>>> US Close -0.16% S&P flat Nasdaq +0.36% Russell +0.99%

Closing Market Summary: Stock Market Closes Tuesday's Session Flat

The major averages ended Tuesday's session on a mixed note. The Nasdaq (+0.4%) finished out front, followed by the S&P 500 (unch) and the Dow (-0.2%).

Today's session got off to a flat start after some retailers and restaurants issued disappointing guidance. The cautions comments were shrugged off swiftly, as buyers pushed Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG 414.48, +19.42), Papa Murphy's (FRSH 4.54, +0.29), and Express (EXPR 10.78, +0.47) higher despite their negative guidance. The three names added between 4.6% and 6.8%, while the SPDR S&P 500 Retail ETF (XRT 44.33, +0.51) added 1.2%. Consumer discretionary (+0.4%) finished in line with financials (+0.4%) and just ahead of health care (+0.3%) atop the leaderboard. However, strength in those sectors could not prevent the S&P 500 from reversing off its high in the afternoon. The index returned to its flat line after a brief appearance above Friday's record close.

Health care marked its session high alongside the broader market around noon, but maintained that level while the rest of the market faced an afternoon retreat. The health care sector had some help from biotechnology, evidenced by the 0.8% increase in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 286.48, +2.18).

Industrials (+0.3%) also outperformed, aided by an uptick in in airlines after Alaska Air (ALK 92.00, +4.53) reported better-than-expected December traffic data. The sector also received a boost from automakers, with General Motors (GM 37.35, +1.34) adding 3.7% in reaction to upside guidance for 2017.

Materials (+0.1%), telecom services (+0.1%), and the top-weighted technology (-0.1%) sector finished the trading day flat. The tech space ended with a slight loss even though strength in chipmakers sent the PHLX Semiconductor Index higher by 0.5%. The sector couldn't overcome lackluster performances from top components like IBM (IBM 165.52, -2.13) and Oracle (ORCL 38.66, -0.37). The two names finished lower by 1.3% and 1.0%, respectively.

Energy (-1.0%) was the only other cyclical sector to finish in negative territory. The space couldn't overcome crude oil's 2.2% retreat as the commodity finished its trading day at $50.82/bbl. Real estate was the only sector to finish below the energy sector, with a loss of 1.2%. Consumer staples (-0.6%) finished slightly better, while the utilities sector (-0.3%) ended closer to its flat line.

The Treasury market remained relatively flat throughout today's session. The 2-yr yield closed unchanged at 1.19%, while the 10-yr yield finished up one basis point at 2.38%.

Today's trading volume finished above the 50-day moving average as 1.17 billion shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Reviewing today's economic data:

  • November Wholesale Inventories increased 1.0%, which was above the consensus of 0.9%. The prior month's reading was revised to -0.1% from -0.4%.
  • November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that job openings decreased to 5.198 million from a revised 5.451 million (from 5.534 million) in October. For more on these economic releases, be sure to visit economic calendar

Tomorrow's lone economic report is the MBA Mortgage Applications Index, which will be released at 7:00 ET.

  • Russell 2000 +1.0% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.5% YTD
  • S&P 500 +1.3% YTD
  • Nasdaq Composite +3.1% YTD

>>> AMGN - Phase 3 Study results published in the Journal of the American Medica

Phase 3 Study results published in the Journal of the American Medical Association show Parsabiv (Etelcalcetide) significantly reduced Serum Parathyroid Hormone in adults with Secondary Hyperparathyroidism on Hemodialysis 

Announced the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) publication of findings from three Phase 3 studies of Parsabiv (etelcalcetide), an investigational intravenous calcimimetic agent in the U.S. The studies evaluated Parsabiv in more than 1,700 adults with secondary hyperparathyroidism (sHPT) on hemodialysis and showed that the drug produced statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, a key marker of sHPT. sHPT is a chronic and serious condition that is often progressive among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is associated with significant clinical consequences.

FT : Rebound in commodity-exporting nations set to boost global growth

Rebound in commodity-exporting nations set to boost global growth
World Bank warns of political uncertainties as it forecasts 2.7 per cent growth

The pace of global growth will increase this year, fuelled by a rebound in commodity-exporting emerging economies and further recovery in advanced economies such as the US, according to the World Bank. 

However, the bank’s latest forecasts released on Tuesday included a warning that the arrival of the Trump administration and elections this year in Europe raised questions about the direction of economic policy and a potential new wave of protectionism.

Global growth is expected to accelerate to 2.7 per cent this year after growing 2.3 per cent in 2016, its worst performance since the 2008 crisis. Advanced economies as a group are expected to grow at a slightly faster rate of 1.8 per cent this year, up from 1.6 per cent in 2016.

“After years of disappointing global growth, we are encouraged to see stronger economic prospects on the horizon,” said Jim Yong Kim, World Bank president. 

“The good news is that there is a recovery and that this recovery is coming after a bottom, if you think of 2016 as that bottom,” said Ayhan Kose, lead author of the bank’s annual Global Economic Prospects.

“But there are significant downside risks . . . including political uncertainty.” 

The US economy was expected to expand 2.2 per cent in 2017, up from an estimated 1.6 per cent last year, the bank said. That forecast increase comes before tax cuts, infrastructure spending and deregulation that incoming US president Donald Trump has promised will boost growth. Both the euro area (1.5 per cent) and Japan (0.9 per cent) are expected to grow at a weaker pace this year.


The expected acceleration in the US is likely to help lift other parts of the global economy. “What happens in the US does not stay in the US,” Mr Kose said. 

But a strengthening dollar, higher US interest rates and their impact — particularly on corporate debtors in emerging economies — posed risks, he said. 

Fast US growth is likely to be accompanied by a surge in commodity-exporting emerging and developing economies, which are expected to expand 2.3 per cent this year, after two years of stagnation. 


Recessions in countries such Brazil and Russia that followed the collapse in commodity prices were likely to end this year thanks to a modest recovery in prices, the bank said. Both economies contracted in 2016 and are expected to grow modestly this year. 

The same applies to Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, which the World Bank expects to grow 1 per cent in 2017 after contracting 1.7 per cent last year. 

That would bring relief for countries that many last year saw as the potential source of a new wave of emerging market crises. 

But Mr Kose said that while many commodity-exporting developing economies were on a better footing than they had been a year ago, most still remained vulnerable to swings in international prices and another downturn. 

The World Bank said it remained concerned about a slowdown in global investment growth, which had fallen from 10 per cent in 2010 to below 3.5 per cent in 2016. 

It was more optimistic, however, about global trade, the slowdown in which has plagued the world economy for the past five years. 

World trade volumes grew 2.5 per cent in 2016 but are expected to expand by 3.6 per cent — or 1.3 times global GDP — this year, thanks mainly to the changing fortune of commodity-exporting countries and a rebound in other large developing economies. 

Paris Match : Sondage présidentielle : Le Pen devance Fillon


François Fillon perd la pole position dans l’enquête Ifop-Fiducial pour Paris Match, iTélé et Sud-Radio. Marine Le Pen repasse devant l’ancien Premier ministre et Emmanuel Macron se rapproche du duo de tête.

Le mois de janvier est rarement favorable pour les favoris de l’élection présidentielle; cela se confirme avec François Fillon. Selon le sondage Ifop-Fiducial pour Paris Match, iTélé et Sud-Radio, le candidat de la droite perd la pole position au profit de Marine Le Pen. La patronne du FN se retrouve pour la première fois en tête des intentions de vote au premier tour dans une enquête réalisée pendant une année présidentielle. Vainqueur de la primaire en novembre, l’ancien Premier ministre recule déjà de trois points en moyenne dans notre premier baromètre présidentiel de l’année. Suivant l’identité de l’adversaire socialiste (quatre scénarios ont été testés, voir ci-dessous), le député de Paris recueille entre 24 et 25% des voix. Un resserrement attendu. En 2012, François Hollande, candidat victorieux de la primaire de la primaire de la gauche avait connu pareil reflux et vu remonter Nicolas Sarkozy.

Exclusif :Coulisses et indiscrétions de la présidentielle 2017

En janvier 2017, François Fillon connaît les même déboires. Il perd des suffrages dans les catégories actives : -12 points chez les ouvriers (8%) et -11 dans les couches populaires (11%). Sa base de droite s’érode aussi parmi les électeurs qui avaient voté Nicolas Sarkozy en 2012. François Fillon paie probablement ses hésitations sur sa réforme de la Sécurité sociale et peut être aussi son relatif silence médiatique. Marine Le Pen profite de ce trou d’air. Elle gagne, selon les scénarios testés, en moyenne deux points et remonte à 26,5% avec une pointe à 50% chez les ouvriers! Au second tour, en revanche, François Fillon serait très largement vainqueur face à Marine Le Pen : 64% des voix contre 36 pour la candidate d'extrême droite (c'était 65/35 lors de notre dernière enquête fin novembre).

La dynamique Macron

Emmanuel Macron semble poussé par des vents porteurs à cent jours du premier tour de la présidentielle. L’ex-ministre de l’Economie de François Hollande poursuit sa marche en avant. La bataille des candidats socialistes à la primaire de gauche n’enraye pas sa progression. Le fondateur d’En marche! remplit les salles dans des bastions socialistes (Nevers et Clermont-Ferrand le week-end dernier) tandis que ses rivaux sont à la traîne dans les sondages. Selon les scénarios, il recueille de 17% (en cas de victoire de Manuel Valls à la primaire) à 19% (avec Benoit Hamon ou Arnaud Montebourg) et jusqu’à 20% (avec Vincent Peillon). Bref, une progression de trois points par rapport à une enquête similaire publiée par Match avant Noël. Emmanuel Macron écrase ses rivaux socialistes en particulier chez les électeurs qui avaient voté François Hollande en 2012. Candidat attrape-tout, il marque des points à gauche, séduit un quart des sympathisants MoDem et 11% des sarkozystes! L'Ifop a également testé des hypothèses de second tour prenant en compte une présence d'Emmanuel Macron. Il battrait Marine Le Pen (65/35) et surtout François Fillon (52/48); des scénarios «à prendre avec grande précaution», selon Frédéric Dabi, directeur général adjoint de l'Ifop.

Valls à... 10,5%

Parmi les quatre principaux prétendants socialistes à la candidature présidentielle, aucun d’entre eux ne parviendrait à se qualifier au second tour. Pire, ni Manuel Valls, ni Arnaud Montebourg, ni Benoît Hamon ou Vincent Peillon ne sont en mesure de prendre la tête des candidats de la gauche alternative. Ils finiraient au mieux cinquième derrière Emmanuel Macron et Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Le candidat du Parti de gauche reste à son étiage (entre 11,5 et 12%) malgré sa percée sur Internet et YouTube. Manuel Valls, lui, doit se contenter de 10,5% ce qui fait de l’ancien Premier ministre le meilleur des candidats socialistes. Une piêtre consolation qui prouve que les sympathisants de gauche ne croient pas aux chances du PS en 2017 surtout depuis le renoncement de François Hollande. Il faut dire que les performances de Hamon (6%), Montebourg (5,5%) et Peillon (2,5%) sont humiliantes.

FT : Draghi and Renzi targets of alleged hacking operation

Draghi and Renzi targets of alleged hacking operation
Arrest of brother and sister in Italy raises alarm on vulnerability of public figures

Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, was the victim of an alleged hacking attempt, according to Italian police and prosecutors investigating an extensive cyber espionage operation targeting some of the country’s best known public figures.

Matteo Renzi and Mario Monti, two former Italian prime ministers, were also among those targeted, according to police who on Tuesday arrested Giulio Occhionero, 45, and his sister Francesca Maria Occhionero, 49, over the alleged hacking.

Mr Renzi was targeted while he was prime minister last year and the arrests are likely to ring alarm bells over the potential vulnerability of top officials to cyber attacks. Italian police said the hacking was directed at a “galaxy” of public officials who possessed “strategic and sensitive information” which could have “great value”.

Prosecutors in Rome said two attempts were made last year to hack Mr Draghi’s email account. The first attempt was on June 23, the day of the UK’s Brexit vote, with a second in July. The attempts were made on a Bank of Italy email address used by Mr Draghi, who was governor of the central bank before joining the ECB in 2011. It was not clear whether the efforts succeeded.

The ECB declined to comment on the alleged incident. One person familiar with the matter said there was no sign that any ECB account had been breached.

Mr Renzi, who resigned as Italy’s prime minister in December after losing a referendum, was allegedly targeted last June on his personal email account. Mr Monti was targeted on his Italian senate account and his account at the Bocconi University in Milan on four occasions between May and June last year.

According to Italian authorities, the alleged hacking operation by Mr and Ms Occhionero began about six years ago. The inquiry was conducted jointly with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, because sensitive data the pair are said to have acquired was stored on servers in the US.

Italian prosecutors said the hacking was conducted by sending malware, or malicious software, to targeted email addresses. They said the investigation began after a top executive at Enav, Italy’s air traffic control company, received a suspicious email from an unknown law firm.

Mr and Ms Occhionero are normally UK residents but were currently living in Rome, Italian prosecutors said.

A lawyer for Mr Occhionero, who will be questioned by a judge on Wednesday, said his client denied any illegal activity and had servers in the US because he had business there. A lawyer for Ms Occhionero could not be reached.

Other alleged victims of the ring included Fabrizio Saccomanni, the former Italian finance minister; Piero Fassino, the former centre-left mayor of Turin; Paolo Bonaiuti, a former spokesman for Silvio Berlusconi; and Gianfranco Ravasi, a cardinal in the Catholic Church.

Italian police said that Mr and Ms Occhionero were well known in the closely-knit financial circles of the Italian capital. Both had roles at Westlands Securities, a private investment banking firm founded in 1998.

(ZH) Clooney Says The U.S. Got "A Little Unlucky" With President-Elect Trump

Clooney Says The U.S. Got "A Little Unlucky" With President-Elect Trump

George Clooney, apparently still upset that the millions of dollars he raised for Hillary Clinton's campaign was a complete and utter waste, told a group of reporters in London that the U.S. got "a little unlucky" with the election of Donald Trump and we're just going to have to "hope that he can do a decent job." Per The Hill:


“When we first needed a president, we had George Washington,” Clooney said, according to the Associated Press. “We had Jefferson, Adams.”

“When we had the Civil War, we had Lincoln,” Clooney, 55, continued.

“I think we’re going to be a little unlucky now,” Clooney — who hosted some big-ticket fundraisers for then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the 2016 White House race — said of Trump. “I can only hope for the best,” the actor added.

“We have to hope that [Trump] can do a decent job, because when the president of the United States fails, really terrible things happen,” Clooney remarked Monday during a reception for his upcoming feature film documentary about Syrian rescue workers, “The White Helmets.”
If only we could have all been "lucky enough" to have been blessed with Hillary Clinton perhaps we wouldn't have to be tortured by the daily comments from Hollywood's elites who somehow, despite living a life completely detached from reality, have convinced themselves that they know what's best for everyday Americans.
Of course, as a quick reminder, Clooney, proving just how detached from reality he is, is the one who declared back in May, along with many other Hollywood elites, that "There's not going to be a President Donald Trump. That's not going to happen."


Clooney had declared last May at a press conference, "There's not going to be a President Donald Trump. That's not going to happen."

"It's not going to happen because... fear is not going to be something that drives our country," Clooney said at the time. "We're not going to be scared of Muslims, or immigrants, or women. We're not actually afraid of anything."