Fiat Chrysler accused of cheating emissions tests
EPA accuses Fiat Chrysler over cheating on diesel emissions testing, the same way Volkswagen did. …read more
Source: Fiat Chrysler accused of cheating emissions tests
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
The other DJT — Dow Jones Transports is on fire
Shares of railroads, airlines and trucking stocks have enjoyed a nice pop since the election. Southwest is near an all-time high. Trump’s win could boost demand for shipping and travel. If the rally continues, it could lift the whole market. …read more
Source: The other DJT — Dow Jones Transports is on fire
Exxon ordered to turn over climate change research
A Massachusetts judge ordered Exxon on Wednesday to hand over more than four decades of the company’s climate change research. …read more
Source: Exxon ordered to turn over climate change research
CVS cuts cost for EpiPen competitor
CVS Health is selling generic Adrenaclick from Impax Labs, competitor to Mylan’s EpiPen, for $109.99. …read more
Source: CVS cuts cost for EpiPen competitor
Boeing chases airlines for stretch 737
Boeing is chasing airlines around the globe to launch a new 737 in a bid to win back waning market share for the largest single-aisle airliners. …read more
Source: Boeing chases airlines for stretch 737
Dollar, Futures Slump; Gold Spikes Over $1,200 After Trump Disappoints Markets
By Tyler Durden
Risk assets declined across the globe, with European, Asian shares and S&P 500 futures all falling, while the dollar slumped against most currencies after a news conference by President-elect Donald Trump disappointed investors with limited details of his economic-stimulus plans, and the Trumpflation/reflation trade was said to be unwinding.
“The risk was always that a president like Trump would end up upsetting that consensus (of faster U.S. growth, stronger dollar) view by introducing more political uncertainty,” said asset manager GAM’s head of multi-asset portfolios Larry Hatheway.
The biggest mover, and perhaps the key driver of risk since the election, was the dollar which tumbled as much as 0.8%, falling below its 50DMA for the first time since the election, and back to where it was during the December 14 Fed rate hike announcement, while Treasuries gained alongside commodities, as Donald Trump’s press conference sent a wake-up call to the market about exalted expectations for fiscal stimulus in the U.S.
“Overall, investors are wary ahead of Trump’s inauguration – a case of buy the talk (Trumpflation), but sell the news,” analysts at Societe Generale said in a note.
However while negative for the US, that Trump did not mention possible tariffs against Chinese exports, was a relief for Asian share markets that have feared the outbreak of a global trade war.
The lack of detail about a potential stimulus also put safety plays such as bonds and gold back in favor, cooling bets that have built in recent months on significantly higher global inflation and series of U.S. interest rate hikes. It was enough to send the dollar tumbling back below 114 yen for the first time in five weeks and brought some welcome relief to Brexit-bruised sterling and Turkey’s lira, which has been badly beaten up this year. The USD/JPY broke below the prior session low of 114.25 to reach its weakest level in a month as broad assets position adjustments after recent rally continues to lower the pair’s range, said Satoshi Okagawa, senior global market analyst at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. in Singapore. Eventually the pair slid as low as 113.77 shortly after the European open before rebounding to just above 114.
The euro was back at $1.0650 for the first time in a month, shaky sterling climbed above $1.22 and Sweden’s crown hit a four-month high and cracked its 200-day moving average against the euro after pacy inflation data. It was also bliss for bond markets that have been in reverse since Trump’s election fuel led bets on higher U.S. interest rates that tend to set the bar for global borrowing costs.
Gold spiked on the weak dollar, rising above $1,200 since November 23, and at the 38.2% Fibonacci of the Trump-Led slide.
With all eyes on the dollar, the U.S. currency slumped against most major and the 10-year Treasury yield touched the lowest since November as Trump’s first press conference since his election victory gave no details on policy.
European stocks headed for their lowest close since the end of 2016 …read more
Source: Dollar, Futures Slump; Gold Spikes Over $1,200 After Trump Disappoints Markets
Identity Of "Former Intelligence Officer" Who Prepared The Trump Dossier, Has Been Revealed
By Tyler Durden
While we learned earlier that John McCain was responsible for handing over the 35-page “dossier” of compromising, if arguably fake, revelations about Trump’s connections to Russia over to the FBI, the identity of the actual creator, who was said to be an ex-British intelligence service, remained a mystery.
No longer.
Courtesy of the WSJ, we now know his name: the former MI-6 officer, now working for a private security-and-investigations firm “who produced the dossier of unverified allegations about President-elect Donald Trump’s activities and connections in Russia” is Christopher Steele, a director of London-based Orbis Business Intelligence…. and before readers google him, beware, there is a male gay porn star with the same name, who may or may not be into “golden showers.”
The real Chris Steele is profiled below, courtesy of LinkedIn.
Steele, 52 years old, is one of two directors of Orbis, along with Christopher Burrows, 58.
Burrows, reached at his home outside London on Wednesday, said he wouldn’t “confirm or deny” that Orbis had produced the report. A neighbor of Mr. Steele’s said Mr. Steele said he would be away for a few days. In previous weeks Mr. Steele has declined repeated requests for interviews through an intermediary, who said the subject was “too hot.”
According to Steele’s LinkedIn profile, at least before he scrubbed it, he was a counselor in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with foreign postings in Brussels and New Delhi in the 2000s. The Foreign Office declined to comment to the WSJ. Furthermore, the LinkedIn profile for Mr. Steele doesn’t give specifics about his career, however notes that intelligence officers often use diplomatic postings as cover for their espionage activities. That, or they are dumb enough to actually reveal where they are stationed.
Some more details courtesy of the WSJ:
Orbis Business Intelligence was formed in 2009 by former British intelligence professionals, it says on its website. U.K. corporate records say Orbis is owned by another company that in turn is jointly owned by Messrs. Steele and Burrows. It occupies offices in an ornate building overlooking Grosvenor Gardens in London’s high-end Belgravia neighborhood.
The firm relies on a “global network” of experts and business leaders, provides clients with strategic advice, mounts “intelligence-gathering operations” and conducts “complex, often cross-border investigations,” its website says.
The dossier consists of a series of unsigned memos that appear to have been written between June and December 2016. Beyond creating the document, Mr. Steele also came up with a plan to get the information to law-enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europe, including the F.B.I., according to a person familiar with the matter.
The WSJ adds that “the author of the report had a good reputation in the intelligence world and was stationed in Russia for years, said John Sipher, who retired in 2014 after 28 years in the CIA’s clandestine service, where he specialized in Russia and counterintelligence.”
Private-intelligence firms like Orbis have a growing presence. Major corporations use them to conduct due diligence …read more
Source: Identity Of "Former Intelligence Officer" Who Prepared The Trump Dossier, Has Been Revealed
China is freaking out bitcoin traders
China has put an end to bitcoin’s euphoric start to the year. The digital currency has plunged more than 30% since last week. …read more
Source: China is freaking out bitcoin traders
Hoover’s Folly
By Tyler Durden
Submitted by 720Global's Michael Lebowitz via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
In 1930, Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act into law. As the world entered the early phases of the Great Depression, the measure was intended to protect American jobs and farmers. Ignoring warnings from global trade partners, the new law placed tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. which resulted in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods exported to other countries. By 1934, U.S. imports and exports were reduced by more than 50% and many Great Depression scholars have blamed the tariffs for playing a substantial role in amplifying the scope and duration of the Great Depression. The United States paid a steep price for trying to protect its workforce through short-sighted political expedience.
On January 3, 2017 Ford Motor Company backed away from plans to build a $1.6 billion assembly plant in Mexico and instead opted to add 700 jobs at a Michigan plant. This abrupt reversal followed sharp criticism from Donald Trump. Ford joins Carrier in reneging on plans to move production to Mexico and will possibly be followed by other large corporations rumored to be reconsidering outsourcing. Although retaining manufacturing and jobs in the U.S. is a favorable development, it seems unlikely that these companies are changing their plans over concerns for American workers or due to stern remarks from President-elect Trump.
What does seem likely? Big changes in trade policy occurring within the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency. The change in plans by Ford and Carrier serve as clues to what may lie ahead and imply a cost-benefit analysis. In order to gain better insight into what the trade policy of the new administration may hold, consideration of cabinet members nominated to key positions of influence is in order.
Trump’s Trade Appointments
As we close in on Trump’s inauguration, his cabinet and team of advisors is taking shape. With regard to global trade, there are three cabinet nominations that most capture our attention:
- Peter Navarro is a business professor from the University of California-Irvine. Mr. Navarro has been very outspoken about China and the need to renegotiate existing trade deals in order to put America on a level playing field with global manufacturers. The author of the book, “Death by China”, will lead the newly created White House National Trade Council.
- Wilbur Ross is a billionaire investor who made his fortune by resurrecting struggling companies. In the words of Donald Trump, Mr. Ross is a “champion of American manufacturing and knows how to turn them around”. The long time trade protectionist will now serve as Commerce Secretary.
- Robert Lighthizer is currently a lawyer with a focus on trade litigation and lobbying on behalf of large U.S. corporations. Earlier in his career, he served as deputy U.S. Trade Representative under President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Lighthizer has been very outspoken about unfair trade practices that harm America. In his new role he will serve as Trump’s U.S. Trade Representative.
Donald Trump said that Mr. Lighthizer will work “in close coordination” with Wilbur Ross and Peter …read more
Source: Hoover’s Folly
