Saturday, May 14, 2016

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:      
  • Retailers Stifle U.S. Stocks in Week as Growth Worries Mount. The weakness plaguing consumer companies proved contagious and pushed U.S. stocks to the longest streak of weekly declines since January’s market meltdown. The S&P 500 Index dropped for a third week after disastrous reports from Macy’s Inc. to Nordstrom Inc. sent retail shares tumbling. While apparel makers led the decline, falling to a three-month low, the selling affected a swath of industries that rely on consumer spending. Airlines, media companies and real-estate firms all sank at least 1.8 percent. 
  • China’s Economy Grinds Down a Gear as Heavy Industry Drags. China’s economy resumed its grind toward slower growth in April, weighed down by overcapacity industries such as steel and coal. Industrial production climbed 6 percent in April from a year earlier, down from 6.8 percent in March and missing economists’ estimates for 6.5 percent. Retail sales also missed analyst forecasts, rising 10.1 percent, while fixed-asset investment increased 10.5 percent in the January-April period versus economists’ expectation for 11 percent. After a rocky start to 2016 marked by a sliding yuan, capital outflows and tumbling shares, China’s economy stabilized and even picked up in March, led by a surge in new credit and rebound in the housing market. A pullback in lending and Saturday’s tepid readings dash hopes the economy has turned a corner. Top leaders this week signaled a shift away from debt- and stimulus-fueled growth, stressing the need for deleveraging, upgrading industrial capabilities and cutting excess capacity. "All the engines suddenly lost momentum," said Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank AG in Singapore. "The policy tightening will be only a short-term phenomenon."
  • China Seen Boosting Cyber War Focus With Probes Against U.S. China’s military conducted cyber probes and intrusions against U.S. computer networks to support intelligence collection and electronic warfare, according to a new Pentagon report. “China is using its cyber capabilities to support intelligence collection against the U.S. diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support U.S. national defense programs,” the Defense Department said in its annual report on China’s capabilities, published Friday. The report, which traditionally draws a strong reaction from the Chinese government, comes ahead of a visit to Vietnam and Japan this month by President Barack Obama and amid increasing tensions between the U.S., China and Southeast Asian nations over sovereignty claims in the South China Sea. Highlighting what the Pentagon described as China’s focus on improving cyber capabilities to counter a “stronger foe,” the report said information gleaned by hackers “could inform Chinese military planners’ work to build a picture of U.S. defense networks, logistics, and related military capabilities that could be exploited during a crisis.”
Wall Street Journal:
Barron's:
  • Had bullish commentary on (REGN), (JWN), (M), (NXST), (ODP), (AXTA), (Y) and (BURL).
  • Had bearish commentary on (RL).
MarketWatch.com:
Fox News:
Zero Hedge: 
Business Insider:

No comments: