Option Millionaires

[uranium-pinto-beans]

The stock market will crash one day, but at the moment it's just making the doom merchants look foolish.
"It seems like every day, there's a negative headline saying what's wrong with the market, but by the time the closing bell rings, stocks finish in the green," say Bespoke Investment Group's analysts, as they reflect (https://www.bespokepremium.com/think-big-blog/six-for-six/) on the S&P 500's six-day winning streak.
Investors keep chattering about the champs and chumps in the new world order, dubbing many of them "Trump trades." Add Texas to your list of winners, according to our call of the day, which comes from South Texas Money Management's Jim Kee .
Clients have been asking him about the economic impact on the Lone Star State from the construction of President Trump's proposed border wall, he says in his latest " Kee Points " note.
The impact of building the border wall will be similar to that of any large public works project, says the San Antonio -based company (https://whalewisdom.com/filer/south-texas-money-management-ltd)'s chief economist. That means it benefits the region where the construction takes place, but costs others.
"So I look at it as a zero-sum affair, in which Texas gains what the other 49 states lose in payments," he writes. "Economic benefits would likely be highest for border towns and materials/engineering firms in Texas in general, and south Texas in particular."
He doesn't name any particular firms (and the Texas ETF (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/state-specific-etfs-dont-belong-on-the-map-2009-12-11) is no longer with us), but among the former republic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Texas)'s materials companies are U.S. Concrete (USCR) , bricks and pipes maker Forterra (FRTA) and Eagle Materials (EXP) .
Kee says he's over-simplifying, as there are other negatives such as lower cross-border trade, and other positives like "more property rights security."
If you can't stand this assessment, you can take comfort in Texas possibly seeing only a fleeting payoff.
"Like most public spending projects, I think the impact will be positive but transient," Kee says.
Read more:Company best positioned to benefit from a "Trump Wall" is Mexican (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/company-best-positioned-to-benefit-from-a-trump-wall-is-mexican-2016-07-15)
And see:Trump's stock-market rally is annihilating bears (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trumps-phenomenal-stock-market-rally-is-annihilating-bears-2017-02-13)
Key market gauges
Futures for the Dow , S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 are little changed, after the Dow , S&P and Nasdaq Composite yet again rose to all-time closing highs yesterday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-rally-takes-a-breather-as-investors-wait-to-hear-from-feds-yellen-2017-02-14).
See the Market Snapshot column (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-point-to-pause-for-record-setting-rally-yellen-data-on-tap-2017-02-15) for the latest action.
The chart
Do you remember the good ol' days, when the Dow was under 20,000?
Wait -- that was less than two weeks ago. You can see that in the above chart, which shows the blue-chip barometer's jump over the 20,500 mark.
"It is almost impossible to find a negative comment about U.S. equity indices," writes Steven Jon Kaplan from the True Contrarian (http://truecontrarian-sjk.blogspot.co.uk/) blog/newsletter. Kaplan says he is selling at a rate that he last reached in 2007 and 2008.
The stat
Watch out today for references to the dot-com bubble and "partying like it's 1999."
That's because the Nasdaq Composite has closed at a record for six straight sessions, its longest such streak since a seven-session stretch ended Dec. 27, 1999 , according to Dow Jones data.
The buzz
Fossil (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fossil-shares-tumble-after-disappointing-earnings-2017-02-14)(FOSL) is diving 18% after posting earnings late yesterday, and Express Scripts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/express-scripts-revenue-falls-unexpectedly-2017-02-14)(ESRX) also looks set for a down day following its report.
Pepsi (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pepsi-beats-profit-expectations-boosted-by-beverage-sales-2017-02-15)(PEP) and Hilton (HLT) are among the companies that reported before the open.
13F filings have hit, showing how big names are investing. Warren Buffett's Berkshire (BRKA) loaded up on (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warren-buffetts-big-bet-on-apple-may-have-made-him-11-billion-in-just-six-weeks-2017-02-14) Apple (AAPL) and sold Wal-Mart (WMT) , while David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital also revealed a hankering (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/einhorn-buys-syngenta-voya-apple-dumps-michael-kors-in-4th-quarter-2017-02-14) for the iPhone maker's stock. Goldman Sachs (GS) was among the George Soros buys (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/george-soros-picks-up-goldman-sachs-dumps-nvidia-2017-02-14), and David Tepper's Appaloosa Management snapped up (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/appaloosa-management-snaps-up-allergan-shares-in-4th-quarter-2017-02-14) Allergan (AGN) .
Some of today's President Trump-related news: His campaign team reportedly had ongoing contact (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-team-in-contact-with-russian-intelligence-before-election-report-2017-02-14) with Russian intelligence officials, as former campaign chairman Paul Manafort said it's not like Russian spies "wear badges." (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trumps-ex-aide-manafort-its-not-like-russian-spies-wear-badges-2017-02-15)
The front-runner (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/former-mattis-aide-bob-harward-said-to-be-frontrunner-to-replace-mike-flynn-2017-02-14) to succeed Michael Flynn as national security adviser is one of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's most-trusted colleagues, and U.S. retail execs (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-retail-ceos-exclusive-idUSKBN15T2OO)(XRT) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (https://www.wsj.com/articles/israels-benjamin-netanyahu-prepares-for-high-stakes-talks-with-trump-1487064421) are due to visit the White House today.
(http://projects.marketwatch.com/2017/trump-today-signup/)
The economy
You want data? You got it today, with reports due before the open on inflation, retail sales, the Empire State survey and industrial production. Once trading is underway, watch for releases on the housing market, business inventories and U.S. petroleum supplies.
We'll also get Janet Yellen's second day of testimony to lawmakers, after the Fed chief yesterday said "every meeting is live (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yellen-says-interest-rate-hikes-can-be-gradual-2017-02-14),"; when asked if an interest-rate hike was coming next month.
Check out:
The quote
"Mr. Ramirez unequivocally denies being in a gang. While in custody, he was repeatedly pressured by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to falsely admit affiliation." -- Mark Rosenbaum , one of Daniel Ramirez Medina's lawyers, fires back (http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/14/politics/daniel-ramirez-medina-daca-detention/index.html) after the 23-year-old Mexican man's arrest in Washington state .
His arrest could mark the first time under President Trump that a "dreamer" covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, has been taken into immigration custody, according to Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-arrest-exclusiv-idUSKBN15T307).
Random reads
Good times for banks? Maybe not. Lloyd's bans daytime drinking (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/lloyds-of-london-brings-in-strict-95-booze-ban-for-employees-a3466171.html).
Harrison Ford to air traffic control (http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/harrison-ford-airplane-incident-federal-aviation-administration-1201988435/): "Was that airliner meant to be underneath me?"
A German shepherd named "Rumor" (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rumor-german-shepherd-wins-best-show-westminster-n721041) won best in show.
One woman detained (http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/15/myanmar-woman-detained-in-probe-into-death-of-half-brother-of-nkorea-leader-report.html) in assassination of North Korean leader's half-brother.
"That's Cub" has a new meaning (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/b96fd304525c4269bfb0988f10c408fc/championship-drought-over-thats-cub-has-new-meaning). And "don't forget the heartbeat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-chicago-cubs-are-mortal-and-manager-joe-maddon-wants-his-players-to-remember-that-2017-02-14).";
Dan Rather says the Trump-Russia stuff may be worse than Watergate (http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dan-rather-watergate-is-the-biggest-political-scandal-of-my-lifetime-until-maybe-now/article/2614824):
(https://twitter.com/steenfox/status/831637854593822721)
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