Corrections and Amplifications: Unlike Newspapers I don't hide my mistakes on page 27. They go FRONT ROW CENTER. Yesterday, the RANT was sloppy. First, I don't know why I had it written down to give a shout out and RIP to former POW Jeremiah Denton yesterday. Denton died in 2014. I must have had a flashback or something. Anyways...now you know.. (And KEEP Resting in Peace Jeremiah!!) .. Also.. Since it was the first day of the work week I forgot it was Trump Free Tuesday and put the T word in the Rant. Can't promise it won't happen again because I drink too much wine and forget things. I'd look for another mistake on the day after Labor Day. (For the new readers, we try to take ONE day a week off from Trump stories. He dominates the headlines so much we need a break) .. So.. there you go.. Two "I screwed up and I apologizes" on the SAME Day. Think you'd see that as the "Lead" of a newspaper.. or what the Loser Media calls a "News cast". Like they care about truth and admitting they got things wrong? .. not to get off on a Rant .. (but... this IS the Rant, after all).. Our media is SO Screwed up its sickening. Did you know that 90% of major US Media is owned by SIX companies.Those Six Groups spew the SAME crap and the bobble head lemmings that you see on TV regurgitate the same AGENDA and its warped and contrived and pushed on us by a few Egomaniacal Freaks that thrive on power and control. When Steve Bannon labeled the Loser Media, "The enemy of the people" this is EXACTLY what he was talking about. This is why the Loser Media hate President Trump and his Twitter Account. Because THEY want to control the "message". The Loser Media Kingdom of power is being dismantled by Social media and they HATE IT. I tell you what. Spend 90 Seconds of your day watching this HERE ..(Don't adjust your sound..the echo isn't an error. It's the reality) . Screwed up, Huh? Fear not. I'm not on their "List". Raj reads through the crap to find out reality, so you don't have to..and I am free to offend everyone.. ok.. enough of that...to the News..
The election results are in across the EU and there was a DEFINITE Trend across the countries: Center Left and Center Right parties lost A LOT of seats and Green Party Left and Nationalist Right parties picked up LOTS of seats. This is going to make for some interesting "Coalitions". Italy's winner Salvini is already working with Marine Le Pen(whose party won one more seat than current President Macron) and Hungary's VERY anti-immigrant Viktor Orban to create a (I know it sounds like an oxymoron but its true) create an "International Team of Nationalists" They will push for ending immigration and less power to the EU and more to individual countries. The Green "Left" politicians will push to address climate change and open borders. Polarizing Politics.. Kinda looks like the USA at the moment, eh? Which means, NOTHING will get done!! .. The "Green Girl" Greta Thunberg met with world leaders in Vienna to "Demand" they treat climate change as the emergency that it is.. Greta rose to mini-stardom by staging rallies at Parliament as a 15 year old. Her story and the publicity around it is credited as the reason so many "Green" Candidates won in EU Elections this week. Two things 1) Its a nice story and nice "Dog and pony show"..But, guess how the "world leaders" that pushed so hard and piously for the Paris Climate accord are doing? President Trump got bad press for pulling out of the Accord. But, how many of the major countries are complying with the Agreement? NONE. ZERO. NULL .. NIL. NOT ONE. The only countries CLOSE to complying are Morocco and Costa Rica..and 2) You had better keep that Greta Girl away from Joe Biden. (Quick Quiz: "I'll bet you're as bright as you are good looking" Was that a pick up line at a college bar last night? or did former VP Joe Biden say that to a 10 year old while he sniffed her hair? ..ANSWER: Biden gave a speech to the AFT Teachers union . He grabbed a 10 year old "aspiring reporter" and whispered that in her ear. I guess Biden's new found respect for "personal space" has different boundaries in Texas?) ... Did you know a private group put up a mile of Border Wall on private property to close a gap in fencing that immigrants came through outside of El Paso, TX? The group, "We Build the Wall" plans to continue doing this and plans to continuing NOT telling people. They don't want the ACLU suing to stop them. HAHAHAH.. (Disclosure. There are reports that the Wall is 2 miles long.. and reports it's a half mile long. Not sure who is right because I am not in Texas or New Mexico) .. The Supreme Court refused to strike down an Indiana law saying that an "aborted fetus must be buried or cremated" The decision was procedural but the strong words between Justice Ginsburg and Justice Thomas are what's making "News". Ginsburg objected to Thomas referring to the "Mother" in the ruling. She said, "a woman that has exercised her legal right to terminate a pregnancy is not a mother". Thomas dismissed her dissent and argued abortion should not be used as "modern day eugenics".. Interesting, eh? The pro-abortion groups are going to have to stop using the phrase, "the health of the mother" because it ruins their "narrative" .. and.. a woman in Florida is under arrest for beating her girlfriend/wife over the head with a detached bedpost. Seems she was REALLY mad that her wife put her POT in the washing machine. Let's settle this: Whose job is it to check the pockets? The pants wearer or the person washing? .. (I say both.. and if something gets ruined blame yourself) .. Anyways.. its obvious that woman needed her pot to remain calm... Lesson Learned. .....SPORTS: Slow Sports period.. Yeah. I know French Open tennis is going on but I can't keep track. It takes too long and I don't know anyone until like the Semi-Final.. NBA: Game One of the Finals, TOMORROW.... GOLF: Practice rounds today at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.. but the event starts, TOMORROW .. and NHL: Game two of the Stanley Cup Finals.. (did you think I was gonna say, "tomorrow" ??) NOPE.. TONIGHT!!! .. CELEBRIDIOTS: Taylor Swift said that she will definitely start "Getting Political" in her future songs. ..and then Swift refused to answer the question: "You turn 30 this year are you thinking about having kids" because Swift said, "You wouldn't ask a man that question". Wow. Uhh.. Taylor?? Women and Men can, and should, have the same opportunities in Life and choose their own paths. But, that doesn't make them the same. For one thing, men don't have a biological clock. For God's sake.. Mick Jagger just had a kid at age 75. (and YES some reporters asked if he was going to have MORE. So, they DO ask guys that). If you don't want to answer a question, don't. But, remember, If it weren't for fans and gossip, you'd be making $100 a night playing your guitar in bars, Taylor. LIGHTEN UP!!! .. and .. Singer Eddie Moneywas told by doctors to STOP touring and get a heart valve operation or he'd get Two Tickets to the GRAVE... So, He will take a few weeks off to have the procedure done.. and says he plans to be back on the road, soon .. Actress Mandy Moore is at the Base Camp of Mount Everest. If you have not been following there have been record deaths at Everest this year. Too many inexperienced hikers are blocking paths and causing trouble near the Summit. I Hope Mandy makes it back OK so they don't cancel, "This is Us" ..and.. If this Greta Thunberg girl is right, you should postpone your trip to Everest for a few years. It will be easier to climb when all the snow melts..and if Taylor Swift would like an example of how men and woman are different she can look no further than former frenemy Kendall Jenner. Kendall recently broke up with her boyfriend and is posting things like this HERE .. Both MEN and WOMEN are FREE to post anything they want after breaking up. (with the exception of nudes of your ex, according to the NJ Prosecutors office).. So, How many men do you see posting "Revenge Body Shots" ?? I wouldn't even THINK of that.. In fact, I only know the "revenge body shot" is a THING because of girls like Kendall...and I thank them for the education..Stop by any time, Kendall. Just come alone ...
Seekingalpha.com
China is ready to use rare earths to strike back in the U.S. trade war, the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily warned overnight, saying in a strongly worded commentary "don't say we didn't warn you." Rare earths are a group of 17 chemical elements used in everything from high-tech consumer electronics to military equipment. U.S. stock index futures slipped further on the news, with the DJIA pointing to a 193-point loss, while the Shanghai Composite rose as much as 0.9% during the session, boosted by shares of rare earth miners in Asia Pacific.
With risk aversion increasing globally in recent days, bonds are rallying. At the beginning of May, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was about 2.55%, but it's now hovering around the 2.22% level, marking an over 30 bps move downward this month alone. Some analysts have also increased bets that the Fed will cut U.S. interest rates not once but twice this year, countering concerns about slowing global growth that have been inflamed by the worsening U.S.-China trade war.
The Trump administration has again decided not to label China a currency manipulator, passing up the fifth opportunity to do so in its semi-annual currency report. The U.S., however, is keeping the nation on a list of countries whose trade surpluses and other indicators are closely tracked. Under a 1988 law, the Treasury Department is required to report to Congress every six months on whether any countries are manipulating their currencies to gain trade advantages.
Huawei Technologies has filed a "motion for summary judgment" in its lawsuit against the U.S. government, marking the telecom equipment maker's latest bid to fight sanctions from Washington. The motion asks to scrap a section of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which places a broad ban on federal agencies and their contractors from using Huawei equipment on national security grounds. China on Tuesday also lashed out at the U.S. over its blacklisting of Huawei during a tense meeting at the World Trade Organization.
It's the first studio with current productions in Georgia to take a public position on the state's new abortion law. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), which shoots major series Stranger Things and Ozark in Jackson and Lake Allatoona and Lanier, said it would work to oppose the abortion restrictions, but would continue to film in the state for now. "Should the law take effect in 2020 as scheduled, we'd rethink our entire investment in Georgia," Ted Sarandos, the company’s chief content officer, said in a statement.
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) has asked Federal Judge Lucy Koh not to enforce her decision that it illegally squeezed out rivals in the smartphone chip market as it plans to file an appeal that could take more than a year to wind through the courts. The ruling would force it to rework its license deals by "radically restructuring" its business in a way that would be impossible to unwind if it wins on appeal. Qualcomm argues that Koh excluded evidence after a March 2018 cutoff date - including the fact that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped Qualcomm in favor of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) - and said that the FTC's theory in the lawsuit was unprecedented in antitrust law.
A group of potential buyers are preparing bids for prepaid wireless brand Boost Mobile in an upcoming sale valuing the offshoot of T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) and Sprint (NYSE:S) at up to $3B, Reuters reports. The tie-up of the two carriers won approval from the FCC last week after they offered concessions to reduce the combined company's market share in the prepaid business. While the deal awaits a ruling from the DOJ, interested parties are already preparing bids.
Russia is considering a possible extension of its oil output reduction agreement with OPEC and other producers, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Anton Siluanov. "There are many economic issues and strategic issues (related to this)," he said on the sidelines of a conference in Kazakhstan. OPEC, Russia and other producers agreed to cut output by 1.2M bpd from January for six months to boost oil prices. The group is next set to discuss extending the pact in Vienna on June 25-26.
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance has already been in turmoil since November's surprise arrest of Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of all three companies, bringing long-simmering tensions to a boil. Now, the proposed merger between Renault (OTCPK:RNLSY) and Fiat (NYSE:FCAU) poses new risks for Nissan (OTCPK:NSANY): the Japanese automaker could lose influence in its two-decade partnership or get dropped altogether. On the upside, Nissan would be part of a broader alliance with the possible benefit of cheaper parts, as well as a deeper pool of technology and research.
Already more than 7,150 store closures this year have been announced by U.S. retailers including Dressbarn, CVS, Party City (NYSE:PRTY) and Pier 1 Imports (NYSE:PIR), according to Coresight Research. While 2,726 store opening announcements have been made, the net figure is still close to the 5,524 store closures of 2018 - and it's not even June. With the threat of additional tariffs taking effect on consumer-facing goods imported from China, things could get even worse, according to UBS's Jay Sole. "We think potential 25% tariffs on Chinese imports could accelerate pressure on these [companies'] profit margins to the point where major store closures become a real possibility." Mall-related shares: SPG, MAC, TCO, CBL, PEI, WPG, KIM
What else is happening...
Contributor Chris Ciovacco discusses what history has told us about the current correction.
Google (GOOG, GOOGL) has more contractors than full-time workers.
MediaTek (OTCPK:MDTKF) takes battle to Qualcomm (QCOM) with new 5G chip.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737 MAX may not return to service until August - IATA
Toyota (NYSE:TM) weighs $550M investment in China ride-hailing firm Didi (DIDI).
EV boost as General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Bechtel partner on charging stations.
Tobacco stocks tumble as cigarette sales decline
Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) pays record $35.5M fine to Massachusetts.
Tuesday's Key Earnings
Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) -1.4% missing EPS results. Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) -0.5% AH despite raising its subscription outlook.
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan -1.2%. Hong Kong -0.6%. China +0.2%. India +0.7%. In Europe, at midday, London -1.4%. Paris -1.7%. Frankfurt -1.3%. Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.8%. S&P -0.8%. Nasdaq -1%. Crude -1.4% to $58.32. Gold +0.5% to $1283.40. Ten-year Treasury Yield -4 bps to 2.23%
Today's Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications 8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales 10:00 Richmond Fed Mfg. 10:00 State Street Investor Confidence Index 11:30 Results of $18B, 2-Year FRN Auction 1:00 PM Results of $32B, 7-Year Note Auction
Regards,
Roger “Raj” Searing
rajsearing@gmail.com
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