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Friday, 10/20/2017 7:46:11 AM

Friday, October 20, 2017 7:46:11 AM

Post# of 187100
Wall Street Breakfast - Oct. 20, 2017

Tax Reform Steps Move Dollar, Treasuries


Senate Republicans approved a $4T budget measure late Thursday, clearing a critical hurdle toward their goal of passing tax reform this year. The resolution, split mostly on party lines, was crafted through a technical amendment of reconciliation, which enables the GOP to pass a tax bill with a simple 51-vote majority in the Senate. U.S. Dollar Index +0.4% to 93.39; 10-year Treasury yield +4 bps to 2.36%.

Economy

U.S. fund investors regained an appetite for risk over the last week, rushing into American and emerging market equities, as the Dow breached 23,000. Stock mutual funds and ETFs overall attracted $5.4B in the week ended Oct. 18, while emerging markets pulled in $2.3B, the most cash since March, according to Thomson Reuters' Lipper research unit.

The Mexican Auto Industry Association has rejected U.S. proposals to increase North American content for autos produced in the region and require, under a new NAFTA deal, that half of all content come from the U.S. "Our position is to not touch the rules of origin that have allowed this sector to be successful in the three countries," AMIA President Eduardo Solis told an event in Mexico City.

Theresa May implored European leaders on Thursday about a "clear and urgent" need to move Brexit talks to the next phase, saying both sides needed an "outcome that we can stand behind and defend to our people." Her promise to honor the U.K's financial commitments amounts to about €20B, but EU negotiators believe Britain's liabilities are at least €60B.

North Korea is likely just "months away" from being capable of striking the U.S. with a nuclear missile, CIA Director Mike Pompeo warned at a forum in Washington, stating that he's "deeply worried." "Accept and deter is unacceptable," National Security Adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster said at the same event. "We're not out of time but we're running out of time."

Venezuela's government has banned opposition governors from taking office in five states, replacing them with ruling party substitutes. It comes after the opposition released evidence it said proved fraud in Sunday's elections in Bolivar state, a crucial industrial region. The move effectively deprives the opposition of most of its remaining elected offices in the country.

Fed Governor Jerome Powell is the leading candidate to become the chair of the U.S. central bank after President Trump concluded a series of meetings with five finalists Thursday, three administration sources told Politico. Powell has been heavily favored by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is leading the search for Fed chair, and is seen as a safe bet who would not veer much from current Fed policy.

Meanwhile, Janet Yellen will speak tonight on "Monetary Policy Since the Financial Crisis" at the NEC Herbert Stein Memorial Lecture and Annual Dinner. The lecture includes an audience Q&A. It comes as the Fed continues its broad debate about inflation, and any comments along those lines could shape expectations for a December rate hike.

Stocks

Wal-Mart is near a deal to add Lord & Taylor to its website, part of a broader effort by the retail giant to build an online shopping destination that can compete with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), WSJ reports. Additional brands that eventually could be included in the project include Bonobos and Jet.com, both of which are owned by Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), as well as traditional chains.

Delay of game? Sprint (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) may postpone an announcement of their planned all-stock merger until several weeks after they release quarterly earnings at the end of October, Bloomberg reports. Announcing a deal this year would give U.S. regulators more time to settle into their roles as decision makers on what will be a controversial consolidation.

Celgene has pulled the plug on two studies evaluating GED-0301 (mongersen) for the treatment of Crohn's disease based on the recommendation from the independent Data Monitoring Committee. After reviewing interim data, the DMC determined that the treatment benefit did not sufficiently outweigh the risk. Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) shares fell nearly 7% after hours on the news.

Singapore Airlines will finalize an order for 39 Boeing (NYSE:BA) aircraft worth $13.8B next week when Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visits Washington, D.C. The deal is viewed as a major blow to Airbus (OTCPK:EADSY), which has lagged Boeing in net orders in the first nine months of the year, with 271 at the end of September vs. 498 for its U.S. rival.

Nissan is suspending all domestic production for two weeks to address misconduct in its final inspection procedures, roiling Japan's second-biggest automaker. The scandal, which was first revealed last month and could have been going for at least two decades, led to a recall of all 1.2M Nissan (OTCPK:NSANY) cars sold in Japan over the past three years.

General Motors has agreed to pay $120M to resolve a state attorneys general probe of its mishandling of an ignition switch defect, settling consumer protection investigations with 49 states and Washington, D.C. GM's faulty switch, which can suddenly cut power in millions of older cars - disabling safety features including air bags - has been linked to 124 deaths.

Axon Enterprise -8.6% premarket after the SEC said it was reviewing the financial filings of the stun gun manufacturer, requesting detailed information on the company's returns. Axon (NASDAQ:AAXN), which changed its name in April from Taser International, said it "intends to respond to the SEC within the next seven days."

The Coalition for the American Dream intends to ask Congress to pass bipartisan legislation this year that would allow "Dreamers" to continue working in the U.S. following President Trump's decision to allow the DACA program to expire in March. Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), UBER, IBM and other top U.S. companies are listed as members.

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