07Feb2020 Midday Update: Wall Street Lower After Jobs Report And Coronavirus Worries Linger, Sending Stocks Lower At End Of Best Week Since June

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are lower today with shares in Brazil off the most. The Bovespa is down 0.62% while Mexico’s IPC is off 0.40% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is lower by 0.25%.

EU goes into meeting frenzy ahead of February 20 summit on next seven-year budget

European Union leaders and institutions went into a frenzy of meetings this week to start the toughest job the bloc faces this year: agreeing on a seven-year budget that for many is the most tangible sign of what a united Europe will look like after Brexit.

Growth worries on coronavirus send stocks lower at end of best week since June

Global equity markets and government debt yields slumped on Friday as growing concerns about the impact of the coronavirus on global growth overshadowed a strong U.S. jobs report that indicated an economy on pace to grow moderately.

U.S. ‘Section 232’ auto decision on hold for possible U.S.-EU trade deal: Kudlow

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday a U.S. decision to impose “Section 232” national security tariffs on cars and auto parts imported from the European Union is on pause amid attempts to reach a U.S.-EU trade deal.

Blue collar boom? College grads, baby boomers big winners in Trump’s economy

U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out an eye-catching statistic in his State of the Union address Tuesday: the wealth held by the poorest half of American households increased three times as fast as the wealth held by the “1%” since he became president.

White House adviser says UK’s 5G actions won’t hinder trade deal

Britain’s decision to grant China-based Huawei Technologies a limited role in its 5G network despite U.S. concerns will not hinder efforts to reach a U.S.-UK trade deal, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday.

‘We’ll see; – U.S. Vice President on whether U.K.’s 5G decision could hurt possible trade deal

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday that Britain’s decision to let Huawei Technologies have a limited role in its 5G network remains a point of issue between the two traditional allies.

Mediaset set to win more time to complete merger of Italy, Spain units: sources

Mediaset will submit revised plans to merge its Italian and Spanish broadcasting units under a Dutch entity to authorities in the Netherlands, securing a six-month extension to complete the project, two sources familiar with the matter said.

New drugs contribute to AbbVie’s upbeat 2020 view; shares hit year-high

AbbVie Inc on Friday forecast full-year earnings well above Wall Street estimates, as the U.S. drugmaker looks to new treatments and its pending acquisition of Allergan Plc to drive growth beyond 2023, when its cash cow Humira loses patent protection.

From black swan to bubble: investors weigh coronavirus risks

When worries over the coronavirus shook U.S. stocks out of a period of quiet trading last week, investors wondered if the outbreak was the œBlack Swan event that would trigger a sharp decline. Less than a week later, talk has turned instead to a market melt-up.

Saxo Bank: Was It A False Breakout In Equities?

Saxo Bank: Was It A False Breakout In Equities?

Authored by Peter Garnry, head of Equity Strategy, Saxobank,

Summary:Â

In this equity update we talk about the growing evidence of the global supply chain grinding to a halt which could very quickly lead to a significant impact on economic activity. Something that is clearly not being discounted in equity markets. So it naturally begs the question whether yesterday’s new all-time high was a false breakout.

On January 20 on our Market Call podcast we flipped our tactical view on equities from long to short as the unknowns and nonlinearities created hidden risks that should be avoided. Our communicated stop loss was new highs in S&P 500 and that came yesterday as on balance earnings have been good and investors buying the narrative of monetary and fiscal impulse offsetting whatever weakness coming out of China. Being honest to our stop loss we flipped our tactical view. Already today we trending somewhat down in Brent crude and global equities. That coupled with price action among global logistics firms and indications on demand in China and Asia is making us questioning whether the breakout yesterday was false.

Six Women Of Color Quit Warren Campaign Over ‘Toxic Work Environment’

Six Women Of Color Quit Warren Campaign Over ‘Toxic Work Environment’

Six women of color have quit Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Nevada campaign just before the state’s caucuses over a “toxic work environment in which minorities felt tokenized and senior leadership was at loggerheads,” according to Politico.

Fed Warns “Asset Valuations Elevated”, Coronavirus Presents “New Risk” To Global Outlook

Fed Warns “Asset Valuations Elevated”, Coronavirus Presents “New Risk” To Global Outlook

With the sellside piling in and rushing to outforecasting itself on how much global GDP growth will be hit in Q1 (and onward) as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, which prompt Goldman to slash 2% from its global Q1 GDP forecast, and JPM to predict that China’s economy has effectively frozen in the first quarter, it was only a matter of time before the Fed jumped on the bandwagon and used nCoV-2019 as the latest bogeyman giving Powell free reign to cut rates and/or launch QE5 (as a reminder QE4 which was launched to “fix” the repo market is set to wind down in Q2).

And sure enough, in the latest semi-annual Monetary Policy Report submitted to Congress, the Coronavirus indeed makes a triumphant appearance, with the Fed board warning that the coronavirus outbreak “presented a new risk” to the economic outlook for the U.S. and warned of disruptions in global markets.

Specifically, with “fragilities in the corporate and financial sector” leaving China vulnerable to adverse developments, “because of the size of the Chinese economy, significant distress in China could spill over to U.S. and global markets through a retrenchment of risk appetite, U.S. dollar appreciation, and declines in trade and commodity prices” the Fed warned, adding that “the effects of the coronavirus in China have presented a new risk to the outlook.”

In short: if a global virus pandemic is about to halt global growth, the Fed is confident it can fix it by just making money even cheaper and/or printing it outright.

Never one to miss a market downtick, the Fed also pointed out that “in recent weeks, e …

Casper Crashes Below ‘Low-End-Of-The-Range’ IPO Price

Casper Crashes Below ‘Low-End-Of-The-Range’ IPO Price

Update (1130ET): Who could have seen that coming? Newly IPO’d Casper, which opened at $14.50, traded up to $15.85, has crashed back below its $12 IPO price (which was already at the low-end of lowered guidance)…

Anil Ambani asked to pay $100 million by UK court in 6 weeks

Anil Ambani asked to pay $100 million by UK court in 6 weeksThe lawsuit was filed by Chinese banks which argue that they provided a loan of $925 mn to RCom.

Jet faces fresh bankruptcy headwinds

Jet faces fresh bankruptcy headwinds Time is tight as creditors may have to push the firm into liquidation if there is no resolution by mid March.

Wuhan lockdown tightened in virus battle

Wuhan lockdown tightened in virus battleThe urgent, seemingly improvised steps come amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Wuhan.

31 January 2020 ECRI’s WLI Growth Rate Unchanged

Written by Steven Hansen

ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward improved and remains in expansion. ECRI released its lagging index this week.

Rex Nutting: Hiring in blue-collar industries has slowed to a trickle in the U.S.

President Trump’s promise to bring back jobs are coming up short.

NewsWatch: U.S. adds 225,000 jobs in January as hiring speeds up again – labor market ‘astounding’

The U.S. created a robust 225,000 new jobs in January to get off to a good start in 2020, reflecting surprising resilience in the labor market despite a contraction in manufacturing and softer economic growth. The unemployment rate edged up to 3.6%.

The Secure Act killed the stretch IRA ” here are alternatives for your inheritance

Life insurance, taxable investment accounts and charitable trusts are just a few options