Fri, 10 January 2020
President Trump did the unthinkable, he terminated General Soleimani with extreme prejudice. Our view is good riddance. The late General was a terroristic homicidal maniac with a thirst for blood. While it's very easy to fall for the moral equivalency trap, his elimination was removal of a blight on humanity. There are rules of war which the United States has routinely violated, no doubt. Wars have been fought under very specious grounds that have resulted in mass casualties. However, to our knowledge, our generals have not eliminated thousands of potential domestic adversaries or engaged in heinous civilian attacks that have no military purpose, other than to instill terror among civilians. In short, even a guilty criminal can commit acts of justifiable homicide, of which this was surely one. While the world might not be a better place for the General's passing, it surely is not a worse place either. |
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Fri, 10 January 2020
Stocks are roaring to begin 2020. All three of the major averages are off to a strong start to the new year, trading higher by at least 0.5 percent, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 reaching fresh highs. The early gains come on the heels of the People's Bank of China saying it would cut its reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, lowering the amount of money banks are required to keep on hand. The benchmark S&P gained 28.9 percent last year while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite rallied 35.2 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively.
Elsewhere, Boeing gained despite Reuters reporting rival Airbus delivered a record 863 aircraft in 2019, making it the top planemaker for the year. Ford was little changed after receiving a downgrade at Evercore. The firm cut its rating on the automaker to "underperform," citing its high valuation.
Looking at deals, Anixter International accepted a $93.50 a share in cash offer from Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC. The deal, which values Anixter at about $4.3 billion, comes after Wesco last month offered $93.50 a share in cash and stock.
On the commodities front, gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,530 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude oil was higher by 0.2 percent at $61.16 a barrel. U.S. Treasurys gained slightly, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down almost 2 basis points to 1.89 percent. In Europe, France's CAC 40 rose 1.3 percent while Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE both added 1 percent. Overnight, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.1 percent and China's Shanghai Composite |
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