What takes people from, “I don’t agree” or “I don’t like you” to the level where they murder people? .. John Earnest was a nursing student and described as “smart and nice”.. John is the guy that shot up the synagogue in LA and killed three people. That doesn’t sound “nice” to me. What triggers that? What is the event that turns a “nice” guy into a mass murderer? I wish I could figure that out..and save people’s lives..its sick.. and its sad.. .. In Sri Lanka, Authorities are under major pressure because they ignored (or didn't do enough about) warnings there would be an attack on the Churches. Authorities are saying they have reason to believe another attack has been planned and the attackers plan to wear military uniforms to confuse victims. Hmmmm.. Ok.. then, what? Stay away from people in Military fatigues? .. Down in Baltimore MD we have ANOTHER Church shooting. 7 were shot, one is dead from a shooting at a Church Barbecue in Baltimore. Our Country is SO full of the “my views are right and yours are wrong and you don’t have the right to disagree with me” people. It’s a cancer and we had better fix it before it kills us all. I am a Christian man. But, I do not want other people killed because they worship a different version of God.. or no God at all...Speaking of God.. the POPE has donated $500,000 to Asylum seekers in Mexico. I totally get where he is coming from.. but I am not sure it will do any good.. a RIP to Former Senator from Indiana Richard Lugar, 87. Lugar was a Senator for 35 years and a Foreign Policy expert. We could probably use a guy like him these days.. Elsewhere in the Swamp, the “Mueller fallout” arguments are pervasive. Many are saying “Move on” but Democratic leaders continue to call for “hearings”. Several of those people scheduled to testify in front of Congress are now saying they will not. Moron Rep Nadler is threatening to hold people in contempt for not testifying. Attorney General Barr offered to testify about the Mueller report but is now saying he may not. Why? Because Nadler said that Barr would be questioned by “Staffers” and not Congressmen. This is all a pissing contest and doing NOTHING for America..and the "Frontrunner" for the Democratic nomination, Joe Biden, dropped a few DOOOZIES. He called the Obama Administration, "Scandal Free".. He said there wasn't even a "Whiff of scandal" HAHAHAH AHAHHAHHA.. . HAHAHAHAH.. Good God.. and the reason he thinks he can say this is the media is on his side. None of the hosts challenged Biden's claim. If I was there, I would have said: Fast and Furious Gun scandal that got a border agent killed?? .. Caught spying on German Chancellor Merkel (and others).. Lied about and covered up weekly requests for help in Benghazi that ended up killing four including our Ambassador? .. Your Attorney General being the FIRST EVER help in Contempt of Congress?? Drone bombings killing hundreds of civilians? The IRS Lois Lerner scandal. Wanna talk about THOSE scandals while I make a list of ANOTHER 10? A billion dollars GONE in phony Solyndra "Green energy" payments? .. How about RUSSIANS trying to hack a Presidential election?? and NOTHING was done because you wanted Russian help with a stupid Nuclear deal in Iran??? (and thought Hilary was going to win, anyway??).. Just because the LOSER media doesn't cover it doesn't mean it didn't happen, YOU DOPE!!!... .SPORTS: GOLF: John Rahm and Ryan Palmer win the Zurich Team Competition by three shots over Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood.... NHL: Carolina beats the Islanders2-1and lead the series 2-0. Colorado wins 4-3 and ties the series with San Jose 1-1 .. NFL: Two Days ago Corey Ballentine was drafted by the NY Giants and yesterday Corey was SHOT. He was involved in an “Off Campus incident” and his friend was killed and he was shot. Gotta love how the Administration makes sure you know it was an OFF CAMPUS incident. Nevermind, a kid is dead..make sure we all say, “NOT MY FAULT!!!” ..NBA: Golden State over Houston 104-100 in Game one and that series ALREADY has "Ref issues" .. ..and Boston crushes Milwaukee 112-90 in Game one of that series. ... and the Boston Bruins, “National Anthem Singer” retired and they held auditions for a replacement. The Winner? The Bartender !!! Todd Angilly tends bar on the fifth floor of the arena. 10 Minutes before the game Todd changes into a collared short with a black and gold tie..then goes down to the ice and belts out the National Anthem.. and after he goes back to work at the Bar.. Now, as a NY/NJ fan I am REQUIRED to hate the Bruins.. But, THAT is a cool story.. ..CELEBRIDIOTS: SPOILER ALERT: Don’t be a spoiler in Hong Kong. The new Avengers Movie opened (to over a billion in worldwide sales.. a record..) ..A man came out of the movie in Hong Kong and started telling people on line what happens in the movie. .. The people in line got so mad they kicked the crap outta the guy and they had to call an ambulance. So, I ask you: What is more, “Wrong” ..Being a loser whose whole life revolves around comics..and being so serious about it that you’d kick a guys butt so bad he had to go to the hospital??.. or.. being so selfish and inconsiderate that you see a group of people TOTALLY excited to see a new movie..and you feel the need to RUIN it for them?? .. SPOILER ALERT 2: I don't watch Game of Thrones..But, less people died than you expect.... and then there is Daisy Keech. Daisy is an Instagram Model who was tired of people saying her “Butt was fake” ..Of course, when you post ANYTHING online you’ll have your “Oh, that looks great” people..and your “Your butt looks fat” ..or.. the “That cannot be real” people. So, Daisy paid a doctor to go on Instagram with her, examine her butt, and declare that it is “REAL” with no implants.. HERE .. So, Daisy, I love your Zeal .. and I used to have a Bernese Mountain Dog named, “Daisy”..So, I WANT to be on your side. But, I have to ask.. “It’s INSTAGRAM.. How do I know if the Doctor that is claiming your BUTT is Real.. is a REAL Doctor??? I could put a guy in a white coat and have him examine your butt and declare there are no implants.. and that guy could be a guy I met at Starbucks and put a white coat on and told him, “Look at the camera and say, ‘Yes, I examined her butt and it is real!!!” Right?? How do I know that the Doctor that is claiming everything is real is actually a REAL doctor?
From SeekingAlpha.com
U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a muted open ahead of this morning's release of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - the PCE deflator - with any slowing in core prices likely to boost market bulls following Friday's strong Q1 GDP reading of 3.2%. Data overnight also showed profits from China's industrial firms growing in March before the next round of U.S.-China trade talks kicks off tomorrow. A rate decision from the Fed on Wednesday could also cement its dovish tilt, and coupled by a series of solid earnings and outlooks from U.S. tech giants could send equity indices to their next run of record highs.
Crude futures fell 0.7% to $62.87/bbl overnight, extending a 3% slump from Friday that ended weeks of rallying, after President Trump demanded that OPEC raise output to soften the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran. Supply cuts have been supported by some non-OPEC producers, most notably Russia, but analysts said this cooperation may not last beyond an OPEC+ gathering scheduled for June. Complicating the meeting is fresh data from the IMF showing that Saudi Arabia needs prices at about $85 a barrel to balance its budget this year, up from a forecast of $73 in September.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) CEO Dennis Muilenburg is set to hold his first press conference since the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX, which led to investigations, lawsuits and a sharp loss in shareholder value. The event starts at 10:00 a.m. EDT following the planemaker's annual general meeting in Chicago. While reports over the weekend suggested that pilots have warned draft 737 MAX training proposals did not go far enough to address their concerns, the FAA may clear the plane to fly in late May or the first part of June.
Avengers: Endgame has become the first movie to gross more than $1B in its debut at the worldwide box office, putting a stamp on a dominant Marvel franchise that has been a feather in Disney's (NYSE:DIS) cap. Powered by record-setting hauls in the U.S. and China, the film collected an estimated $1.2b in its first five days of release. An estimated $350M of that total came from the U.S. and Canada, an amount that blew past the previous opening-weekend record set last year by Avengers: Infinity War by about $92M.
The latest numbers from Google parent Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) are due after Wall Street closes this evening. The consensus EPS estimate is $10.17 (+2.4% Y/Y), while revenue is expected to come in at $37.36B (+19.9% Y/Y). YouTube is likely to continue being a financial black box, but Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) may be biting at Google's dominance in digital advertising. It also has the upper hand in cloud computing (AWS), voice-activated devices (Alexa) and some 54% of people looking for a product now begin their search directly on Amazon.com.
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) has fired the latest blow in the all-out delivery war in the retail sector. "One-day free shipping...without a membership fee. Now THAT would be groundbreaking. Stay tuned," tweeted the retail giant just before the weekend. The tease follows Amazon's (AMZN) disclosure during its earnings call that it plans to roll out one-day Prime shipping this year through what's anticipated to be a heavy investment in the company's in-house delivery infrastructure.
Anadarko's (NYSE:APC) board of directors has decided that Occidental Petroleum's (NYSE:OXY) $38B cash-and-stock bid could lead to a deal that would be superior to the one it has with Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Reuters reports. The E&P company will now kick off negotiations to see if it can finalize a deal, though a $1B break-up fee is on the line. The acquisition would add nearly a quarter million acres to Occidental's holdings in the Permian shale basin, while doubling its global oil and gas production to 1.4M barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Despite a vote of no-confidence, Bayer's (OTCPK:BAYRY) board is sticking with CEO Werner Baumann as two of the drugmaker's largest investors - Deka and Union Investment - said management needed to stay at the helm for now to avoid further upheaval. "A hasty replacement of the CEO would only increase the risk of a break-up and therefore can't be in the interest of long-term oriented investors." Bayer shares have tumbled about 36% over the past year as the company faced a wave of lawsuits claiming that Roundup - the weedkiller acquired through its $63B takeover of Monsanto - can cause cancer.
For the third time in four years, Spaniards have elected a new government and although Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will most probably remain in office, how he gets there is the key question. While a pact with liberals Ciudadanos would be seen as a positive for investors, a partnership with anti-austerity party Podemos and Catalan pro-independence parties may be a less market-friendly option. Spain's Ibex 35 is only up 11% this year, making it one of Europe's worst performing stock indexes.
President Xi Jinping raised a glass to his signature foreign policy project at a Belt and Road conference in Beijing on Saturday, touting "open, clean and green" infrastructure deals worth more than $64B. In a separate statement, China said it signed a memorandum of understanding with various countries including Italy, Peru, Barbados, Luxembourg, Peru and Jamaica. Data from Refinitiv shows the total value of projects in the New Silk Road at $3.67T, spanning countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and South America.
What else is happening...
Contributor Jeff Miller breaks down the information avalanche for the week ahead.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) explains parental control app removal.
As U.S. tightens sanctions, IMF sees risk of 50% Iran inflation.
Jaguar Land Rover (NYSE:TTM) drivers could earn cryptocurrency for sharing data.
Poland is unlikely to leave the EU, according to Jean-Claude Juncker.
Measles outbreak has Merck (NYSE:MRK) boosting U.S. supply of MMR vaccine.
Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) chair against investment bank strategy change.
President Trump says Japan will invest $40B in U.S. car factories.
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan closed. Hong Kong +1%. China -0.8%. India +0.9%. In Europe, at midday, London -0.1%. Paris -0.3%. Frankfurt -0.3%. Futures at 6:20, Dow flat. S&P flat. Nasdaq flat. Crude -0.7% to $62.87. Gold -0.4% to $1284.10. Bitcoin -1.1% to $5137. Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 2.5%
Today's Economic Calendar
Regards,
Roger “Raj” Searing
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