Financial Markets and Economy
U.S. Stocks Add to Rally Ahead of Tax Plan Amid Earnings Pickup (Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks climbed, following a global equity rally on Monday, as investors assessed corporate earnings and awaited a tax plan from the White House scheduled for Wednesday.
Oil prices can tell you a lot about military spending (Business Insider)
Governments generally increase military spending when they are involved in an armed conflict or when they perceive a security threat.
Trump's Tariffs Bring Peso and Loonie Bears Back to Life (Bloomberg)
Concern Donald Trump would move to enact trade barriers with his Nafta counterparts returned to the fore Tuesday after the U.S. slapped tariffs of up to 24 percent on imported softwood lumber from Canada.
Investors Should Avoid Sector ETFs During Strong Earnings Season (Bloomberg)
Looking to capitalize on what’s shaping up to be a strong earnings season? You may want to avoid some of the most popular vehicles in the market: large sector exchange-traded funds.
Basic income just got a standing ovation at TED (Business Insider)
Universal basic income — a system of wealth distribution that involves giving people a monthly wage just for being alive — just got a standing ovation at this year's TED conference.
Oil Bull Andurand Says Rebound in Sight Despite 'Choppy' Market (Bloomberg)
Oil’s jerky path to recovery has been a frustrating, money-losing affair for hedge fund trader Pierre Andurand this year, but he’s sticking to his view that the commodity is set to rebound.
Betting Worst Is Over, Steelmakers Spending Again After Cuts (Bloomberg)
After years of losses, plant closings and job cuts, some of the world’s biggest steelmakers are ready to spend more on their businesses.
NASDAQ TOPS 6,000 FOR THE FIRST TIME: Here's what you need to know (Business Insider)
Stocks took off on Tuesday for the second straight day of strong gains.
All three major US stock indexes finished well into the green after a slew of strong earnings and solid US economic data. The Nasdaq composite topped the 6,000 mark for the first time in its history, while the Dow pushed back above 21,000.
Liquefied Natural Gas Is All the Rage in the Trump Administration (Bloomberg)
The White House has a new darling in the energy sector: liquefied natural gas.
First Gary Cohn — President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser — voiced support for a terminal in the U.S. Northwest that would send tankers full of LNG to Asia.
World’s Biggest Stock Markets Haven’t Been This Split Since 2008 (Bloomberg)
An intensifying crackdown against leverage in Asia’s biggest economy has rocked the hither-to unflappable Shanghai Composite Index over the past week, sending it to a three-month low last session.
A big chunk of the Dow’s gains have come from earnings (Market Watch)
The surge this week in the Dow DJIA, +1.12% which posted the first back-to-back 200+-point gains since the two days following the U.S. election, is being attributed by many to the reduced risk of euro dissolution in the wake of French election results and hopes for corporate tax cuts and a budget deal.
Trump Slaps Duty on Canadian Lumber, Intensifying Trade Fight (Bloomberg)
U.S. President Donald Trump intensified a trade dispute with Canada, slapping tariffs of up to 24 percent on imported softwood lumber in a move that drew swift criticism from the Canadian government, which vowed to sue if needed.
Real House Prices and Price-to-Rent Ratio in February (Calculated Risk)
It has been more than ten years since the bubble peak. In the Case-Shiller release this morning, the seasonally adjusted National Index (SA), was reported as being 2.1% above the previous bubble peak. However, in real terms, the National index (SA) is still about 14.4% below the bubble peak.
A slowdown in stock buybacks may be a bad omen (Market Watch)
A deceleration in the pace of U.S. corporate stock repurhases is a worrisome sign, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
"Throwing In The Towel" – US Stock Market Shorts Hit 10-Year Low (Zero Hedge)
It appears the bears have almost fully "thrown in the towel" as short interest in the US equity market's most liquid ETF has tumbled to its lowest since May 2007.
Central Banks Are Now Printing $200 Billion Per Month… Without a Crisis (Zero Hedge)
A tidal wave of inflation is rapidly moving through the financial system.
Most investors only pay attention to the Federal Reserve. And they are missing the BIG PICTURE for Central Bank monetary policy.
Companies
Politico Names Investment Banker as New CEO (The Wall Street Journal)
Politico, the digital-news pioneer that made its name disrupting Washington’s tradition-bound media scene, is shaking up its own ranks by naming a new chief executive.
Netflix clinches licensing deal with China's iQiyi.com (Reuters)
Netflix has struggled to break into the Chinese market, where streaming services are subject to strict data storage regulations and foreign films and television are routinely censored.
Credit Suisse Spends to Boost Booming Energy Team Amid Cutbacks (Bloomberg)
While other big banks coughed up to attend the CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference, the energy industry’s biggest annual confab, the Swiss lender was the only one that officially sponsored the show in Houston.
Pentagon Sees Lockheed F-35 Deliveries Falling Behind This Year (Bloomberg)
The Pentagon’s contract management agency forecasts Lockheed Martin Corp. will deliver 57 of its F-35 jets this year, nine fewer than the company plans.
Chipotle Rallies After Sales Finally Rebound From Crisis (Bloomberg)
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. shares gained as much as 7 percent in late trading after the burrito chain’s sales finally started to bounce back from a food-safety crisis that began in 2015.
Coke is now adding fiber to drinks to try and convince people to buy soda again (Business Insider)
Coca-Cola now sells a soda with added fiber.
Coca-Cola Plus rolled out in Japan in February. The company reportedly spent more than a decade researching and developing the drink, which is sugar-free, calorie-free, and contains 5 grams of dietary fiber in each bottle.
Technology
Uber Plans to Test Flying Cars Within 3 Years (Bloomberg)
Uber Technologies Inc. hopes to one day operate a network of flying cars. On Tuesday, the ride-hailing company laid out some aggressive plans to get closer to its first flight.
One cool feature of the Samsung Galaxy S8 makes me really excited for the iPhone 8 (Business Insider)
Even turned off, there's no denying it: The Samsung Galaxy S8 is the most beautiful phone on the market.
And once you power it on, you're treated to the Galaxy's OLED screen, a technology Samsung has been using since its first Galaxy phone came out seven years ago.
I switched from the iPhone 7 to Google's new phone and couldn’t be happier — here's why (Business Insider)
When it comes to phones, good looks only get you so far — this is a device I use every day, all the time. How it fits into my life is far more important than how much I like to look at it. In this respect, the Pixel is a far better phone.
The Electric-Car Boom Is So Real Even Oil Companies Say It's Coming (Bloomberg)
Electric cars are coming fast — and that’s not just the opinion of carmakers anymore. Total SA, one of the world’s biggest oil producers, is now saying EVs may constitute almost a third of new-car sales by the end of the next decade.
Flying Cars By 2020? Uber Wants You To Push Button, Get Flight (Forbes)
On Tuesday, Uber announced its intention to demonstrate a flying car network by 2020 and "full-scale operations by 2023." At its Elevate Summit, held in Dallas, Uber said it would partner with Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas and Dubai, UAE as the first pilot cities and five aircraft manufacturers to begin designing and developing vehicles that can take off and land vertically, like a helicopter.
Alphabet’s Waymo Offering Families Rides in Self-Driving Cars (The Wall Street Journal)
Waymo LLC, the autonomous car unit of Google-parent Alphabet Inc., will dramatically expand its testing efforts by making hundreds of self-driving vehicles available to families and urban commuters in the Phoenix area.
Nastier version of IoT botnet could brick your smart toaster (Engadget)
Two new versions of a nasty botnet called BrickerBot were spotted in the wild by researcher Pascal Geenens, who reported the latest attack for security firm Radware.
Politics
Trump’s 15% Corporate Tax Push Sets Stage for Clash With Ryan (Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump’s plan to slash the corporate tax rate to 15 percent is setting up a showdown with House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has called for a tax plan to pay for itself.
U.S., North Korea Flex Military Muscles as Tensions Simmer (Bloomberg)
The U.S. and North Korea both showed off their military prowess on Tuesday as nations in the region stepped up diplomatic talks to defuse a brewing crisis over Kim Jong Un’s nuclear program.
Le Pen's father criticizes her presidential campaign as she steps back from party (Reuters)
French far-right veteran Jean-Marie Le Pen said on Tuesday his daughter Marine, who faces centrist Emmanuel Macron in a May 7 presidential runoff, should have campaigned more aggressively for Sunday's first round, following the example of Donald Trump.
Eight Maps That Explain France’s Macron-Le Pen Election (Bloomberg)
For the first time in modern-day France, neither of the two mainstream parties made the second round of a presidential election. In their place, Emmanuel Macron, a former Socialist economy minister who left the party to run for the presidency, and Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Front, will face off on May 7.
Kremlin says Ukraine is pushing away breakaway region with power cut (Reuters)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian government's decision to cut power supplies to the breakaway region of Luhansk amounted to a rejection of the territory.
UK's May to host meeting with Japanese PM Abe on Friday (Reuters)
British Prime Minister Theresa May will host her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe for talks at her official country residence on Friday, May's spokesman told reporters on Tuesday.
Russia calls U.S. allegation it arms Taliban unsubstantiated (Reuters)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that a U.S. allegation Moscow was supplying arms to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan was unsubstantiated.
Undocumented immigrant population in steady decline over past 10 years (CNN)
The number of undocumented immigrants living in the United States has steadily declined over the past 10 years, amid a significant decrease in the share of Mexicans living in the country without legal status, a new report finds.
Government costs could rise $2.3 billion without Obamacare payments: study (Reuters)
The U.S. government's costs could increase by $2.3 billion in 2018 if Congress and President Donald Trump decide not to fund Obamacare-related payments to health insurers, according to a study released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Mayors Grapple With grant Threat After Meeting With Sessions (Associated Press)
Mayors from several U.S. cities threatened with the loss of federal grants emerged from a meeting with the attorney general Tuesday saying they remain confused about how to prove their police aren't prohibited from cooperating with immigration authorities – a requirement for the money.
White House Nams New Secret Service Director (Associated Press)
The White House on Tuesday named a retired Marine major general as the new director of the Secret Service. Randolph Alles will oversee an agency that for years has been beset with a series of high-profile embarrassments.
Life on the Home Planet
Air strikes kill at least 12, damage hospital in Syria's Idlib: medics, monitor (Reuters)
Syrian or Russian air strikes killed more than a dozen people and severely damaged a hospital in and around a town in rebel-held Idlib province on Tuesday, local medical workers and a monitoring group said.
Ready for take-off? China's answer to Boeing now just needs to sell (Reuters)
When China unveiled an historic order for its first large commercial jetliner at a national air show in 2010, Western journalists were kept away, and only local media were allowed to witness a major turning point in China's aviation ambitions.
U.S. Suspects Russia Supplying Small Arms to Taliban in Afghanistan (The Wall Street Journal)
U.S. military officials said they have seen an increasing number of small arms provided by the Russian government, including machine guns and antiaircraft weapons, in the hands of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan over the past 18 months.
U.S. military begins moving THAAD missile defense to South Korea site: media (Reuters)
The U.S. military has started moving parts of the controversial THAAD anti-missile defense system into a planned deployment site in South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, amid high tensions over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs.
