump Slams Faltering Chinese Economy, Declares US ‘Winning’ Trade War

The leadership in Beijing probably wasn’t too disappointed with the country’s slowest in nearly 30 years 6.2% annualized GDP print published early Monday morning local time, after all, in keeping with China’s “no surprises” mandate on economic data – every number is goalseeked to perfection to match the consensus, even if the Q2 number was slightly lower than Q1.

But with stocks at record highs, allowing Trump the upper hand in the interminable trade war, it appears the president couldn’t resist a few minutes to gloat.

As Trump has long claimed, thousands of companies are leaving China for other non tariiffed countries (though, the rest of China’s economic data wasn’t nearly so downbeat as the GDP number, which suggests that, once again this is merely more Trump showmanship).

China’s 2nd Quarter growth is the slowest it has been in more than 27 years. The United States Tariffs are having a major effect on companies wanting to leave China for non-tariffed countries. Thousands of companies are leaving. This is why China wants to make a deal….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019

….with the U.S., and wishes it had not broken the original deal in the first place. In the meantime, we are receiving Billions of Dollars in Tariffs from China, with possibly much more to come. These Tariffs are paid for by China devaluing & pumping, not …

Four reasons why India should borrow from overseas markets

Four reasons why India should borrow from overseas marketsTwo former RBI governors have cautioned against the idea of borrowing by the govt in external currencies.

Auto, realty slump could hurt NBFC recovery

Auto, realty slump could hurt NBFC recoveryAnalysts, however, believe that NBFCs with strong parentage may post strong earnings growth.

Why you need to monetise those idle assets

Why you need to monetise those idle assetsWe live with great humility & forbearance even as assets worth lakhs or crores are hidden in our closets.

The Fed: Good data or not, UBS still expects a half-point rate cut

Economists at UBS still anticipate a half-point cut from the Fed at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting due to end July 31, even with good economic data.

Your Digital Self: Toyota’s Prius is testing a new solar look that could put it back in the lead for hybrid cars

A solar battery could juice the hybrid car’s range.

Economic Report: Empire State manufacturing index rebounds in July after steep drop

The New York Fed Empire State Manufacturing Survey’s main index rebounded modestly to 4.3 in July after a minus 8.6 reading in the prior month, the regional Fed bank said Monday.