June 6, 1944. The Normandy Landings. Codenamed Operation Neptune. The expression D-Day is the day that military operations commence. So, when getting ready its D-5, D-4.. then D-Day.. then D+1, D+1. This particular D-Day will be forever known as THE "D-Day". 73,000 American men parachuted, boated, and swam onto the beaches of Normandy to liberate France from Nazi control. 4,414 died that day. If you ever wonder why people over the age of 70 have NO TIME for snowflakes and safe spacesit's because THEY KNOW what 18, 19, and 20 year old boys did for their country. It is a sad reality that our education system has gotten so misguided that they teach twisted views of what "America" is all about .. and forget to teach what is important. How cool is this: Tom Rice, 97 years old, parachuted into Normandy just as he did 75 years ago.. How was it this time?? "Much better weather..and I wasn't being shot at... " . HERE .. If not for Tom and his colleagues and the 4,414 Americans that died there that day, there would be no America. Thank a Veteran.. Today and every day ... Can I get an AMEN?!
The European press have been mostly covering the visit by President Trump to the UK and France for the State visit is is supposed to be. A celebration of Allies that fought together and have remained partners for decades. The US press, for the most part, embarrassed themselves by covering mostly politics and hate. Can you LAY OFF the bickering crap for ONE DAY while our President is representing us in Europe???? .. Go ahead and bash him in the USA.. it's the only thing you're good at .. but geez.. how about a little respect for the moment?? (Yes, I know that I talked about the Trump Baby Balloon too.. but that was FUN!!) .. Meanwhile.. back in the Swamp .. YOUTUBE has begun aggressively censoring conservative content. They are saying they are banning, "Hateful Content" only it is the "YouTube Wizard behind the Curtain" that decides what is bad. (Yes, the Nazi and white supremacist stuff is obviously ripe to be banned..but it isn't just that) .. They have suspended and "demonetized" conservatives even though Youtube, in their own words, admitted the content did not violate their policies. They just didn't like what the Conservatives were saying. Here is a REAL example: Commentator Steve Crowder had his account "Demonetized" after Vox reporter Carlos Maza complained that Crowder constantly "gay bashed" and bullied him about his sexuality and Lifestyle. (Crowder does tease him.. but Crowder's main argument is that Maza is "given a pass" for being a bad reporter because he is gay and partly Latino. The "arguments" are that Maza stinks at his job, not that he is gay) .. Youtube investigated and found that Crowder's video's would rebut and argue the facts of Maza's reports but found no bullying about him being gay. (Personal Opinion: He does.. a little.. ) .. Maza wanted Crowder banned and was mad he was "only demonetized". So, MAZA BULLIED the CRAP out of YOUTUBE Employees. MAZA told all LGBTQ employees of Youtube he "didn't know how they can work there" and that they let down the LGBTQ community. So, YOU TUBE.. Why is Maza not banned? ...I've said it before, this is going to backfire. Either a social media site is an open platform, or it needs to be regulated by the FCC like all other media... There are a few "Sad Faces" on the extreme left of Washington and in the loser media. Many, including Judiciary Chairman Nadler, we forced to admit yesterday that the "BIG PUSH" for impeachment, despite CONSTANT coverage on TV and media has the support of less than 10% of Congressmen. They are up for re-election next year and they hear their voters saying, "DO SOMETHING" about drug prices, bridges, roads, the Immigration issue!!! (Either that, or Nadler got smart and started reading the RANT) .. Do any of you remember the Wonka-vator from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory? Its like an elevator but the Wonk-vator can go "sideways and slantways and longways and backways squareways and frontways and any other ways you can think of". Well .. Amazon has a drone that can do ALL of that and carry small packages, too. They are testing it now and soon you will say, "Darn, I ran out of toothpaste" and be able to get delivered to your door in a few hours.. or maybe minutes! When I say soon, I do not mean, "within the next generation".. or "in ten years".. I mean.. by Christmas.. ..and if you're looking for a crazy place to party this D-Day, head to Oakland. Oakland just de-criminalized Magic Mushrooms and Peyote. Sounds like a GREEEEEAAAAT idea .. In an ALREADY broke and crime ridden city, WHAT could POSSIBLY go wrong??? ...SPORTS: NBA: Golden State had to play without Kevin Durant and Klay Thompsonso Toronto thumped them 123-109. Will Golden State get healthy? Will it matter? You have to wait until tomorrow to find out! One thing that was very funny.. Rapper Drake is a Toronto Superfan. The Warriors "Warm-up" song was the Drake Diss-track by Pusha-T .. HAHAHAHH.. ... GOLF: The RBC Canadian Open starts today. Can Koepka stay interested enough to win a REGULAR event? I mean, it DOES say OPEN .. and the "Nations League Final" in soccer will be the winner of England/Netherlands against Portugal. Portugal beat Switzerland 3-1 on THREE goals by Ronaldo. Will Ronaldo carry them to victory in the Finals? Will Ronaldo be convicted in his rape case in Nevada? These are things we need to wait to see!!! .. .. CELEBRIDIOTS: Since I honored veteran Tom Rice above.. I figure it would be a good idea to US Marine Shannon Ihrke. Shannon served Four Years as an active member of the Corps.. and now she serves her country in her OWN way. HERE .. How the heck am I gonna tell her in 10 years that she is no longer Raj-Tub eligible? Hand-to-hand combat, Shannon. LETS GO!!! .. If you are eagerly awaiting the start of season 3 of "Handmaid's Tale" I have news for you: IT WAS ON LAST NIGHT!!! .. (No spoilers here.. I didn't watch it) .. The Carrie Underwood Awards .. Sorry.. the CMT Music Awards happened last night in Nashville. Carrie won her 19th and 20th CMT for Video of the Year and Female Video of the year. (Isn't that kinda screwed up? A GUY can't win both. or...Is the a Male, Female, and OVERALL? I guess since I am the one ranting I should look that up.. but I really don't care.. ) ...The feature of this year's event was "Support Women Artists" and umm.. seriously.. (not being sarcastic) If you told me to name all the Country Singers I could.. the list of women is way longer than men. Is that just me? I mean .. I TOTALLY support women artists.. and I would TOTALLY be saying inappropriate stuff about Carrie Underwood if she weren't married to an ex-NHL hockey player who would punch me upside the head.. Having said that HERE is Carrie.. and instead of the "What were you thinking" award I am going to give the "Why were you there" award today. Actress Sarah Hyland, You're hot.. you act.. You live in LA not Nashville.. what were you doing at the CMT Awards? and why were you wearing a dress with a black penis? HERE and .. I will declare the "Winner" is "Runaway June" because then you get to see THREE hot girls for the price of ONE HERE . They have a song called, "Buy My Own Drinks" .. uh. yeah.. just come to the Raj Tub. Drinks are free on ladies night.. . Ladies Night is only on days that end with the letter "Y".
*** Sorry for that Yovanna link yesterday. It worked fine when I found it.. but apparently it made some of you fill out a survey or something. I try to avoid that stuff.. Apologies.***
From SeekingAlpha.com
The European Central Bank announced its easy-money exit strategy one year ago, but twelve months on, the world couldn't look more different. With dovish policy signals being broadcast across the globe, the ECB's Governing Council meeting in Vilnius will be the event of the day. Traders are now betting on a cut in the next year, only months after a raise had been the consensus, while hopes are high for more details on what the central bank's renewed TLTRO program will look like. "The conceivable range for the spread (for the negative rate) is between 0 bps and -40 bps," said Natixis's Dirk Schumacher. "A small spread would imply that the new TLTROs are predominantly meant to provide a backstop. A high spread would signal that the ECB sees a need to stimulate bank lending."
U.S. stock index futures are modestly higher after booking their second-largest two-day gain of the year on hopes of a near-term rate move from the Federal Reserve. Contracts tied to the DJIA are indicating a 78-point opening bell advance, while those linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq suggest a 0.4% bump. The move upward follows the latest trade war comments from President Trump. "Our talks with China, a lot of interesting things are happening. I could go up another at least $300B... But I think China wants to make a deal."
Speeding up its 5G launch, China has given the go-ahead for its major state-owned mobile carriers to start rolling out next generation networks, granting licenses to China Telecom (NYSE:CHA), China Mobile (NYSE:CHL), China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) and China Radio and Television. "First and foremost, the tech cold war is going on, and China does not want to remain behind the U.S. and Korea," said Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint Research. "Second, in light of the Huawei trade ban, (Chinese officials) want to provide Huawei with an early base to use their equipment and roll out before they don’t have access to U.S. components and gear."
Fiat Chrysler (NYSE:FCAU) has withdrawn its $35B merger proposal for Renault (OTCPK:RNLSY) as both companies pointed a finger at what they described as meddling by the French government. The country, which owns a 15% stake in Renault, reportedly pushed for guarantees that France would not lose jobs, and for a dividend to be paid to Renault shareholders, including the government. France also sought to delay a decision on the deal - which would have created the world's third-largest automaker - in order to win the support of Nissan (OTCPK:NSANY), Renault's Japanese alliance partner. FCAU -3.3%premarket; Renault shares are down 7% in Paris.
Seeking to split the cost of producing lower-emissions cars, Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Subaru (OTCPK:FUJHY) are teaming up to jointly develop an electric sport-utility vehicle. The pair will apply Subaru's all-wheel-drive technologies and Toyota's vehicle electrification technologies to the new SUV, which each will sell under its own brands. While the latter has led in technologies for hybrids and fuel cells, it has trailed behind rivals in bringing fully electric vehicles to showrooms.
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) drones will be making deliveries in "months," beginning test runs of toothpaste and household goods weighing as much as five pounds. "From paragliders to power lines to a corgi in the backyard, the brain of the drone has safety covered," said Jeff Wilke, who oversees Amazon's retail business. Where will the program start? It's not known yet, but the devices will make deliveries within 7.5 miles of a company warehouse and reach customers within 30 minutes.
"Progress is being made" in talks with Mexico, according to President Trump, but "not nearly enough!" Discussions will continue today, but "unless an agreement is reached a 5% tariff on Mexican goods would begin on Monday." The peso yesterday slid as much as 1.3% as credit ratings agency Fitch downgraded the nation’s sovereign debt near junk status - citing risks posed by heavily indebted oil company Pemex and trade tensions - while Moody's lowered its outlook to negative.
Growth impulses have weakened significantly, the Reserve Bank of India said as it cut its benchmark interest rate for a third time this year. The widely-expected move saw the repurchase rate reduced by 25 basis points to 5.75%, the lowest in nine years, to support an economy growing at the slowest pace since 2014. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously for the cut and also switched its stance to "accommodative" from neutral.
At the company's annual meeting in Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) CEO Doug McMillon told shareholders and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour was "too low." "It's time for Congress to put a thoughtful plan in place to increase the minimum wage," he declared. "Any plan should take into account phasing and cost-of-living differences to avoid unintended consequences." Sanders has accused Walmart of paying "starvation wages" and demanded hourly worker representation on the retailer's board.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) will announce its cryptocurrency later this month, and will allow employees working on the project to take their salary in the form of the new currency, according to The Information. Reports suggest users will be able to store, trade, and exchange the crypto for regular currency, in part through Facebook apps including Messenger and WhatsApp. Facebook is also planning physical ATM-like machines where users can buy the crypto and is creating a foundation with named partners to govern the currency.
What else is happening...
Contributor Rida Morwa discusses what to do when your portfolio crashes.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) set to report first results as a public company.
Ford (NYSE:F) expected to announce closure of Welsh engine factory.
Hoping to settle wildfire claims, PG&E (NYSE:PCG) plans $11B fund.
YouTube (GOOG, GOOGL) pledges to take a tougher line on hate speech.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has lots of upside from services growth, according to Evercore.
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) board weighs keeping interim CEO in place.
Wednesday's Key Earnings
American Eagle (NYSE:AEO) +0.1% as comp sales rose 6% in Q1. Brown-Forman (BF.B) +4.8% posting sales growth of 1.5%. Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB) +10% following a margin beat. Cloudera (NYSE:CLDR) -35% AH on downside outlook, CEO resignation. Stitch Fix (NASDAQ:SFIX) +31.5% AH beating on top and bottom lines.
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan flat. Hong Kong +0.3%. China -1.2%. India -1.4%. In Europe, at midday, London +0.7%. Paris +0.7%. Frankfurt +0.8%. Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.4%. Nasdaq +0.4%. Crude +0.2% to $51.79. Gold +0.6% to $1341.10. Bitcoin -1.1% to $7798. Ten-year Treasury Yield -2 bps to 2.1%
Today's Economic Calendar
7:30 Challenger Job-Cut Report 8:30 Initial Jobless Claims 8:30 International Trade 8:30 Productivity and Costs 8:40 Fed's Kaplan Speech 10:00 Quarterly Services Report 10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory 1:00 PM Fed's Williams Speech 4:30 PM Money Supply 4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Regards,
Roger “Raj” Searing
rajsearing@gmail.com
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