Morning News: January 22, 2016
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 22nd, 2016 at 6:57 am

PBOC Said to Tell Banks to Cancel Repos With Excessive Rates

Everyone’s Got a China Call As Markets Grapple With Who’s Right

Draghi’s Market Dialog Moves to Davos After ECB’s Groundhog Day

Euro Area Hit By Market Volatility as ECB Mulls March Action

U.S. Is Hiding Treasury Bond Data That’s Suddenly Become Crucial

This Time, Cheaper Oil Does Little for the U.S. Economy

Freeport-McMoRan Battles the Oil Slump

Schlumberger Reports Big 4Q Loss, Says Cut 10,000 More Jobs

Cable Acquisitions by Charter Communications Face Rising Opposition

United, Southwest Buy 73 Boeing Jets in Blow to Bombardier

Funds Roll In For Start-Up Harnessing Bitcoin Tech

Dimon’s Pay Jumps 35% to $27 Million

AmEx Shares Fall as 2016 Earnings Outlook Disappoints

Jeff Carter: Startups And Corporates

Roger Nusbaum: Bear Market Confirmed?

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Good Earnings from Signature Bank
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 21st, 2016 at 1:45 pm

Before the bell, Signature Bank (SBNY) reported Q4 earnings of $2.01 per share. That was eight cents better than estimates. For the year, SBNY made $7.27 per share.

Deposits for the 2015 fourth quarter rose $162.6 million, or 0.6 percent, to $26.77 billion at December 31, 2015. Overall deposit growth in 2015 was 18.4 percent, or $4.15 billion, when compared with deposits at the end of 2014.

(…)

“2015 was another record year in which Signature Bank demonstrated its ability to deliver exemplary results. Once again, we set records across all of our key metrics, including deposits, loans and earnings, reporting our eighth consecutive year of record earnings. And, for the first time, the Bank earned more than $100 million in one quarter,” explained Joseph J. DePaolo, President and Chief Executive Officer.

SBNY has been unusually weak lately. The stock was over $163 last November and was recently as low as $131.21 on Friday. It’s back near $140 today.

Morning News: January 21, 2016
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 21st, 2016 at 7:09 am

Lagarde Gets Europe’s Backing for Second Term as IMF Chief

ECB Set to Take Cautious Stance as Markets Tumble

Wall Street Seen Enduring Deeper Cuts to Boost 2016 Profits

Treasury Secretary Visits Puerto Rico and Urges Fast Action

Walmart, McDonald’s, They Just Never Will Pay A Living Wage, Sorry

Barclays to Close Several Businesses in Asia, Chop 1,000 Investment Bank Jobs

GM, the Lumbering Giant, Suddenly Looks Fleet-Footed In The Race To Provide Future Mobility Services

Taiwan’s Foxconn Offers $5.3 Billion to Take Over Sharp

Uber Beats Rental Cars in Business Travel for the First Time

Private Equity’s Golden Age Wasn’t So Golden After All

IEX’s Exchange Quest Spurs a `Flash Boys’ Fight With Citadel

5 Accused of Stealing Drug Secrets From GlaxoSmithKline

Congress Calls Martin Shkreli to Testify on Rapid Rises in Drug Pricing

Cullen Roche: What a Time to Build Something!

Joshua Brown: Beware…It’s Correction Twitter!

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Morning News: January 20, 2016
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 20th, 2016 at 7:01 am

Is It Over Yet? Two Weeks In, 2016 Feels Like Year of the Bear

Ruble Trades at Record Low as Oil Collapse Eclipses Sanctions

Shrinking Sovereign Wealth Funds Are Ducking Davos

Oil Market Tests Banks’ Ability to Weather Losses

Shell Fourth-Quarter Profit Plunges as Oil’s Slump Deepens

Netflix Faces a U.S. Slowdown, Despite Global Growth

Symantec to Get $1 Billion Less Cash in Sale of Veritas to Carlyle

Apple Eyes Launching Stores in India

BHP Cuts Full-Year Iron Forecast After Deadly Brazil Spill

Deezer Raises $109 Million in Music Race With Spotify, Apple

Tiffany Says a Lot More Pain to Come From the Strong Dollar

Why There’s Been a Huge Decline in Drivers’ Licenses for Millennials and Gen X

Nielsen to Use Facebook and Twitter in New Ratings System

Jeff Carter: Perfection Is Impossible

Roger Nusbaum: Well, The Market Didn’t Fall As Much

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Market Charts for January 19, 2016
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 19th, 2016 at 11:43 am

Here are a few charts which show you what’s driving this market.

First, check out the plunge in the small-cap Russell 2000.

Next, here’s the divergence between the High Beta and Low Vol etfs:

Here are the three major cyclical industries — Energy, Materials and Industrials. They’re all lagging the market.

The dollar in euros:

The Dow Transports peaked in November 2014, six months before the rest of the market:

Morning News: January 19, 2016
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 19th, 2016 at 7:01 am

IMF Again Cuts Global Growth Outlook

Why The Euro’s Resilience Presents Another Problem

Markets Grapple With China Woes, Fed Policy

Global Shares Buoyed by China Growth Report

IEA Sees Risk of World Drowning in Oil

U.K. December Inflation Edges Up on Fuel Costs, Air Fares

François Hollande Aims 2 Billion Euro Plan at France’s Economic ‘Emergency’

Material In Your Smartphone May Have Been Mined By Children

Regulators Take Step Toward Increasing Oversight of Treasuries

UnitedHealth Reports Profit Decline Amid Exchange Weakness

Unilever Seeks Revival From New Spreads Chief as Exit Looms

Twitter Struck by Widespread Global Shutdowns

Why an Ex-Google Coder Makes Twice as Much Freelancing

Cullen Roche: On the Probability of Another 2008

Joshua Brown: Everyone Is A Closet Technician

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MLK Day
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 18th, 2016 at 9:31 am

Here’s a fascinating interview of Martin Luther King from 1957. If the interview was done after January 15, then King was just 28 years old.

By the way, the other guest is a fascinating and often over-looked person, Judge J. Waites Waring.

Here’s part one:

Here’s part two:

Here’s part three:

Morning News: January 18, 2016
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 18th, 2016 at 7:00 am

Oil Slides to Lowest Since 2003 After Iran Sanctions Lifted

Equities Slump Worsens in Asia

China’s Securities Czar Casts Wide Blame for Market Turmoil

China to Start Implementing RRR for Offshore Banks’ Domestic Deposits

Biggest Banks Rue Millions Lost on Trader Who Failed Before

European Antitrust Chief Takes Swipe at Privacy Issue

A World Divided: Elites Descend on Swiss Alps Amid Rising Inequality

Soon You Can Hail an Uber Airbus Helicopter at Sundance

Renault Faces Criticism Over Disclosure of Emissions Raids

Airing Of Bad Blood In Bitcoin Pushes Currency Down 15%

Qualcomm Seeks Joint-Venture Shortcut to Server Sales in China

Daimler Trucks to Return to Iran With Production, Sales Accords

Disruption by Netflix Irks TV Foes

Howard Lindzon: The WTF and LOL Economy…The World’s First Digital Recession

Jeff Miller: Can Earnings Season Provide a Floor For Stocks?

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Inflation Is Your Friend
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 17th, 2016 at 6:33 pm

The S&P 500 Drops Below 1,880
Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on January 15th, 2016 at 11:47 am

The market is moving too quickly today to provide any meaningful updates, but the S&P 500 has fallen as low as 1,872.78 this morning. The Dow has lost as many as 430 points.

Here’s a minute-by-minute look at the S&P 500 for this year:

At one point, the VIX was higher than a barrel of oil. Many big banks are getting hit hard today. As usual, high beta stocks are taking the heat. The High Beta ETF (SPHB) reached another new low.

At one point I counted 99 stocks in the S&P 500 that were at new 52-week lows today. None was at a new high.

All the cyclical sectors — energy, materials and industrials — are down, and many are at multi-year lows.