Today's Headlines

Bloomberg: 

• EU Drafting Rules to Protect Technology From Foreign Takeovers. European Union regulators are drafting rules to protect European firms with “key technologies” from foreign takeovers, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. “We’ve heard concerns about foreign -- often state-owned -- investors taking over European companies that control key technologies," she said in a speech at the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio, Italy. “This issue isn’t simple. It needs careful consideration before we decide how to act. We’re working on this issue now, and we plan to put forward concrete proposals in the autumn.”

• Russia Likely to Back Extension of OPEC Deal as Prices Stabilize.

• Kushners’ China Deal Flop Was Part of Much Bigger Hunt for Cash. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, wakes up each morning to a growing problem that will not go away. His family’s real estate business, Kushner Cos., owes hundreds of millions of dollars on a 41-story office building on Fifth Avenue. It has failed to secure foreign investors, despite an extensive search, and its resources are more limited than generally understood. As a result, the company faces significant challenges.

• These Robots Are Using Static Electricity to Make Nikes. Grabit, a robotics startup, makes machines that can work at 20 times the pace of humans.

Wall Street Journal:

• Russia Protests U.S. Decision to Search Its Washington Trade Mission.  Spat comes amid flare-up of tensions between Moscow, Washington.

• Trump Returns to Gulf Coast After Hurricane Harvey’s Devastation. The president and first lady travel to Texas and Louisiana to meet with flood victims and volunteers.

• China’s Little Lenders Can’t Grow Like They Used To. Regulator crackdown on interbank market curbs smaller banks’ financial experiments.

• Trump Administration Weighs Withdrawal From South Korea Trade Pact. President Donald Trump has been a critic of the five-year-old bilateral deal.

MarketWatch.com:

• This chart spells out in black and white just how many jobs will be lost to robots. Robots will take over half of today’s jobs in 10-20 years.

Fox News:

• President Trump meets victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas: 'There's a lot of love'. (video)

• Colleges struggle over defending or curbing free speech. (video)

CNBC:

• Trump to decide whether to block China-backed buyout of US chip maker.

• Why a global ‘tug-of-war’ could drive the 10-year yield below 2%. (video)

• Texas faces fuel 'crisis' as depleted gasoline stations deal with panic buying. (video)

• Roku files for IPO of up to $100 million.

Zero Hedge:

• Pension Ponzi Exposed: Minnesota Underfunding Triples After Tweaking This One Small Assumption...

• De-Dollarization Accelerates: China Readies Yuan-Priced Crude Oil Benchmark Backed By Gold.

• FBI, DHS Officially Classify Antifa Activities As "Domestic Terrorist Violence".

• Cryptocrash: Bitcoin Tumbles To Pre Korea-Missile-Launch Level After Topping $5000. (graph)

• Trump Asks That $8 Billion Harvey "Down Payment" Be Added To Debt-Ceiling Bill.

• Amazon(AMZN) Has Twice As Many Fulfillment Centers As The Rest Of The Entire US Retail Industry.

• "Trump Should Be Concerned": Mueller Partners With "Elite" IRS Investigations Unit.

• Palladium Suddenly Spikes To 16-Year Highs. (graph)

• Oil Tanker Logjam Grows To 54 Ships As Gulf Ports Remain Closed.

• Wasserman Schultz Aide Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ As Prosecution Drops Hints About A Broader Probe Of Awan.

• Petition To Label George Soros A "Domestic Terrorist" Has 80,000 Signatures.

• Weekend Reading: Harvey & The Broken Window Fallacy.

• Floods, Nukes, & Pitiful Payrolls Spark Best Week For Stocks In 2017. (graph)

Business Insider:

• Republicans now have a drop-dead date for replacing Obamacare.

• Harvey ignites a second fire and explosion at Houston chemical plant.

• Irma will become a ‘major’ hurricane early next week.

• Trump increases federal funding for debris removal after Harvey.

USA Today:

• Houston faces threats from mold, fumes and toxic water in cleanup after Harvey.

Weekly Scoreboard*

The Weekly Wrap by Briefing.com.

 

Indices

• S&P 500 2,478.56 +1.49%

• DJIA 22,016.10 +1.0%

• NASDAQ 6,433.10 +2.80%

• Russell 2000 1,410.15 +2.41%

• S&P 500 High Beta 37.43 +2.08%

• Goldman 50 Most Shorted 135.49 +3.25%

• Wilshire 5000 25,639.10 +1.66%

• Russell 1000 Growth 1,244.27 +2.19%

• Russell 1000 Value 1,142.69 +.94%

• S&P 500 Consumer Staples 563.80 +.44%

• Vanda Cyclicals-Defensives 1.3235 +1.28%
  

• Morgan Stanley Technology 1,564.71 +2.63%

• Transports 9,381.70 +2.84%

• Utilities 740.84 -.82%

• Bloomberg European Bank/Financial Services 98.86 +.24%

• MSCI Emerging Markets 44.91 +.47%

• HFRX Equity Hedge 1,208.57 +.13%

• HFRX Equity Market Neutral 1,006.33 +.14%

Sentiment/Internals

• NYSE Cumulative A/D Line 298,114 +.41%

• Bloomberg New Highs-Lows Index 487 +310

• Bloomberg Crude Oil % Bulls 51.43 +50.34%

• CFTC Oil Net Speculative Position 445,448 -3.89%

• CFTC Oil Total Open Interest 2,236,977 -3.23%

• Total Put/Call .81 -16.5%

• OEX Put/Call 1.10 +88.9%

• ISE Sentiment 72.0 -36.1%

• NYSE Arms .56 -50.0%

• Volatility(VIX) 10.09 -10.55%

• S&P 500 Implied Correlation 31.63 -9.66%

• G7 Currency Volatility (VXY) 8.11 +2.66%

• Emerging Markets Currency Volatility (EM-VXY) 7.42 +4.36%

• Smart Money Flow Index 19,709.0 +.38%

• ICI Money Mkt Mutual Fund Assets $2.716 Trillion -.72%

• ICI US Equity Weekly Net New Cash Flow -$2.730 Billion

• AAII % Bulls 25.0 -11.0%

• AAII % Bears 39.9 +4.2%

Futures Spot Prices

• CRB Index 180.56 +1.47%

• Crude Oil 47.18 -1.71%

• Reformulated Gasoline 172.31 +11.04%

• Natural Gas 3.08 +6.39%

• Heating Oil 173.32 +6.92%

• Gold 1,325.80 +2.47%

• Bloomberg Base Metals Index 201.83 +1.12%

• Copper 311.85 +2.58%

• US No. 1 Heavy Melt Scrap Steel 281.67 USD/Ton unch.

• China Iron Ore Spot 78.91 USD/Ton +.68%

• Lumber 374.70 -.83%

• UBS-Bloomberg Agriculture 1,022.01 -.16%

Economy

• Atlanta Fed GDPNow Forecast +3.3 -10.0 basis points

• ECRI Weekly Leading Economic Index Growth Rate +1.9% -40.0 basis points
  

• Philly Fed ADS Real-Time Business Conditions Index -.0477 -1.27% 

• US Economic Policy Uncertainty Index 32.3 -68.2%

• S&P 500 Blended Forward 12 Months Mean EPS Estimate 140.31 +.19%

• Citi US Economic Surprise Index -18.20 +14.1 points

• Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index 25.8 +6.6 points

• Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index 19.80 +1.7 points

• Fed Fund Futures imply 88.0% chance of no change, 12.0% chance of 25 basis point hike on 9/20

• US Dollar Index 92.82 +.29%

• MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index 1,638.89 +.46%

• Euro/Yen Carry Return Index 136.44 +.27%

• Yield Curve 81.0 -3.0 basis points
  

• 10-Year US Treasury Yield 2.15% -2.0 basis points

• Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet $4.412 Trillion -.28%

• U.S. Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 25.91 -.15%

• Illinois Municipal Debt Credit Default Swap 335.0 -.05%

• Western Europe Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap Index 5.59 -6.06%

• Asia Pacific Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap Index 17.80 -9.34%
  

• Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt CDS Index 39.41 -12.71%
  

• Israel Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 52.83 -8.12%

• South Korea Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 60.68 +2.63%

• Russia Sovereign Debt Credit Default Swap 138.73 -5.67%

• iBoxx Offshore RMB China Corporate High Yield Index 141.27 +.14%

• 10-Year TIPS Spread 1.79% +4.0 basis points

• TED Spread 31.0 -1.0 basis point

• 2-Year Swap Spread 21.0 -2.25 basis points

• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -24.75 +2.0 basis points

• N. America Investment Grade Credit Default Swap Index 57.47 -4.1%

• America Energy Sector High-Yield Credit Default Swap Index 465.0 -1.46%

• European Financial Sector Credit Default Swap Index 52.57 -5.39%
  

• Emerging Markets Credit Default Swap Index 178.20 -4.09%
  

• CMBS AAA Super Senior 10-Year Treasury Spread to Swaps 148.0 unch.
  

• M1 Money Supply $3.618 Trillion +1.66%

• Commercial Paper Outstanding 1,023.50 +2.7%

• 4-Week Moving Average of Jobless Claims 236,750 -1,000

• Continuing Claims Unemployment Rate 1.4% unch.
  

• Average 30-Year Mortgage Rate 3.82% +7.0 basis points

• Weekly Mortgage Applications 407.20 -2.3%

• Bloomberg Consumer Comfort 53.30 +.5 point

• Weekly Retail Sales +3.2% +40 basis points

• Nationwide Gas $2.52/gallon +.17/gallon

• Baltic Dry Index 1,184.0 -1.3%

• China (Export) Containerized Freight Index 839.84 -.81%

• Oil Tanker Rate(Arabian Gulf to U.S. Gulf Coast) 22.50 unch.

• Rail Freight Carloads 279,623 -.96%

Best Performing Style

•  Small-Cap Growth +3.0%

Worst Performing Style

•  Large-Cap Value +.9%

Leading Sectors

• Biotech +7.7%

• Gaming +5.2%

• Gold & Silver +5.1%

• Steel +4.8%

• Defense +4.0%

Lagging Sectors

• Insurance -.4% 

• Tobacco -.7%

• Oil Tankers -.7%

• Utiliteis -.9%

• Foods -1.1%

Weekly High-Volume Stock Gainers (28)

• ADMS, IXYS, ABEO, JUNO, WVE, KITE, BLUE, EHTH, AVAV, SCVL, STRL, MOV, PSTG, CTLT, DEL, USG, AMSWA, GILD, CVTI, SPLK, LJPC, EXP, ENTA, GNRC, CAL, TACO, CARE and THO

Weekly High-Volume Stock Losers (13)

• FIVE, IMKTA, ULTA, LE, VEEV, CIEN, ACOR, SFM, CPB, BBY, GME, TITN and ACET

Weekly Charts

ETFs

• High-Volume Gainers

• High-Volume Losers

Stocks

• High-Volume Gainers

• High-Volume Losers

*5-Day Change