Tornadoes ripped through Nashville, TN last night knocking down houses and ripping out telephone poles. Several are dead, unknown injured, power out in some areas, and as the sun comes up it looks like LOTS of buildings are damaged or destroyed. Pray for these people. I gotta say, I've been to Nashville and its a cool city. But, I'm not sure I would live in a place called, "Hurricane Alley". ... and..
SUPER TUESDAY!!! Lots to cover. Lets get started...
Amy Klobuchar and Mayor Pete Butegieg dropped out of the race and are endorsing Biden. Yup, they're coming for you Bernie!!!. You shoulda read the rant six months ago, Bern!!!. You would have saved all this time and money. The DNC and Powerful Dems will NOT let you be the nominee.
Biden held a rally in Texas where Mayor Pete and Klobuchar joined him on stage with Bob (Rememeber Me??? ) Beto O'Rourke and Biden made a gaffe that will CRUSH the Dem's chances of turning Texas blue (They had minor hopes given all the Immigrants). Biden seemed to promise Beto a "Gun Control" job in the White House. OUCH!!! C'Mon Joe!!! You talk Gun Control in Illinois and NY.. Not in TEXAS for God's sake !!! ... and..
Speaking of Guns... Mike Bloomberg may have stuck a fork in himself when an audience member asked, "You talk gun control and yet you travel with armed guards. Are you saying your life matters more than mine?" and Bloomberg replied, "Yes, I have a lot of threats on my life". Wow. WOOOWWW.. No matter what side of the Gun Control debate you are on that hypocrisy and condescending arrogance is disturbing. Bloomberg may be done after that one.. and if he isn't, you can bet the Orange Man will play that soundbite 100,000 times during the General Election ... and...
Why is Super Tuesday so important? Because of the 3979 available Delegates about 1/3 of them are up for grabs. To secure the nomination a candidate needs 1991 of the pledged delegates on the first vote at the Convention. If you do not come out of Super Tuesday with a nice lead it will be hard to win enough to make you the automatic candidate. This is what Elizabeth Warren and Bloomberg are hoping for, a "Brokered Convention".
Bernie needs the majority or they will DEFINITELY screw him at the convention. There are 494 delegates in California ALONE and Bernie has a lead there (California is a "Winner take All" state) . This is why the DNC establishment are sweating and trying to help beat him EVERYWHERE else. Biden isn't in Texas by accident. They have 261 delgates. Also, he spent Saturday night (while the polls were still open in SC) in North Carolina who have 122 delegates....and..
QUID PRO JOE!!! The Orange man "accused" Mayor Pete and Amy Klobuchar of a quid pro quo with Joe Biden. "Drop out. Support me..and Ill give you a good job in the Cabinet". Obviously, Orange Man is referring to the Impeachment. Two things: 1) This is 100% true. Its quid pro quo. 2) It happens almost EVERY election. Republican or Democrat. ..and..
I'm gonna make a prediction that will take a long time to play out. I predict that Bernie Sanders (and AOC and other popular socialist nitwits) have changed the Democratic Party forever and that it will lead to the end of the Two Party system in the USA. Win or Lose, Sanders has divided the party (which, ironically, is not even HIS. He's and Independent) and you will see a four party system within three election cycles: Radical Left/Socialist Democrat, More Moderate Left Democrat, Republican, and something like the Tea Party to the Right of that. American division is getting worse.. and don't blame the Orange Man, alone. The Radical Left agenda, and the Loser Media's thirst for money and power are equally responsible .. and..
In ANOTHER election that is important in the Middle East (and therefore most of the world) Bibi Netanyahu appears to have won but without a majority. Which means.. well.. a MESS. They have had three elections in a year and neither Bibi nor Gantz can get a majority OR a coalition together. Whattaya do now? Coin Flip?? .. and...
The Supreme Court agreed to take up the "Individual Mandate" case on behalf of several Democratic AG's. In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court ruled a few years back that the penalty for not buying insurance was a "tax" and the government had the right to tax. The "tax" was removed and now a Texas lawyer is arguing the Mandate is Unconstitutional and therefore nullifies ALL of Obamacare. The White House is actually arguing AGAINST getting rid of all of Obamacare but supports striking down the mandate. This will not be decided until AFTER the election but will surely be a subject of debates .. and..
The SCOTUS also agreed to hear its first high level abortion case. It will decide if laws mandating that "the doctor performing an abortion have admitting privileges at a local hospital if something goes wrong" is Constitutional ... and..
In Da Swamp: Ruh Roh George!! A Federal Judge has ordered Hillary Clinton to sit for a deposition under oath regarding Benghazi and using her private server to circumvent the Freedom of Information Act. She is guilty of Federal Crimes but I would expect a LOT of, "I Don't Recall" and "I don't remember" ...
Tuesday R.I.P.'s. RIP to "Trader Joe" Coulombe. 89. Joe built his offbeat supermarkets into a giant chain with a combination of inexpensive wine and good quality private label food .. RIP to Writer Clive Cusslerof the Dirk Pitt series .. a sad RIP to Jordan Olerud. Jordan, daughter of MLB great John Olerud, was born with a genetic disorder and passed at the age of 19 ... and.. RIP to James Lipton, 93. Lipton is famous as "that guy" that did "Inside the Actors Studio" for years.. and RIP to former GE CEO Jack Welch. Welch built GE into a juggernaut and became a legend of modern management.
SPORTS: I HATE Tuesday sports section this time of year. No Monday Night Football .. no playoff games in any sport .. just stinks.. I coulda put the Olerud RIP in here but that is sad and SPORTS are not supposed to be sad ...
GOLF: Dustin Johnson announced he will NOT play in the Olympics. Does anyone really care? Ill bet he is one of the 35% of Americans refusing to drink Corona Beer .. anyways.. Tomorrow are practice rounds for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Big names in the Field.. but not Tiger. He pulled out with back stiffness.. and..
CELEBRIDIOTS:
HARD BALLS FOR YOU CHRIS !!!! Dipsh*t Chris Matthews was canned from MSNBC Hardball and is claiming it was a "mutual decision" A series of stupid comments and apologies including inappropriate sexual remarks and recently calling Bernie Sanders a Nazi seemed to be the icing on the cake of the "You'll resign now or be fired tomorrow" conversation. I dunno, sexist comments? Nazi? or crap ratings? Ill bet if he was #1 in his slot that Nazi comments would be tolerated at MSNBC .. and ...
Get well OZZY !!! Ozzy Osbourne has cancelled his US Tour and is headed to Europe for treatment of his Parkinson's Disease. Ozzy has always been a mess.. but a lovable, entertaining mess .... and..
I don't watch that Bachelor/ette stuff.. but if YOU do.. they picked the new girl. Clare Crawley. It would appear she is VERY good at Pool Push Ups. HERE.
and... wearing silver dresses HERE... Wait.. Is the a RAJ Tattoo on her kankles? ... and...
Sh*t for Brains Marie Osmond announced with glee that she is "cutting her kids out of the will and donating to charity". Her argument? She said, "I've seen what money can do to kids and they just get in trouble. They can make it on their own. Ill give them THAT" .. Wow.. You have now ascended to the top of LOST Mountain. You are queen of the "Look at me, Im Important, Im Smart and no one else is and I DEMAND attention".. BRAGGING about screwing your kids over? Sad.. Really sad. How about this Marie? Be a MOTHER!! .. Be a PARENT. EDUCATE your Children about money. How to deal with it and how not to abuse it. You ever think of THAT? ,,Instead of being an absentee Mother andgoing on Talk shows and stroking your own pathetic ego? .. Just for a WAKE UP CALL, Marie. YOU did NOT "Make it on your own". You were born into a famous singing family. If it weren't for the "Osmonds" there would have been no cute little sister "Marie Osmond". You would have been an also-ran like the other "half good, cute teenagers" auditioning on Star Search...and not made it past ROUND 1 !!! .. You would have been flipping burgers in Utah if it wasn't for your FAMILY giving you help... Gonna be an empty funeral .. Go back in your hole !!!
***Correction: The Rhode Island guy with Coronavirus was in ITALY not Iran. The one in NY was in Iran....***
From SeekingAlpha.com
The strongest day in more than a decade immediately followed the worst week since the financial crisis (talk about volatility). The Dow surged over 5% on Monday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each jumped more than 4%, boosted by expectations of central bank firepower to battle the economic impacts of the coronavirus. U.S. futures tacked on another 1% advance overnight, with traders now seeing a 100% chance of a 50-basis point rate cut at the Fed's March meeting. For what it's worth, moderate Democrats have also consolidated around Joe Biden's candidacy ahead of Super Tuesday. Go deeper: John Gilluly says to buy hammered travel stocks.
G7 finance ministers and central bank governors will hold a conference call today to discuss measures to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. While language of the draft statement (expected today or tomorrow) is subject to change, initial reports suggested it does not detail any fiscal or monetary steps. On Monday, the ECB joined a chorus of central banks signaling a readiness to support financial markets, while the Bank of Australia became the first to cut rates to a record low of 0.5% due to the "significant effect" of the virus. Go deeper: 'Straightforward Calculations On COVID-19 Risks' by Daniel Nevins.
"Australia's Central Bank cut interest rates and stated it will most likely further ease in order to make up for China's Coronavirus situation and slowdown. Other countries are doing the same thing, if not more so," President Trump tweeted overnight. "Our Federal Reserve has us paying higher rates than many others, when we should be paying less. Tough on our exporters and puts the USA at a competitive disadvantage. Must be the other way around. Should ease and cut rate big. Jerome Powell led Federal Reserve has called it wrong from day one. Sad!"
U.S. oil majors are in the hot seat this week, facing a grilling from Wall Street as they hold their annual investor days - Chevron (NYSE:CVX) on March 3 and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) on March 5. "The question is whether they will stick with the status quo or pivot," said Doug Terreson, an analyst at Evercore ISI. "The market does not seem to embrace the current plans." In the early 2000s, the U.S. oil explorers were getting around 20% returns, though it's less than half of that today. Concerns over climate change, fossil fuels and impacts on demand from the coronavirus also loom large. Go deeper: Chevron offers U.S. workers buyouts to trim staffing.
Highlighting the costs of developing self-driving vehicles, Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Waymo has raised $2.25B in its first external investment round and expects to add more outside investors. "It's a long road getting this technology out to the world," said CEO John Krafcik. "This is just a normal part of funding our operations." Waymo didn't disclose its post-investment valuation, a figure analysts have been trying to assess for years as Alphabet continues to pump cash into the venture. Go deeper: The company disclosed its self-driving trucking business will be called Waymo Via.
Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) has placed $2M in a campaign account and Uber (NYSE:UBER) put $200K into a PAC to oppose Tyler Diep, an Orange County assemblyman and the only Republican to vote in favor of California's AB5. The two have argued that the bill takes away driver flexibility and that their drivers are already correctly classified. The Lyft-backed committee Californians for Independent Work has spent $328K on polling, ads and mailers, including one that calls Diep's vote "a mockery of his campaign pledge to roll back regulations and promote jobs." Go deeper: Uber acknowledges coronavirus could weigh on business.
While talks broke off late last year, Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) is acquiring Dutch molecular testing firm Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN) for €10.4B, including assumed debt. Investors would get €39 for every Qiagen share, 23% higher than Monday's closing price. It's the second major transaction in the healthcare sector this week after Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) agreed to buy Forty Seven (NASDAQ:FTSV) for about $4.9B to advance into cancer treatments. QGEN +16% premarket
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) has quietly opened a series of small warehouses closer to big U.S. cities, including Phoenix, Philadelphia, Dallas and Orlando, in a move to shave hours off delivery times. The same-day offer will guarantee delivery of more than 100,000 products in as little as five hours, said Jon Alexander, Amazon's director of delivery experience, adding that more cities will be added to the program later this year.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has withdrawn from the South by Southwest festival this year, the latest big-event business casualty to concerns over the spreading coronavirus. It joins Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) as the second major tech company to skip the festival for that reason. Facebook had a number of speakers set for panels, and was to host a Facebook house and an activation for its artists-in-residence program. SXSW officials say the show will go on.
What else is happening...
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) settles throttling suit for up to $500M.
Monday's Key Earnings
JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) +12.4% AH on Q4 earnings beat. Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) -11.7% missing estimates.
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan -1.2%. Hong Kong flat. China +0.7%. India +1.3%. In Europe, at midday, London +2.4%. Paris +2.4%. Frankfurt +2.9%. Futures at 6:20, Dow +1%. S&P +0.9%. Nasdaq +1.2%. Crude +3.3% to $48.30. Gold +0.3% to $1599.50. Ten-year Treasury Yield +7 bps to 1.16%
Today's Economic Calendar
Regards,
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