Financial Markets and Economy
U.S. GDP Growth Slowed on Tepid Consumer Spending (The Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. economy stumbled during the first months of the year, as consumers reined in spending despite a rise in household confidence and a surge in stock prices that greeted the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
One slice of the market threatens to ruin the S&P 500's clean earnings sheet (Business Insider)
One sector is on pace to ruin the S&P 500's clean earnings sheet for the first quarter.
Telecoms, the smallest sector by number of constituents, has failed to deliver on the earnings growth that Wall Street had been anticipating after a run up in prices.
U.S. Construction Spending Slips in March from Record High in February (The Wall Street Journal)
Spending on construction projects fell slightly in March after reaching the highest level on record in February.
Mnuchin Says Reaching 3% U.S. Economic Growth May Take Two Years (Bloomberg)
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said an overhaul of the tax system, regulatory reform and better trade deals will help produce 3 percent U.S. economic growth within two years.
Five Reasons Why 'The Retail Apocalypse' Is A False Scare Story (Forbes)
Talk about the death of retail is great clickbait. Media outlets from the Wall Street Journal to Fortune to USA Today have trumpeted news about store closings, retail bankruptcies, and the end of retail as we know it.
Biggest Gold Miner ETF Just Saw Largest Outflows on Record (Bloomberg)
The U.S. equity exchange-traded fund that experienced the largest withdrawals last week was the $10.3 billion VanEck Vectors Gold Miners (GDX), the biggest ETF that invests in gold-mining companies.
Consumer Spending Flat, PCE Inflation Weakest Showing In 16 Years, Rate Hike Odds Rising (MishTalk)
This is despite weakening economic reports today including flat consumer spending, negative consumer spending revisions, and falling prices (if one accepts the PCE price index) which the Fed does.
Why Not to Speculate During Bull Markets: Lessons from Newton and Druckenmiller (Safal Niveshak)
It was sometime during late 1999 through early 2000, near the peak of the dot-com bubble, the legendary George Soros and his hedge-fund team were working on how to prepare for the inevitable sell-off in technology stocks.
RBOB "In Danger Of Breaking Down" Amid Record Gasoline Contango (Zero Hedge)
June 2017 gasoline futures are traded at the biggest discount ever to the July contract this morning… As the front-month futures tumbles to its lowest since September.
ISM Manufacturing Miss (Bespoke)
Economic data to kick off the month hasn’t exactly been positive as the April read on ISM Manufacturing came in weaker than expected, falling to its lowest level of the year.
Why Democrats Are Delighted With The Republican Spending Bill (Zero Hedge)
Why were Democrats unable to hide their enthusiasm for the latest Omnibus spending bill proposed by House Republicans? Simple: because, as the Washington Examiner's Philip Klein writes, "Dems basically got everything. It's like they control House, Senate, & WH rather than the other way around."
After A Disastrous Quarter, Atlanta Fed Now Expects Q2 GDP To Hit 4.3% (Zero Hedge)
Four months after the Atlanta Fed started off its Q1 GDP nowcast at 2.5%, then raised it just shy of 3.5% before eventually closing the books at 0.2%, slightly below where the BEA reported Q1 GDP, moments ago the Atlanta Fed released its initial GDP forecast for Q2, and it will probably not come as a surprise to anyone that it just happens to be a tad optimistic.
Companies
Starbucks is entering a new era — and 4 jokes reveal the biggest problems haunting its business (Business Insider)
The other weekend I went with my family to a coffee shop that my mother deemed "the most beautiful" Starbucks she'd ever seen.
Einhorn Q1 Letter painful for shorts, as TSLA CEO has been happy to remind everyone via Twitter (Value Walk)
ValueWalk has obtained David Einhorn’s Q1 letter to investors of Greenlight Capital. Einhorn admits that he is short Tesla (ticker TSLA ) and explains his thesis. He hinted that he was short the stock in his Q3 letter. The TSLA short has hurt Greenlight Capital as Einhorn admits.
Why Didi Could Speed Past Uber As World’s Most Valuable Startup (Value Walk)
The Chinese ridehailing company has reportedly confirmed its $5.5 billion fundraise at a valuation of at least $50 billion. That would make it the third most valuable private company across the globe, per PitchBook data, behind only Uber (about $68 billion) and fellow Chinese company Ant Financial (~$60 billion).
Technology
An LG G6 Mini With A 5.4-Inch Display Could Be On The Way Shortly (Digital Trends)
The LG G6 was only released recently but it may not be the only device labeled “G6” that we see from LG. In fact, it looks like the company is prepping a so-called G6 Mini, which could be released in the near future.
Who Is The World's Leading EV Maker? It's Not Tesla (Forbes)
Like Tesla’s enormous market capitalization, the outsized mind share of the California carmaker is hard to reconcile with its true market share. A look at the sales data shows that noisy Tesla is quietly being outsold by the true pioneer in the electric vehicle field, the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
We’re Getting Closer to Mass Production of Bones, Organs, and Implants (Bloomberg)
Medical researchers have been able to create certain kinds of living cells with 3D printers for more than a decade. Now a few companies are getting closer to mass production of higher-order tissues (bone, cartilage, organs) and other individually tailored items, including implants.
Yamaha Slings Dolby Atmos, 4k Ultra HD, And HDR Style With New Adventage Receivers (Digital Trends)
It’s finally spring (despite what the thermometer might say), and that means it’s time for a whole heap of shiny new electronics. For Yamaha’s part, the company on Monday unveiled the latest upgrades to its prized Aventage receiver lineup, with six new models revving and ready to go. Say hello to the Aventage RX-A 70 series.
Tech’s Titans Go From Big to Bigger (The Wall Street Journal)
Today’s high-tech giants may not be monopolies in the most classic sense. But their outsize prominence is hard to deny, as demonstrated during the tech-earnings-palooza Thursday afternoon.
Politics
Trump Open to Raising Gas Tax and Negotiating Tax Overhaul Plan (Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump said he’s willing to raise the U.S. gas tax to fund infrastructure development and called the tax-overhaul plan he released last week the beginning of negotiations.
Donald Trump doesn’t understand why the Civil War couldn’t have been worked out (Salon)
President Donald Trump has a well-known affinity for Andrew Jackson, but if he was a tad more familiar with Abraham Lincoln, he may have been able to avoid his latest gaffe.
Mnuchin Says Ultra-Long U.S. Bonds Can Absolutely Make Sense (Bloomberg)
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the first ultra-long bond issuance could “absolutely” make sense to help finance the U.S. government, while indicating he’d be reluctant to swell the federal budget deficit to pay for planned infrastructure investment.
Trump Weighs Breaking Up Wall Street Banks, Raising Gas Tax (Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump said he’s actively considering a breakup of giant Wall Street banks, giving a push to efforts to revive a Depression-era law separating consumer and investment banking.
French Election Week: Le Pen Closing Gap With Macron In Many Polls (InfoWars)
The final round of a monumental French presidential election will take place on May 7, and nationalist candidate, Marine Le Pen, is quickly gaining ground on her globalist opponent, Emmanuel Macron, in a variety of polls.
Trump’s Tax Cuts May Be More Damaging Than Reagan’s (NY Times)
As a young New York Times reporter nearly four decades ago, I helped chronicle the rollout of what proved to be among our country’s greatest economic follies — the alchemistic belief that huge tax cuts can pay for themselves by unleashing faster economic growth.
Mine wars: The struggle for coal miners’ health care and pension benefits comes to a head (The Conversation)
During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump repeatedly expressed his support for coal miners and their communities. Voters in the country’s old mining regions of Appalachia rewarded these promises with overwhelming electoral support.
President Trump boasts big rally attendance despite empty seats (Think Progress)
President Trump bragged about the size of the crowd at his 100-day rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday — as journalists shared photos of rows of empty seats in the arena.
Why Republicans Can't Replace Obamacare (Forbes)
It’s a flawed program. Everybody knows it. Premiums are too high. Deductibles are too high. Doctor and hospital networks are too narrow.
Trump has threatened violence against his political enemies. He has made clear he does not believe in the norms and traditions of American democracy — unless they serve his interests. Trump and his advisers consider a free press to be enemies of his regime.
Rick Perry called out for ‘thinly disguised’ attempt to undermine renewable energy (Think Progress)
Lawmakers are questioning the motives behind the Department of Energy’s decision to study whether government support for renewable energy resources are threatening the reliability of the nation’s power grid and contributing to the closure of coal-fired and nuclear power plants.
President Donald Trump has been in hot water ever since he made the unproved assertion that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, wiretapped Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential election.
In New Budget, Trump Gets Nothing (Mother Jones)
Apparently Democrats and Republicans have agreed on a budget for the remaining five months of the fiscal year. So no government shutdown! Hooray!
Trump Says He’d Meet With Kim Jong Un Under Right Circumstances (Bloomberg)
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet with Kim Jong Un amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program if the circumstances were right.
Factlet of the Day: 488 Lies in 100 Days (Mother Jones)
I think we all understand that nobody cares about Donald Trump's relentless lying. We've certainly been hit over the head with it enough times. Still, the sheer volume is pretty staggering.
Trump’s tax plan: having a laugh on Laffer (Prospect Magazine)
In the National Museum of American History, there is an exhibit of a white cloth napkin taken from a Washington DC restaurant in 1974. The reason it is there because it is adorned with a graph and some scribbling that came to have a profound effect on economic thinking.
14 ways Trump lost bigly with the budget deal (Think Progress)
Congressional negotiators reportedly agreed on a budget deal Sunday night to avert an impending government shutdown. And although the Trump administration talked a big — if confusing — game during negotiations over the past several weeks, it seems to have lost bigly.
In New Budget, Trump Gets Nothing (Mother Jones)
Apparently Democrats and Republicans have agreed on a budget for the remaining five months of the fiscal year. So no government shutdown! Hooray!
Try seeing if you can tell the difference between dictators’ palaces and Trump’s own home (Alternet)
What is “dictator style”? For Donald Trump, it’s celebrating winning on a private jet while eating a Big Mac. He’s a “man of the people” with bad hair, oversized suits and a notorious trucker hat.
Life on the Home Planet
Ancient Stone Tablet Found: Reveals Comet Impact Sparking The Rise Of Civilization (Forbes)
Scientists have translated an ancient stone tablet found at a temple in Turkey. The tablet confirms that a comet struck Earth around 11,000BC, leading to global destruction including the extinction of the woolly mammoth and the rise of new civilizations.
The world’s most dangerous cities (The Economist)
Cocaine is grown primarily in South America, and trafficked to the world’s biggest market, the United States, via Central America and the Caribbean.
The Best Places To Retire In 2017 (Forbes)
With the aging of the Baby Boomers, around four million Americans are retiring each year and several times that number are thinking about it. Retirement often means living on less income, but it also presents the chance to relocate to an area with lower costs or one that better suits your retirement plans—whether they involve recreation, culture, education, volunteering, being closer to family or even working part time.
The thawing Arctic threatens an environmental catastrophe (The Economist)
“DUE to the global warming, please keep the Snowhotel door closed” reads a sign at the entrance to what appears to be a giant white mound near Kirkenes, close to Norway’s Arctic border with Russia.
