Dow lost 157 (close to the lows), advancers slightly ahead of decliners & NAZ rose 27. The MLP index jumped up 4+ to the 265s. Junk bond funds were lower & Treasuries crawled higher. Oil remained in the 61s & gold was flattish at 1323.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.5265894873461185)
The EU told Pres Trump it won't be cowed by his escalating protectionist rhetoric & talk of punitive tariffs. “Europe is prepared,” Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said as he headed into a meeting with his counterparts from the rest of the euro area. “We are not afraid, we will stand up to the bullies,” Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said earlier. Trump returned to the offensive over the weekend, raising the prospect of higher levies on European cars & telling supporters at a rally that the countries of the EU have banded together “to screw the U.S. on trade.” The latest brinkmanship follows new tariffs on steel & aluminum imports that are straining a transatlantic relationship already tested by disputes from climate change to Middle East policy. “Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will be speaking with representatives of the European Union about eliminating the large Tariffs and Barriers they use against the U.S.A.,” Trump tweeted. “Not fair to our farmers and manufacturers.” Trump’s rhetoric drew unanimous condemnation from European finance ministers gathering in Brussels. France's Bruno Le Maire said that he’s concerned about “a trade war between the EU and the U.S.” while his Spanish counterpart Roman Escolano, making his debut as minister, said protectionism is always a mistake. Malmstrom accused the Trump administration of using trade “to threaten and intimidate” Europeans & using the issue as a “scapegoat.” A meeting between Malmstrom & her US counterpart Robert Lighthizer on Sat ended without a breakthrough, as the EU didn't receive assurances that it will be exempted from the metal tariffs. “If anyone starts throwing stones, it’s better first to make sure he’s not living in a glass house,” the European Commission spokesman said. The bloc says that it's a close ally of the US & therefore any import levies on national security grounds are unjustified. While no further bilateral meetings are planned at the moment, contacts are ongoing as the EU is racing against time to secure an exemption before the aluminum & steel tariffs are enacted in less than 2 weeks.
Trump Pushes EU to Cut Tariffs While Bloc Vows to Resist ‘Bullies’
China's steel mills, a target of Trump's ire, are their industry's 800-pound gorilla: They supply ½ of world output, so every move they make has a global impact. The steel industry swelled over the past decade to support a history-making Chinese construction boom. Once that tailed off, the country was left with a glut of half-idle, money-losing mills. Beijing has closed mills & eliminated 1M jobs but is moving too gradually to defuse American & European anger at a flood of low-cost exports that is double the volume of second-place Japan. Trump responded last week with a blanket tariff hike on steel & aluminum, another metal China's trading partners complain it oversupplies. Chinese authorities say they shut down 30M tons of steel production capacity last year. That cut alone is equal in size to the annual output of the #9 producer, Brazil, but only a sliver of China's 800M tons. Beijing's goal is to make its industry more efficient & profitable, not just smaller. So while some mills close, bigger rivals step up production & could become even more formidable global competitors. Total steel production rose 5.7% last year over 2016 to a record 831M tons, according to the Chinese Cabinet's planning agency, the National Reform & Development Commission. That was on top of a 1.2% increase in 2016 & more than 7 times Japan's output. The industry is forecasting another 1% rise this year.
Shale crude-oil production from 7 major US oil plays is expected to see a climb of 131K barrels a day in Apr to 6.954M barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration. Oil output from the Permian Basin, which covers parts of western Texas & southeastern New Mexico, is expected to see the largest climb among the big shale plays, with an increase of 80K barrels a day. Apr West Texas Intermediate oil was down 80¢, 1.3%, to $61.80 a barrel.
Good times in the stock market are taking a pause once again. Trade war problems have not gone away & will continue to shake up the stock market for some time. Tech stocks in the NAZ are less affected & NAZ was been able to climb to a new record. But the Dow has been stuck in the mud for weeks (shown below), up only 450 (2%) YTD.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
The EU told Pres Trump it won't be cowed by his escalating protectionist rhetoric & talk of punitive tariffs. “Europe is prepared,” Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said as he headed into a meeting with his counterparts from the rest of the euro area. “We are not afraid, we will stand up to the bullies,” Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said earlier. Trump returned to the offensive over the weekend, raising the prospect of higher levies on European cars & telling supporters at a rally that the countries of the EU have banded together “to screw the U.S. on trade.” The latest brinkmanship follows new tariffs on steel & aluminum imports that are straining a transatlantic relationship already tested by disputes from climate change to Middle East policy. “Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will be speaking with representatives of the European Union about eliminating the large Tariffs and Barriers they use against the U.S.A.,” Trump tweeted. “Not fair to our farmers and manufacturers.” Trump’s rhetoric drew unanimous condemnation from European finance ministers gathering in Brussels. France's Bruno Le Maire said that he’s concerned about “a trade war between the EU and the U.S.” while his Spanish counterpart Roman Escolano, making his debut as minister, said protectionism is always a mistake. Malmstrom accused the Trump administration of using trade “to threaten and intimidate” Europeans & using the issue as a “scapegoat.” A meeting between Malmstrom & her US counterpart Robert Lighthizer on Sat ended without a breakthrough, as the EU didn't receive assurances that it will be exempted from the metal tariffs. “If anyone starts throwing stones, it’s better first to make sure he’s not living in a glass house,” the European Commission spokesman said. The bloc says that it's a close ally of the US & therefore any import levies on national security grounds are unjustified. While no further bilateral meetings are planned at the moment, contacts are ongoing as the EU is racing against time to secure an exemption before the aluminum & steel tariffs are enacted in less than 2 weeks.
Trump Pushes EU to Cut Tariffs While Bloc Vows to Resist ‘Bullies’
The federal gov recorded a budget deficit of $215.2B in
Feb, up significantly from a year ago as the impact of the GOP tax
cuts passed in Dec begin to surface. The Treasury Dept reports that the Feb
deficit was 12.1% higher than a year ago, reflecting in part a
drop of $5B in individual withholding taxes paid last month
compared to a year ago. In Feb, employers started using tax tables
that withheld less from paychecks based on the new law. For
the 5 five months of this budget year, the deficit totals $391B, an increase of 11.5% from the same period a year ago.
Pres Trump's new budget projects this year's deficit will
hit $873B, up sharply from last year.
US budget deficit jumped to $215.2 billion in February
China's steel mills, a target of Trump's ire, are their industry's 800-pound gorilla: They supply ½ of world output, so every move they make has a global impact. The steel industry swelled over the past decade to support a history-making Chinese construction boom. Once that tailed off, the country was left with a glut of half-idle, money-losing mills. Beijing has closed mills & eliminated 1M jobs but is moving too gradually to defuse American & European anger at a flood of low-cost exports that is double the volume of second-place Japan. Trump responded last week with a blanket tariff hike on steel & aluminum, another metal China's trading partners complain it oversupplies. Chinese authorities say they shut down 30M tons of steel production capacity last year. That cut alone is equal in size to the annual output of the #9 producer, Brazil, but only a sliver of China's 800M tons. Beijing's goal is to make its industry more efficient & profitable, not just smaller. So while some mills close, bigger rivals step up production & could become even more formidable global competitors. Total steel production rose 5.7% last year over 2016 to a record 831M tons, according to the Chinese Cabinet's planning agency, the National Reform & Development Commission. That was on top of a 1.2% increase in 2016 & more than 7 times Japan's output. The industry is forecasting another 1% rise this year.
China shrinks steel industry slowly, drawing Western ire
Shale crude-oil production from 7 major US oil plays is expected to see a climb of 131K barrels a day in Apr to 6.954M barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration. Oil output from the Permian Basin, which covers parts of western Texas & southeastern New Mexico, is expected to see the largest climb among the big shale plays, with an increase of 80K barrels a day. Apr West Texas Intermediate oil was down 80¢, 1.3%, to $61.80 a barrel.
U.S. shale oil output forecast to climb by 131,000 barrels a day in April: EIA
Good times in the stock market are taking a pause once again. Trade war problems have not gone away & will continue to shake up the stock market for some time. Tech stocks in the NAZ are less affected & NAZ was been able to climb to a new record. But the Dow has been stuck in the mud for weeks (shown below), up only 450 (2%) YTD.
Dow Jones Industrials
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