Another week of positive returns. Markets are now up 4 weeks in a row. The overarching theme have been investors are hopeful that there will be trade-deal between U.S. and China. If not that, potentially Trump administration removing all tariffs until a deal is reached. Also, recent positive macro data have fueled the market.
On the other side, there are plenty of bad news. The U.S. government shut-down is now the longest ever. So far the economic effects have not worried the markets. Teresa May lost most recent Brexit vote in parliament. Resulting in more uncertainty. No one knows if there will be delay of the Brexit, a new vote, or other outcomes. EU countries have commenced contingency plans in case of a hard Brexit. Data out of China continue to be negative side, but again markets have put its hope to a deal.
Earnings have been hit and miss in the first week of earnings. The banks reported mixed results with Goldman and Bank of America report better than expected results, whilst Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan were less stellar. Netflix missed its numbers, but the markets shrugged. American Expressed missed on lower spending. On the retail side, Signet missed while Tiffany beat. On the auto side, Tesla is laying off works as it is facing headwinds.
Finally, one major concern from last year was the freezing up of credit markets. It appear to have now to have opened up, giving investors more confidence things are all ok. With that said, the markets have priced in plenty of good news. Anything negative could easily turn the markets. Let it be Mueller probe, trade talks or geopolitical events.
Over 300 small-business loans a day aren’t happening because of the shutdown via Washington Post
U.S. Restaurant Prices Jump the Most Since 2011 from Bloomberg
NAHB: Builder Confidence Increases in January via Calculated Risk
Boom Fizzles: Shipments Fall for 1st Time Since Transportation Recession from Wolf Street
Dimon says JP Morgan `won’t be stupid’ with loans as end of business cycle nears via CNBC
India: Biggest Strike in World History. 200 million People Strike against Modi’s Government. Will the Government and the Markets Fall? From Ask Brokers
China exports fall most in 2 years as slowdown and trade war bite via FT
Jiayuan crash underscores China property risks by FT
You can’t contain China: Former US trade chief Robert Zoellick warns Donald Trump from SCMP
Xi Jinping’s turn away from the market puts Chinese growth at risk via FT
China: Xi makes it Clear – Prepare for War with Taiwan – Maybe a Convenient way for the U.S. to bankrupt China by Ask Brokers
Japan’s optimistic millennials shed frugal habits and lift spending from Nikkei Asian Review
Europe: Economies Shows Stress. Car Sales Collapse – U.S. Signals More Auto Tariffs. Via Ask Brokers
Draghi Warns Lawmakers Eurozone Economy Weaker Than Expected from WSJ
German industry’s plan to face the China steamroller via FT
EU offers Brexit reassurance but no changes to deal by Politico
Brexit latest polling: Public hate Theresa May’s deal – but still back leaving from The Telegraph
As UK’s EU withdrawal nears, Germany steps up Brexit prep via DW
France launches contingency plans for hard Brexit via FT
Ivanka Trump to Help Select Nominee for World Bank President via WSJ
Do You Chase Longs Here? From Ask Brokers
Are Market Moves Happening Faster? by A Wealth of Common Sense
Buy Protection When You Can, Not When You Must from Ask Brokers
If Earnings Have Peaked, Will a Stock Wipeout Follow? By Chief Investment Officer
Diverging Central Banks by Ask Brokers
Lions and Tigers and Yield Curve Inversions from Pension Partners
Dull Markets Killing Volatility – Time for the Contrarian Trade? By Ask Brokers
Mighty JPY not Buying the Risk On from Ask Brokers
Poor Morgan Stanley results end Wall Street winning streak by FT
Apple’s Next Big Move? It Should Buy Nintendo via Barron’s
Apple supplier Dialog Semi weathers iPhone slump to hit revenue target from Reuters
Foxconn axes 50,000 seasonal jobs as Apple slowdown bites by Nikkei Asian Review
Netflix is raising prices across of all of its tiers via Engadget
What Amazon’s Rise to No. 1 Says About the Stock Market from WSJ
China’s Tencent and Alibaba hit the brakes after dealmaking binge via FT
Is the Overpriced M&A Spree by the Chinese Showing Cracks? German Robotic Company Kuka Could be a Sign from Ask Brokers
Alibaba faces growing regulatory threat as China’s economy falters by FT
Was The Facebook ’10 Year Challenge’ A Way To Mine Data For Facial Recognition AI? Via Forbes
Elon Musk Says Tesla Is Cutting Full-Time Jobs to Maintain the Low Cost of Its Cars by Fortune
The most powerful person in Silicon Valley from FastCompany
WeWork’s CEO Makes Millions as Landlord to WeWork by WSJ
Chinese tech unicorn ByteDance launches new social app to rival WeChat via SCMP
Exclusive: PG&E talking to banks on multibillion dollar bankruptcy financing – sources by Reuters
Safe Or Not, Roundup Is Toxic for Bayer by Der Spiegel
Newmont buys Goldcorp in US$10B mega deal to be top gold miner via Bloomberg
Beware the Mega- Merger from Crossing Wall Street
German regulator saddles Deutsche Bank with onerous money laundering reviews by Handelsblatt
Canada’s Canopy Growth shares jump on deal to develop industrial hemp farms in New York from CNBC
The weed middleman that expects to make billions as the Sunkist of pot via MarketWatch
iPhone On Rails: How Finnish Elevator Maker Kone Is Using Technology To Reach The Next Floor from Forbes
The Marijuana Billionaire Who Doesn’t Smoke Weed by Fortune
As Americans Drink Less Alcohol, Booze Makers Look Beyond the Barrel from WSJ
Alaska officials probing BP oil, gas wells at Prudhoe Bay after spill via Reuters
California’s largest utility just declared bankruptcy. Hello, climate change. By VOX
Apollo Nears Deal to Buy Arconic for More Than $10 Billion via WSJ
US pursuing criminal charges against Huawei for alleged theft of trade secrets via CNBC
Fiserv to acquire First Data in all-stock deal with equity value of $22 billion via MarketWatch
Spain wrestles with a private equity boom from FT
Exclusive: Snoop Dogg Invests In Klarna, Sweden’s $2.5 Billion Unicorn by Forbes
Fidelity looks to AI as the future for portfolio management, asset selection via SCMP
Mirror, Mirror by Demonitzed
Multifactor Multiplicity from Bps and pieces
Are Structured Products Trash? By Demonetized
Crypto
HSBC banks on blockchain to finesse forex trades via FT
Russia will buy Bitcoin to avoid US sanctions, economist claims from Asia Times
The hottest cryptocurrency, Tron, rekindles memories of the bitcoin bubble for worldwide traders by SCMP
A major wall Street player is cutting 1,500 jobs and accelerating automation via CNBC
Consider Firing Your Male Broker via NYTimes
Do Economic Booms Die of Old Age? From Bloomberg
Why do we bother with stock market forecasts? By The Irish Times
Diversification is (Almost) Undefeated from A Wealth of Common Sense
The Super-Secure Quantum Cable Hiding in the Holland Tunnel by Bloomberg
Worse than you thought: inside the secret Fitzgerald probe the Navy doesn’t want you to read via Navy Times
John Bogle, who founded Vanguard and revolutionized retirement savings, dies at 89 from The Inquirer
NIKE’S NEW SELF-LACING BASKETBALL SHOE IS ACTUALLY SMART by Wired
Sports gamblers are getting valuable data from a former NFL doctor who tweets his injury assessments in real time via CNBC
U.S. Now Says All Online Gambling Illegal, Not Just Sports Bets from Bloomberg
A POKER-PLAYING ROBOT GOES TO WORK FOR THE PENTAGON via Wired
Taking an elevator into space could actually happen. Here’s how by NewScientist
The Real Cost of Cheap Groceries from Fortune
Future of coffee in doubt as 60 per cent of plants now at risk of extinction via The Telegraph
The Government’s Secret UFO Program Funded Research on Wormholes and Extra Dimensions by Motherboard
