Dow lost 9, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ rose 41. The MLP index lost 1+ to the 259s. Junk bond funds gained & Treasuries were little changed. Oil traded in the 62s & gold shot up 16 up to 1335.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.7812269458559794)
Treasury Sec Steve Mnuchin tried to tamp down fears of a global trade war as Rep lawmakers & some of Pres Trump's own advisers mounted a last-ditch campaign to stop steep tariffs on steel & aluminum announced last week. “We are not looking to get into trade wars,” Mnuchin said during a congressional committee hearing when asked about the tariffs, adding that he is “supportive” of imposing the duties. One of Trump's closest Senate allies, David Perdue, suggested the pres may be open to changes on the tariff, sending stocks rising with the S&P 500 up 0.3%. The Georgia senator said he met with White House chief of staff John Kelly & spoke personally with Trump, urging him to limit the tariffs by targeting them against specific countries & categories of steel & aluminum. White House economic adviser Gary Cohn is summoning execs from US companies that depend on the metals to meet this week with Trump to make the case that the tariffs will cost more jobs than they save & damage the economy. Trump has told advisers he believes Cohn will leave the administration if he imposes the tariffs. Reps in Congress are making an unusual public campaign to thwart the tariffs of 25% on imported steel & 10% on aluminum. House Speaker Paul Ryan urged the pres to “be more surgical” in penalizing trade abuses to prevent “any kind of unintended consequences or collateral damage.” The threat of retaliation & escalating tit-for-tat penalties damaging growth around the world is already rising. The EU warned it would respond with its own 25% tariff to hit $3.5B of US goods. The EU is targeting iconic US brands produced in key Rep constituencies on a range of consumer, agricultural & steel products that will be levied if Trump goes thru on his tariff threat, according to a list drawn up by the European Commission.
Mnuchin Tries to Douse Trade-War Fears Over Trump Tariff Threats
US crude production is poised to accelerate this year, reaching the highest annual average on record. The Energy Information Administration boosted its output forecasts for 2018 & 2019, & said that production would top 11M barrels a day in Oct, a month ahead of prior estimates. The forecast comes as US shale producers met with OPEC officials for a dinner on the sidelines of the CERAWeek in Houston last night. OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said that he wasn't worried about US production growth because "demand is very robust, very strong." Yet overall US output this year will average 10.7M barrels a day, breaking the 1970 record of 9.6M barrels a day. That's after production jumped to a record high of 10.057M barrels a day in Nov. Next year, average output will climb to 11.27M, up from a prior forecast of 11.18M. That puts the US on track to eclipse the likes of Saudi Arabia & Russia as the world's largest producer. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser downplayed the impact of US output during a speech in Houston. The future role of oil is "widely misunderstood," Nasser said, emphasizing that oil demand globally remains healthy. Nevertheless, the US stands to dominate global oil markets for years to come, satisfying 80% of global demand growth to 2020, the International Energy Agency said. And the US is set to become part of the top 5 global crude exporters. West Texas Intermediate crude has averaged above $62 a barrel so far this year, encouraging a ramp-up in drilling, while the oil rig count has climbed for 6 straight weeks to the highest level since 2015. The EIA increased its estimates for global production this year, while lowering demand. Output is seen at 100.62M barrels a day, up from 100.43M previously, with demand at 100.2M, compared with 100.23M.
U.S. Oil Output Set to Average 10.7 Million Barrels a Day in 2018, Highest on Record
China's gov asked for a hold on a US request for UN sanctions against ships accused of helping North Korea evade sanctions imposed over its weapons programs while it looks into who would be affected. Beijing needs time to investigate because the request to ban violators from global ports & blacklist trading companies covers a "large number of ships and entities," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. DC requested the sanctions following reports foreign traders are helping North Korea violate limits on oil imports & other trade imposed in an effort to pressure leader Kim Jong Un to stop nuclear & missile development. China was long North Korea's diplomatic protector & accounts for most of its trade but has supported the latest sanctions out of frustration with Pyongyang's weapons development. Beijing has argued against measures that might destabilize Kim's gov. "It takes some time for us to look into the matter together with other agencies," said Geng. "We put a hold on the relevant proposal for a technical reason," he added. "We will make our decision in light of the Security Council resolutions' requirements and on the basis of the fact." US & Japanese authorities say they have photographer traders transferring oil at sea to North Korean vessels in violation of the sanctions. South Korean authorities have seized 2 vessels suspected of moving oil to the North. Taiwanese authorities are investigating a businessman suspected of arranging oil sales. Australian authorities have arrested a man accused of trying to broker sales of goods including components for ballistic missiles to North Korea.
McDonald's (MCD), a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, announced it's serving fresh beef in all Quarter Pounders & other Signature Crafted Recipe burgers at 3500 restaurants in select markets, with other locations expected to roll out the new changes at US locations by early May. It said the fresh beef quarter-pound burgers, which were announced last Mar, are now available in the Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh & Salt Lake City markets. MCD will add the fresh burgers to Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle & other areas over the course of the next month. “The switch to fresh beef quarter-pound burgers is the most significant change to our system and restaurant operations since All Day Breakfast,” MCD USA Pres Chris Kempczinski said. The move comes as the company aims to keep up with its competitors in the fast food market, which has prided itself on using fresh beef since its inception in 1969. Kitchen crews & suppliers will need to change their operations, & franchisees were concerned about how the transition to made-to-order burgers would impact service time. “Our suppliers have invested about $60 million updating their supply chain to be able to make this conversion from frozen to fresh,” Kempczinski said & added that “If it slows down the drive-through, that’s the critical part of our business. And so we just had to spend a lot of time really making sure that as we were cooking only when someone ordered, we’d figured out a way to do it that wasn’t going to slow down service time.” MCD also added a premium sandwich to its menu called the Garlic White Cheddar, which is made with a quarter-pound burger or chicken & includes creamy garlic aioli, crispy garlic chips & white cheddar cheese. Other signature crafted sandwiches are expected to debut later this year, the company said. The stock crawled up pennies.
If you would like to learn more about MCD, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/MCD?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
The stock market is marking time, awaiting developments on the tariff front. The tariff situation is stuck in the mud & there is no sign when it will end. Uncertainty around North Korea is not helping matters. The Dow has been reduced to drifting sideways around 25K after months, even years, of rallying (shown below). YTD the Dow is up 100+ & has had to fight for that advance.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury Sec Steve Mnuchin tried to tamp down fears of a global trade war as Rep lawmakers & some of Pres Trump's own advisers mounted a last-ditch campaign to stop steep tariffs on steel & aluminum announced last week. “We are not looking to get into trade wars,” Mnuchin said during a congressional committee hearing when asked about the tariffs, adding that he is “supportive” of imposing the duties. One of Trump's closest Senate allies, David Perdue, suggested the pres may be open to changes on the tariff, sending stocks rising with the S&P 500 up 0.3%. The Georgia senator said he met with White House chief of staff John Kelly & spoke personally with Trump, urging him to limit the tariffs by targeting them against specific countries & categories of steel & aluminum. White House economic adviser Gary Cohn is summoning execs from US companies that depend on the metals to meet this week with Trump to make the case that the tariffs will cost more jobs than they save & damage the economy. Trump has told advisers he believes Cohn will leave the administration if he imposes the tariffs. Reps in Congress are making an unusual public campaign to thwart the tariffs of 25% on imported steel & 10% on aluminum. House Speaker Paul Ryan urged the pres to “be more surgical” in penalizing trade abuses to prevent “any kind of unintended consequences or collateral damage.” The threat of retaliation & escalating tit-for-tat penalties damaging growth around the world is already rising. The EU warned it would respond with its own 25% tariff to hit $3.5B of US goods. The EU is targeting iconic US brands produced in key Rep constituencies on a range of consumer, agricultural & steel products that will be levied if Trump goes thru on his tariff threat, according to a list drawn up by the European Commission.
Mnuchin Tries to Douse Trade-War Fears Over Trump Tariff Threats
US crude production is poised to accelerate this year, reaching the highest annual average on record. The Energy Information Administration boosted its output forecasts for 2018 & 2019, & said that production would top 11M barrels a day in Oct, a month ahead of prior estimates. The forecast comes as US shale producers met with OPEC officials for a dinner on the sidelines of the CERAWeek in Houston last night. OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said that he wasn't worried about US production growth because "demand is very robust, very strong." Yet overall US output this year will average 10.7M barrels a day, breaking the 1970 record of 9.6M barrels a day. That's after production jumped to a record high of 10.057M barrels a day in Nov. Next year, average output will climb to 11.27M, up from a prior forecast of 11.18M. That puts the US on track to eclipse the likes of Saudi Arabia & Russia as the world's largest producer. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser downplayed the impact of US output during a speech in Houston. The future role of oil is "widely misunderstood," Nasser said, emphasizing that oil demand globally remains healthy. Nevertheless, the US stands to dominate global oil markets for years to come, satisfying 80% of global demand growth to 2020, the International Energy Agency said. And the US is set to become part of the top 5 global crude exporters. West Texas Intermediate crude has averaged above $62 a barrel so far this year, encouraging a ramp-up in drilling, while the oil rig count has climbed for 6 straight weeks to the highest level since 2015. The EIA increased its estimates for global production this year, while lowering demand. Output is seen at 100.62M barrels a day, up from 100.43M previously, with demand at 100.2M, compared with 100.23M.
U.S. Oil Output Set to Average 10.7 Million Barrels a Day in 2018, Highest on Record
The chairman of the European Parliament's
intl trade committee says the EU should target American goods
that will "really hurt" the US if Pres Trump goes
ahead with threats to raise tariffs on foreign-made steel or cars. Bernd
Lange says the EU doesn't have to match US tariffs cent
for cent, but should carefully aim at American exports such as soya
bean, sweetcorn & corn. Lange told public broadcaster rbb-Inforadio that the Europeans should take "measures that really hit home." He expressed hope that "reasonable" voices in the US would prevent Trump from imposing the tariffs.
EU lawmaker says any counter-tariffs should 'really hurt' US
China's gov asked for a hold on a US request for UN sanctions against ships accused of helping North Korea evade sanctions imposed over its weapons programs while it looks into who would be affected. Beijing needs time to investigate because the request to ban violators from global ports & blacklist trading companies covers a "large number of ships and entities," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. DC requested the sanctions following reports foreign traders are helping North Korea violate limits on oil imports & other trade imposed in an effort to pressure leader Kim Jong Un to stop nuclear & missile development. China was long North Korea's diplomatic protector & accounts for most of its trade but has supported the latest sanctions out of frustration with Pyongyang's weapons development. Beijing has argued against measures that might destabilize Kim's gov. "It takes some time for us to look into the matter together with other agencies," said Geng. "We put a hold on the relevant proposal for a technical reason," he added. "We will make our decision in light of the Security Council resolutions' requirements and on the basis of the fact." US & Japanese authorities say they have photographer traders transferring oil at sea to North Korean vessels in violation of the sanctions. South Korean authorities have seized 2 vessels suspected of moving oil to the North. Taiwanese authorities are investigating a businessman suspected of arranging oil sales. Australian authorities have arrested a man accused of trying to broker sales of goods including components for ballistic missiles to North Korea.
China asks for hold on UN ban of North Korea traders
McDonald's (MCD), a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, announced it's serving fresh beef in all Quarter Pounders & other Signature Crafted Recipe burgers at 3500 restaurants in select markets, with other locations expected to roll out the new changes at US locations by early May. It said the fresh beef quarter-pound burgers, which were announced last Mar, are now available in the Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh & Salt Lake City markets. MCD will add the fresh burgers to Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle & other areas over the course of the next month. “The switch to fresh beef quarter-pound burgers is the most significant change to our system and restaurant operations since All Day Breakfast,” MCD USA Pres Chris Kempczinski said. The move comes as the company aims to keep up with its competitors in the fast food market, which has prided itself on using fresh beef since its inception in 1969. Kitchen crews & suppliers will need to change their operations, & franchisees were concerned about how the transition to made-to-order burgers would impact service time. “Our suppliers have invested about $60 million updating their supply chain to be able to make this conversion from frozen to fresh,” Kempczinski said & added that “If it slows down the drive-through, that’s the critical part of our business. And so we just had to spend a lot of time really making sure that as we were cooking only when someone ordered, we’d figured out a way to do it that wasn’t going to slow down service time.” MCD also added a premium sandwich to its menu called the Garlic White Cheddar, which is made with a quarter-pound burger or chicken & includes creamy garlic aioli, crispy garlic chips & white cheddar cheese. Other signature crafted sandwiches are expected to debut later this year, the company said. The stock crawled up pennies.
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/MCD?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
McDonald’s changes burgers, rolls out fresh beef patties
The stock market is marking time, awaiting developments on the tariff front. The tariff situation is stuck in the mud & there is no sign when it will end. Uncertainty around North Korea is not helping matters. The Dow has been reduced to drifting sideways around 25K after months, even years, of rallying (shown below). YTD the Dow is up 100+ & has had to fight for that advance.
Dow Jones Industrials
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