Dow slid back 22, advancers a little ahead of decliners & NAZ fell 24. The MLP index was off 1+ to the 221s & the REIT index slid back to the 407s. Junk bond funds fluctuated & Treasuries were purchased today. Oil went up to the 53s & gold rose 10 to 1493 (more on both below).
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.2180338269244485)
The UAW announced a tentative agreement with General Motors (GM) to end the autoworkers strike that has lasted longer than a month. "The number one priority of the national negotiation team has been to secure a strong and fair contract that our members deserve,” Terry Dittes, VP of UAW's GM Dept, said. "Out of respect for our members, we will refrain from commenting on the details until the UAW GM leaders gather together and receive all details." "We can confirm the UAW’s statement regarding a proposed tentative agreement. Additional details will be provided at the appropriate time," GM said. Local union leaders will vote on the deal tomorrow & determine whether to end the strike. Then nearly 50K rank-&-file members will vote on the agreement. Usually, once a tentative agreement is reached, workers head back to the job since the ratification vote takes a couple of weeks. The strike is not technically over, but this is a positive sign. Both parties had been in negotiations stretching into nights & weekends. The union called for a strike starting Sep 15 after expressing discontent with GM's profit-sharing formula, production of vehicles in Mexico, a potential change in health care cost-sharing and pathways for temporary workers. Local UAW chapter leaders have been summoned to Detroit for a meeting tomorrow. The meeting was expected to center on a tentative agreement. Both GM's & UAW's headquarters are in Detroit. The strike cost GM $1.5B in lost profits & employees won't see more than $835B in direct wage losses. GM autoworkers have been holding out on $250 a week in strike pay. The UAW board voted on Sat to bump up workers' strike pay by $25 a week & allow them to take part-time jobs & still qualify for the benefit. The stock rose 39¢.
If you would like to learn more about GM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/GM?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
China threatened to retaliate with “strong countermeasures” against the US after House lawmakers passed several bills aimed at supporting the rights of Hong Kong protesters & condemning the Beijing gov's attempts to interfere with the pro-democracy movement. Today, the House unanimously approved the Hong Kong Human Rights & Democracy Act, which would require an annual review of whether the city is sufficiently autonomous from China & sanction officials who are “responsible for undermining fundamental freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong.” “If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, then we lose all moral authority to speak out on behalf of human rights any place in the world,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. The 3 bills now head to the Senate, though it:s unclear when the chamber might vote on the package. But the bills drew a swift rebuke from Beijing: Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said it demonstrated a "stark double standard" & warned the US to "stop meddling...before falling off the edge of the cliff." “If the relevant act were to become law, it wouldn’t only harm China’s interests and China-U.S. relations, but would also seriously damage U.S. interests,” Geng said. “China will definitely take strong countermeasures in response to the wrong decisions by the U.S. side to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.” Concerns about overt Chinese influence in Hong Kong have heightened in recent months, as protests -- which began this summer over a now-shelved extradition bill, but have since morphed into sweeping calls for reform -- have grown increasingly violent. Protests, now in their 19th straight week, descended into violence again today, with reports that the leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, the group responsible for some of the largest peaceful protests so far, was attacked for the 2nd time. Demosisto, a separate pro-democracy organization, tweeted that Jimmy Shamm was smashed over the head with hammers. It's unclear who attacked Sham. A police source told the South Morning China Post that he was bleeding from his head & arms when officers discovered him. An investigation is underway.
The US economy only expanded at a "slight to moderate" pace thru mid-Sep, as the US-china trade war continued to weigh on business activity, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book. Growth varied across all of the Fed’s 12 districts, with the Midwest & Great Plains generally more downbeat than states in the southern & western US, the Fed said in its region-by-region roundup of anecdotal information known as the Beige Book. Manufacturing continued to edge lower across the board, with some districts reporting that firms had started to layoff workers as a result of the trade war. However, manufacturing activity edged up in some regions as contacts tried to retain qualified employees. Agricultural activity also continued to deteriorate, affected by bad weather, weak commodity prices & trade disruptions. "Business contacts mostly expect the economic expansion to continue," the report said. "however, many lowered their outlooks for growth in the coming 6 to 12 months." What remains to be seen is whether weakness in business confidence will begin to affect consumer spending, which is responsible for a huge chunk of the country's GDP.
Gold prices ended higher as investors watched global political news surrounding trade & Brexit, & reacted to a weaker-than-expected reading of US retail sales, which spurred some haven buying. Moves for the precious metal came as worries on Brexit, Turkey, the Middle East, US politics & the global economic outlook, as well as on uncertainty tied to the continued tariff talks with China. Gold for Dec delivery rose $10.50 (0.7%) to settle at $1494 an ounce. It recouped much of the 0.9% decline seen yesterday, when prices for the most-active contract settled at their lowest since Sep 30. A report of the retail sales fell 0.3% last month, the gov said, ending a streak of 6 straight strong gains that helped to fuel economic growth in the middle of the year, as most stores posted lower receipts, signaling that a widely expected slowdown in consumer spending is under way. On the political front, China threatened to retaliate over a series of bills backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong that passed the House of Representatives. Investors also were watching Britain's attempt to exit from the EU, after the Irish broadcaster RTE reported that Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party was accepting the consent element of the revised Brexit agreement, seen as the last big obstacle to a deal.
Gold finishes higher after cooler-than-expected retail-sales report
Oil futures registered their first climb in 3 sessions, recouping much of the loss they suffered a day earlier, but worries over demand prospects remained, with prices holding onto a sizable week-to-date loss. West Texas Intermediate crude for Nov delivery added 55¢ (1%) to settle at $53.36 a barrel, following a 2-day skid for the US benchmark. It trades about 2.4% lower for the week so far. The global benchmark, Dec Brent crude added 68¢ (1.2%) at $59.42 a barrel, trading down 1.8% week to date. Concerns remain over the global economic outlook & the implications for oil demand after the IMF yesterday cut its forecast for global economic growth this year to 3%, the slowest pace since 2008. Weekly US petroleum supply data are delayed by a day this week because of the Mon Columbus Day federal holiday. The American Petroleum Institute will release its report later today. The EIA has reported weekly increases in crude stockpiles for 4 weeks in a row. The EIA data are expected to show crude inventories up by 4M barrels last week.
Oil logs first gain in 3 sessions, but worries over demand prospects persist
This turned out to be another uneventful day for stocks. So far earnings are encouraging but economic data is drab & the Chinia story is not going well. The Dow is hanging in near 27K, but it neeeds significant positive news to go higher to a new record (only 360 away). Meanwhile gold is being purchased.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
The UAW announced a tentative agreement with General Motors (GM) to end the autoworkers strike that has lasted longer than a month. "The number one priority of the national negotiation team has been to secure a strong and fair contract that our members deserve,” Terry Dittes, VP of UAW's GM Dept, said. "Out of respect for our members, we will refrain from commenting on the details until the UAW GM leaders gather together and receive all details." "We can confirm the UAW’s statement regarding a proposed tentative agreement. Additional details will be provided at the appropriate time," GM said. Local union leaders will vote on the deal tomorrow & determine whether to end the strike. Then nearly 50K rank-&-file members will vote on the agreement. Usually, once a tentative agreement is reached, workers head back to the job since the ratification vote takes a couple of weeks. The strike is not technically over, but this is a positive sign. Both parties had been in negotiations stretching into nights & weekends. The union called for a strike starting Sep 15 after expressing discontent with GM's profit-sharing formula, production of vehicles in Mexico, a potential change in health care cost-sharing and pathways for temporary workers. Local UAW chapter leaders have been summoned to Detroit for a meeting tomorrow. The meeting was expected to center on a tentative agreement. Both GM's & UAW's headquarters are in Detroit. The strike cost GM $1.5B in lost profits & employees won't see more than $835B in direct wage losses. GM autoworkers have been holding out on $250 a week in strike pay. The UAW board voted on Sat to bump up workers' strike pay by $25 a week & allow them to take part-time jobs & still qualify for the benefit. The stock rose 39¢.
If you would like to learn more about GM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/GM?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
GM and UAW reach tentative agreement — here's what that means
China threatened to retaliate with “strong countermeasures” against the US after House lawmakers passed several bills aimed at supporting the rights of Hong Kong protesters & condemning the Beijing gov's attempts to interfere with the pro-democracy movement. Today, the House unanimously approved the Hong Kong Human Rights & Democracy Act, which would require an annual review of whether the city is sufficiently autonomous from China & sanction officials who are “responsible for undermining fundamental freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong.” “If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of commercial interests, then we lose all moral authority to speak out on behalf of human rights any place in the world,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. The 3 bills now head to the Senate, though it:s unclear when the chamber might vote on the package. But the bills drew a swift rebuke from Beijing: Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said it demonstrated a "stark double standard" & warned the US to "stop meddling...before falling off the edge of the cliff." “If the relevant act were to become law, it wouldn’t only harm China’s interests and China-U.S. relations, but would also seriously damage U.S. interests,” Geng said. “China will definitely take strong countermeasures in response to the wrong decisions by the U.S. side to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests.” Concerns about overt Chinese influence in Hong Kong have heightened in recent months, as protests -- which began this summer over a now-shelved extradition bill, but have since morphed into sweeping calls for reform -- have grown increasingly violent. Protests, now in their 19th straight week, descended into violence again today, with reports that the leader of the Civil Human Rights Front, the group responsible for some of the largest peaceful protests so far, was attacked for the 2nd time. Demosisto, a separate pro-democracy organization, tweeted that Jimmy Shamm was smashed over the head with hammers. It's unclear who attacked Sham. A police source told the South Morning China Post that he was bleeding from his head & arms when officers discovered him. An investigation is underway.
China vows to retaliate against US after House passes bill supporting Hong Kong protesters
The US economy only expanded at a "slight to moderate" pace thru mid-Sep, as the US-china trade war continued to weigh on business activity, according to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book. Growth varied across all of the Fed’s 12 districts, with the Midwest & Great Plains generally more downbeat than states in the southern & western US, the Fed said in its region-by-region roundup of anecdotal information known as the Beige Book. Manufacturing continued to edge lower across the board, with some districts reporting that firms had started to layoff workers as a result of the trade war. However, manufacturing activity edged up in some regions as contacts tried to retain qualified employees. Agricultural activity also continued to deteriorate, affected by bad weather, weak commodity prices & trade disruptions. "Business contacts mostly expect the economic expansion to continue," the report said. "however, many lowered their outlooks for growth in the coming 6 to 12 months." What remains to be seen is whether weakness in business confidence will begin to affect consumer spending, which is responsible for a huge chunk of the country's GDP.
Fed's Beige Book reports slight economic growth in these regions
Gold prices ended higher as investors watched global political news surrounding trade & Brexit, & reacted to a weaker-than-expected reading of US retail sales, which spurred some haven buying. Moves for the precious metal came as worries on Brexit, Turkey, the Middle East, US politics & the global economic outlook, as well as on uncertainty tied to the continued tariff talks with China. Gold for Dec delivery rose $10.50 (0.7%) to settle at $1494 an ounce. It recouped much of the 0.9% decline seen yesterday, when prices for the most-active contract settled at their lowest since Sep 30. A report of the retail sales fell 0.3% last month, the gov said, ending a streak of 6 straight strong gains that helped to fuel economic growth in the middle of the year, as most stores posted lower receipts, signaling that a widely expected slowdown in consumer spending is under way. On the political front, China threatened to retaliate over a series of bills backing pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong that passed the House of Representatives. Investors also were watching Britain's attempt to exit from the EU, after the Irish broadcaster RTE reported that Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party was accepting the consent element of the revised Brexit agreement, seen as the last big obstacle to a deal.
Gold finishes higher after cooler-than-expected retail-sales report
Oil futures registered their first climb in 3 sessions, recouping much of the loss they suffered a day earlier, but worries over demand prospects remained, with prices holding onto a sizable week-to-date loss. West Texas Intermediate crude for Nov delivery added 55¢ (1%) to settle at $53.36 a barrel, following a 2-day skid for the US benchmark. It trades about 2.4% lower for the week so far. The global benchmark, Dec Brent crude added 68¢ (1.2%) at $59.42 a barrel, trading down 1.8% week to date. Concerns remain over the global economic outlook & the implications for oil demand after the IMF yesterday cut its forecast for global economic growth this year to 3%, the slowest pace since 2008. Weekly US petroleum supply data are delayed by a day this week because of the Mon Columbus Day federal holiday. The American Petroleum Institute will release its report later today. The EIA has reported weekly increases in crude stockpiles for 4 weeks in a row. The EIA data are expected to show crude inventories up by 4M barrels last week.
Oil logs first gain in 3 sessions, but worries over demand prospects persist
This turned out to be another uneventful day for stocks. So far earnings are encouraging but economic data is drab & the Chinia story is not going well. The Dow is hanging in near 27K, but it neeeds significant positive news to go higher to a new record (only 360 away). Meanwhile gold is being purchased.
Dow Jones Industrials
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