Dow was off 50, advancers over decliners about 3-1 & NAZ slid back 18. The MLP index went up 1+ to the 224s & the REIT index rose 4+ to 361. Junk bond funds edged higher. & Treasuries had very limited buying. Oil hardly budged in the 69s & gold added 4 to 1934.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Big US lenders will see if they made the grade this week as the Federal Reserve reports the results of its annual "stress tests." Despite this past spring's turmoil in the sector, the institutions are expected to show they have ample capital to weather any fresh trouble. Although investor payouts are likely to dip slightly. The central bank on Wed will release the results of its bank health checks which assess how much capital banks would need to withstand a severe economic downturn. The results help decide a banks' capital planning, dictating how much cash they can return to shareholders via divs & share buybacks. The Fed instituted the annual exercise following the 2007-2009 financial crisis. Banks will be scrutinized a little tougher this year, but analysts & execs expect the 23 lenders being tested will show capital in excess of regulatory minimums.
Big US banks to face Fed's annual stress tests this week
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said much remains unknown about the chaos that unfolded in Russia, but that the internal clash exposed “cracks” in the nation that “weren’t there before.” Russian Pres Vladimir Putin faced a violent, attempted insurrection by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime Putin ally who led private mercenary fighters called the Wagner Group. But less than 24 hours after Wagner mercenaries seemingly took control of the strategic southern city of Rostov & began an armed convoy march towards Moscow, Prigozhin abruptly announced the armed rebellion was over. In exchange for turning back, the criminal case against Prigozhin was dropped, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian reporters. Prigozhin himself “will go to Belarus,” Peskov said, describing what appeared to be a sort of official exile. Prigozhin has played a central role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, so his departure could ultimately change the course of the war. And though his rebellion was short-lived, it marked the most serious challenge to Putin's regime in decades. “This is just an added chapter to a very, very bad book that Putin has written for Russia,” Blinken said. Blinken added Prigozhin has been responsible for “horrible brutality” in Ukraine, & that in many ways, Prigozhin is Putin's direct creation. He said it is too soon to tell exactly what the rift between the 2 men will mean for Russia, but that the US remains “intensely focused” on Ukraine. Prigozhin's direct challenge of Putin’s authority is “extraordinary,” Blinken added, as Prigozhin has managed to raise questions about the motivations for Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the first place. He said the war has ultimately been “a devastating, strategic failure” for Putin. “We’ve seen this aggression against Ukraine become a strategic failure across the board,” he said. “Russia is weaker economically, militarily, its standing around the world has plummeted.”
Rebellion in Russia reveals ‘cracks’ in Putin’s regime, Secretary Blinken says
IBM (IBM). a Dow stock, confirmed the $4.6B purchase of software company
Apptio, giving the tech giant greater automation capabilities. IBM will buy Apptio from Vista Equity Partners, which took the company private back in early 2019. The software company provides tools to help companies keep track of the software & services they use, & better manage costs. IBM is transforming itself into a company focused on the hybrid cloud & artificial intelligence businesses. CEO Arvind Krishna has sharpened the company's focus on areas including hybrid-cloud & quantum computing. In Apr, IBM reported first-qtr revenue of $14.3B, up slightly from the prior year. IBM recorded software revenue of $5.9 billion, up 2.6% year-over-year. The stock rose 1.14.
If you would like to learn more about IBM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/F_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6aeoso5b6f7
IBM's latest move to enhance company's automation capabilities
The stock absorbed the news from Russia with a sense of calm. Meanwhile end of the month economic data will be coming soon.
Dow Jones Industrials
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