19 Tornadoes and Hail Storms along with massive thunderstorms hit across Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas causing lots of flooding and property damage. You have to Laugh out loud at Accuweather saying, "as we CORRECTLY predicted, storms.. " ahahhahaha.. "Correctly predicted". The weathermen have never been MORE WRONG this year. I can't tell you how many times I've checked the forecast for the weekend and two days later its WRONG. They NEVER apologize!!! So, I LAUGH when they "get one right" and pat themselves on the back ... This weekend there were tons of college graduations. Apple CEO, Tim Cook, told Tulane that "his generation has FAILED you" and that the grads should focus on important things other than money.. like Climate Change (he KNEW the tornadoes were coming)... Former Secretary of State Madelline Albright told Bucknell University graduates that she was great.. and her generation was GREAT.. its TODAY's Government that's racist and wrong all the time.. and Robert F. Smith told Moorehouse: "Put away your checkbooks. I got this!!!". Billionaire Smith announced he was paying off all of the graduates student loans. WOW!!! There were cheers and tears for this life changing gift. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished. Some asked (And by some.. I mean a few people in the media... and ME) "what about the kids that worked three jobs to pay his way through?..or the kids that had to work to keep their GPA up for their scholarship?? They got NOTHING!!! Oprah gave students at Colorado College a copy of her book, "The Path Made Clear" and gave a speech about not giving up. OF COURSE, someone called her out on Instagram, "why didn't you pay everyone's student debt?" She responded, "Oh, PLEASE"... You CAN'T WIN in today's age of Social Media. No matter what nice thing you do there is Always ONE Wise-guys that's gotta make fun of you...or write about you in a Rant.. .. In our Supreme Court, Justice Gorsuch sided with the Crow Indians in a case involving hunting in Wyoming. Crow Indian, Clayvin Herrera, was convicted of "hunting out of season" in the Big Horn Mountains. Herrera argued the Crow tribe was given rights to hunt all unoccupied lands by the US Government in a treaty from 250 years ago. The government argued that when Wyoming became a state in 1890 that the treaty was nullified. Yes, the case is not that exciting. However, this is ANOTHER example of the SCOTUS ruling and a judge "crossing the line" to vote with the Liberal side of Court. Yes, we have renegade Judges on the lower Federal courts that try to legislate from the Bench. But, at least on Justice Roberts Supreme Court they rule by case merit, and law rather than ONLY political philosophy... In SWAMP NEWS, Former FBI Director Comey needs a Press Agent, and a shield to block the arrows being shot at him from his former "Friends and Colleagues". Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch is the latest to pull the "Cover my own azz and blame Comey". Lynch called Comey a liar and said that Comey testified under oath and said things the Lynch never said or did. The investigation launched by current AG Barr has these people scrambling. Lynch, Comey, Clapper, Brennan. EVERYONE is throwing blame and trying to stay outta jail... If you missed it, NYC Mayor deblasidiot announced he is running for President and got heckled and laughed at. 75% of NYC say he shouldn't run. He is polling at ZERO percent. The only people more stupid that HIM are people that would give money to that campaign. I have a better chance of running in the Kentucky Derby against the horses and winning than deblasidiot!!.. Maybe he is figuring, "Raj always says the polls are WRONG and the Surveys are WRONG"...Yeah, I do.. there is LESS than ZERO percent chance you win.. Speaking of Polls, the one in Australia are wrong AGAIN.. PM Scott Morrison and his right wing party get re-elected after polls assured that the "Center Left" Labor party held a HUGE lead in polls. Look folks, people with JOBS and a LIFE do NOT ANSWER POLLS. We hang up when they call, we DELETE when it's in our inbox, and we THROW OUT most snail mail. The more people with jobs and a life, the WORSE the polling accuracy... Indian polls were "less wrong" as PM Narendra Modi is re-elected... and Candidate Farage in England got "a shake with his Brexit". Nigel Farage is running for office in the UK and vowing to push through Brexit. A "don't leave the EU" supporter threw a milkshake all over him. Whomever threw this should report to the NY Yankees training facility. What a THROW. It got like 90% of the shake all over Farage from like 20 feet away HERE . When you get out of jail get an agent!!! .. Chicago has sworn in Lori Lightfoot as Mayor. She is the first Black, female, lesbian Mayor. I wish her luck. Murder, corruption, unmanageable debt, high taxes.. Not an easy job to fix all that .. and... AHHHNOOLDD Schwarzenegger was at his "Sports Event" in South Africa and some guy came up from behind him and "Two foot kicked him" in the back. AHHHNOOLD went down and security immediately dragged the guy off to jail for assault. AHHNOLD got up and seems ok. He says he "hopes the young man takes his arrest as a wake up call can gets his life straight" but will NOT be pressing charges. Arnold is 71. How many 71 year old could get kicked down by a teenager and get up?? .. SPORTS: I was traveling yesterday so I will point out that Sunday, Brooks Koepka held on to win the PGA by two shots on a windy day. Of the leaders, only Dustin Johnson managed to shoot under par. Koepka now has FOUR majors of six wins on the Tour. WOW .. NHL: Game 6 of St Louis vs SJ Sharks is tonight. The Blues lead the series 3-2 so its Win or Go Golfing for the Sharks.. .. NBA: Golden State let it go to overtime but beat Portland 119-117 and sweep the series 4-0. I know, shocker.. and the NCAA Lacrosse Final Four is set for this weekend in Philadelphia. Penn State vs Yale and Duke vs Virginia on Saturday.. CELEBRIDIOTS: Game of Thrones fans are in a tizzy.. or a depression..or have gone FULL SNOWFLAKE over the series Finale. A few things about that.. 1) Get a LIFE .. 2) I think it's hilarious that with ALL this money and ALL this hype that things like Poland Springs water bottles are in scenes because crew left them there by accident and Directors didn't notice.. and 3) You CANNOT expect "Finales" to be perfect. Think of Seinfeld. They all went to jail. WEAK .. Sopranos? I guess they realized they were in an no-win situation and GAVE UP because the screen just went BLACK and played "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey.. ... and.. as . predicted here.. the Judge in the "Robert Kraft sex in massage parlor" case banned the video and prosecutors are "pausing the case". Which means, they are going to drop it..but wait a while so it doesn't look so bad in the press. Ergo, Kraft WALKS.. .. and.. you HAVE to laugh at actor/singer/whacko Jonny Depp. Depp is now claiming that ex-wife Amber Heard "painted fake bruises on her face" to make it look like he hit her. .. WHAT?? ? .. I mean, Heard is nuts.. and I MAY have believed that..if you said it THREE YEARS AGO when your divorce case was going on.. What a LOSER .. and the "wrap up" from Cannes, France? The "what were you thinking" award goes to an actress that spells her name phonetically so that we done pronounce it wrong, "Deepika Padukone". Deepika went with the "Dupont Insulation with Lemonade Stain" look. HERE .. The WINNER is Jamine Tookes HERE I guess you can BUY that dress for under $200. Two things, 1) I DON'T get a cut.. and 2) DO NOT expect to look like THAT in the dress. .. and Finally .. since her name is Tookes.. which I think is pronounced, "TOOKUS" .. I will show you THIS angle.. HERE .. before you get all jealous that I left Jasmine sleeping upstairs to come Rant.... She SNOOOORRESS SOOO LOUD!!!! ..
SeekingAlpha.com
Reversing much of yesterday's decline, global stocks are in rebound mode following a move by the U.S. Commerce Department to ease restrictions on Huawei Technologies. Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Chinese telecom equipment supplier will be able to access U.S. technology for up to 90 days in order to maintain existing networks and handset updates, while American firms should use the time to source alternative suppliers. DJIA futures are ahead by 128 points on the news, though gains were capped amid tough trade rhetoric from China. Shares in Shanghai meanwhile closed up 1.2% on an injection of fresh liquidity from the PBOC.
"Fifteen years ago, everyone was talking about whether households were borrowing too much. Today everyone is talking about whether businesses are borrowing too much," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last night at the Atlanta Fed's annual Financial Markets Conference. While he cited some caution, he dismissed the comparisons, saying business borrowing is not outsized for such a long expansion, business credit is not fueled by a dramatic asset price bubble and CLO structures are much sounder than during the mortgage credit bubble. Concerns may see the Fed reluctant to cut interest rates, since lower borrowing costs could prompt firms to take on more debt.
Growth in China and the U.S. could be 0.2-0.3% lower on average by 2021 and 2022 if the two countries do not row back on tit-for-tat tariffs in their dispute, according to the OECD's latest Economic Outlook. U.S. consumer prices will also be 0.3% higher in 2020 than they would have been without the new duties. Uncertainty about the extent and duration of the trade disputes is further holding back business investment, which is forecast to grow globally at an average rate of 1.75% this year and next, down from 3.5% in 2017 and 2018.
Australia's central bank will consider the case for lower interest rates at its June policy meeting as the country fights to go 28 years without a recession. "A lower cash rate would support employment growth and bring forward the time when inflation is consistent with the target," RBA Governor Philip Lowe said in Brisbane. 2019 was supposed to be a year of global quantitative tightening, but things are drifting in the opposite direction. Australia would become the third major central bank to cut rates this year, following New Zealand and India.
There could be more fireworks today as Theresa May meets her fractious cabinet to shore up support and get her Brexit deal over the line. The prime minister is reportedly considering proposing tighter customs ties with the EU to win Labour support, as it would reflect at least some of the opposition party's key demands, while another big Brexit speech may also be in the making. Sterling -0.3% to below $1.27 for the first time since January.
Morgan Stanley analysts have delivered another blow to Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), slashing their worst-case scenario for the stock price to just $10 (from $97) because of concerns the electric car leader has saturated the market. "Demand is at the heart of the problem," analysts led by Adam Jonas said in a note. "Tesla has grown too big relative to near-term demand, putting great strain on the fundamentals." As shares drop under $200 premarket, the Tesla selloff has now exceeded 20%. Jonas kept his main price target for the stock at $230 and also has a bull-case valuation of $391.
Incoming Daimler (OTCPK:DDAIF) boss Ola Kaellenius is working on a program, dubbed "Move," that would cut central administration costs by about 20%, adding billions of euros in efficiency potential amid global trade woes and factory issues, Handelsblatt reports. Yesterday, Ford (NYSE:F) said it planned to cut 7,000 salaried jobs by August as part of a corporate restructuring aimed at saving $600M per year, while GM (NYSE:GM) announced the closure of its Maven car-sharing service in nearly half of its 17 North American cities.
Leading sneaker brands and retailers, including Nike (NYSE:NKE), Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) and Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), are urging President Trump to immediately remove footwear from the proposed additional tariffs of 25% on goods imported from China. "Any action taken to increase duties on Chinese footwear will have an immediate and long-lasting effect on American individuals and families," a coalition of more than 170 footwear firms said in the letter. "It will also threaten the very economic viability of many companies in our industry."
Sprint (NYSE:S) shares swung wildly on Monday and were even halted after the company received conflicting messages from regulators regarding its proposed merger with T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS). FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he planned to recommend the agency approve the $26.5B tie-up, but fresh doubts emerged after Bloomberg reported that the DOJ is now "leaning against" the deal. Both companies have argued their merger will help them take on market leaders AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and lead to a more efficient rollout of 5G networks, though antitrust and pricing concerns have swirled around the transaction.
In an unusual bipartisan moment, Republican Sen. McConnell and Democrat Sen. Kaine introduced a bill that would raise the federal minimum age to buy tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to 21. Majority Leader McConnell said a spike in vaping use among youth is a public health crisis and notes his home state of Kentucky has the U.S.'s highest rate of cancer tied to smoking. Fourteen states and hundreds of local governments have already raised the minimum age, and federal legislation has been anticipated. Related: MO, PM, BTI, JUUL
What else is happening...
Slack changes ticker symbol to "WORK" ahead of NYSE debut.
'Game of Thrones' finale sets HBO (T) ratings record.
China Eastern (NYSE:CEA) next to demand 737 MAX compensation from Boeing (NYSE:BA).
Contributor Harrison Wealth Management feels U.S. farmland is an "attractive long-term investment."
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan -0.1%. Hong Kong -0.5%. China +1.2%. India -0.9%. In Europe, at midday, London +0.6%. Paris +0.5%. Frankfurt +1%. Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.5%. S&P +0.6%. Nasdaq +0.9%. Crude +0.3% to $63.38. Gold -0.2% to $1275.40. Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 2.41%
Today's Economic Calendar
7:50 Fed's Bostic Speech 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales 10:00 Existing Home Sales 10:45 Fed's Evans Speech 12:00 PM Fed's Rosengren Speech
Regards,
Roger “Raj” Searing
rajsearing@gmail.com
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