Written by Gary
US stocks higher during the last minutes of trading (SPY +0.1%). End of session little has changed, closing near record highs.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | WeWork’s 2025 junk bond falls to record lowShared-office operator WeWork’s 2025 junk bond fell to a record low on Monday, with its last yielding bid at 16.06%. |
| Justice Department asks court to scrap decades-old ‘Paramount’ antitrust decreesThe U.S. Justice Department said on Monday that it would ask a court to scrap decades-old ‘Paramount’ consent decrees enacted to protect movie theaters from powerful studios. |
| Lawsuit claims Burger King’s Impossible Whoppers are contaminated by meatBurger King was sued on Monday by a vegan customer who accused the fast-food chain of contaminating its meatless “Impossible” Whoppers by cooking them on the same grills as its traditional meat burgers. |
| Stocks climb on Huawei extension, buoying U.S. TreasuriesGlobal equity markets edged higher on Monday, lifting prices of U.S. government debt, as a new 90-day extension allowing U.S. companies to do business with China’s Huawei eased the latest spike in investor angst over U.S.-Sino trade tensions. |
| Amazon offers free music streaming service; rival Spotify slipsAmazon.com Inc said on Monday it has introduced an ad-supported free version of its music streaming service “Amazon Music”. |
| U.S. car safety agency head: NAFTA successor ‘big win’ for industryThe acting top U.S. auto safety official said on Monday he was confident the U.S. Congress will ratify the trade treaty intended to replace NAFTA, boosting the auto industry and enabling automakers to build safer cars at lower prices. |
| Airbus dominates second day of Dubai show as Boeing wins MAX orderGulf airlines Emirates and Air Arabia spent a combined $30 billion at list prices on Airbus jetliners as the Dubai Airshow burst into life on Monday, while Boeing won a symbolic first official order for the 737 MAX since its grounding in March. |
| ByteDance CEO urges TikTok diversification as U.S. pressure mounts: internal noteThe founder and CEO of TikTok owner ByteDance will focus on adding users of the popular video app in countries outside of its strongest markets, according to an internal staff note seen by Reuters, as it faces political pressure in the United States. |
| Wall Street nudge up as investors await U.S.-China trade clarityWall Street’s main indexes were very slightly higher on Monday after closing at records on Friday and investors digested mixed headlines on U.S.-China trade relations. |
| Stocks & Bonds Bid, Dollar Skids As Powell-Pontification Trumps Trade-PessimismStocks & Bonds Bid, Dollar Skids As Powell-Pontification Trumps Trade-Pessimism Chinese officials are reportedly “pessimistic” about a trade deal (the same trade deal that has enabled endless equity ramps on the back of spurious headlines proclaiming progress), but US equities refuse to go down (S&P down only twice in November) as speculation on what was discussed between Trump and Powell today levitated stocks (despite the dollar and bond yields sliding)… |
| Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson Throws In The Towel And Raises His S&P Price Target, But…Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson Throws In The Towel And Raises His S&P Price Target, But… When we reported yesterday that Morgan Stanley had finally capitulated on its bearish bias, when its cross-asset strategist Andrew Sheets said that the bank was upgrading global stocks from Underweight to Neutral, we were not sure if the bank’s US equity strategist, and staunch market bear, Michael Wilson, would join the firmwide call reversing over a year of pessimism just as the S&P hit new all time highs. Well, he did… but a close read of his report published this morning, in which he upgrades his base case target on the S&P from 2,750 to 3,000 after he too got a tap on the shoulder, suggests that every single pore of his body was oozing with disdain and disgust at being forced to reverse his bearish call, and not just because of the following Easter-egg sarcasm buried deep in the report: “history is clear that the market moves lower as well.” Speaking of getting the shoulder tap to reverse his bearishness, Wilson now says that at the index level he sees the S&P 500 “continuing to move within a modestly upward sloping channel and would look to trade off the highs and lows of that range.” And while Wilson has adjusted his S&P 500 bull/base/bear (3,250/3,000/2,750) targets higher by ~10% based on his “flattish earnings outlook and valuation support from lower rates”… |
| Kanye: “Protect Your Kids From Being Indoctrinated By Hollywood & The Media”Kanye: “Protect Your Kids From Being Indoctrinated By Hollywood & The Media” Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News, Kanye West says that parents need to protect their children from being ‘indoctrinated’ into embracing lives of vapid meaninglessness by the media and the entertainment industry. |
| Here’s The Simple Reason Why A Global Economic Recovery Is Not ComingHere’s The Simple Reason Why A Global Economic Recovery Is Not Coming One of the recurring themes that emerged since the start of September, is that not only will an economic recession be avoided (thanks to the Fed’s three recent rate cuts and $60 billion in monthly QE) but the global economy is now on an upswing. To see Wall Street’s recent bullish reversal in thinking on this critical issue look no further than the latest piece from Goldman’s David Kostin who starts his latest Weekly Kickstart piece by saying that “The performance of the US equity market during the past three months suggests the pace of US economic growth will improve in the near future” adding that “recent data releases have supported the market’s expectation for a rebound in the US economy.” Additionally, as we reported over the weekend, perennial market bear Morgan Stanley finally threw in the towel and after downgrading global stocks to a Sell in July, turned Neutral (after what we assume were countless complaints by its clients who accused the bank of missing the recent rally). One look at the market, and it’s clear: stocks have now fully priced in a global recovery, and are expecting a dramatic surge in global PMIs in the coming months. |
| The puzzle piece FM & RBI need to solve to reboot Indian economyThe puzzle piece FM & RBI need to solve to reboot Indian economyEconomic growth has fallen to a six-year-low of 5% in the June quarter and is widely expected to slip further. |
| PSU banks plan to link pay with performancePSU banks plan to link pay with performancePerformance-linked incentives may be computed annually after declaration of banks’ annual results. |
| How govt plans to keep online shoppers safeHow govt plans to keep online shoppers safeThe ministry of consumer affairs is looking to add a section detailing penalties for ecomm firms. |
| TaxWatch: This former top Obama official says one silver bullet would raise $500 billion in personal-income tax‘Today, the IRS has fewer auditors than it had at any point since World War II.’ |
| Key Words: Pelosi says Trump is in ‘way over his head’ in the Oval OfficeHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi slams the president on CBS’s œFace the Nation on Sunday. |
| Marissa Mayer is back with a new startup focusing on artificial intelligenceMayer has been tight-lipped about her new venture, Lumi Labs, which is focused on building A.I. applications for consumers. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
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