Now that central banks are starting to get the point that more of the same is not working, they are looking to change their targets.

Markets slip from all-time highs as China and U.S. economic data softens.

Inflation tame, GDP slow, just another day at the eco-office.

Many of the well-known hedge funds are dumping Apple (AAPL) while Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is buying.

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Employment numbers keep on showing signs of a strong economy. On the other hand, productivity showed a massive drop.

Market continue to creep higher – even in light of valuations and headwinds as the search for yield continues.

Olympic update! What is the deal with advertisers dropping Facebook? And much more …

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Stocks are reaching levels that may not be sustainable. With European stress tests under scrutiny, banks within the region are getting hit hard while Greek banks have been upgraded from selective default.

The CDC is now warning people to stay away from Miami as the Zika virus has been showing up more frequently – specifically in the town of Wynmoor in Miami.

Where else can you hear a discussion about Whale poop?

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Investors are waiting for the Fed to help prop up markets as over 200 companies are scheduled to report earnings this week.

While 68% of companies are beating earnings, not so much discussion about the currency tailwind they are seeing. What happened to transparency?

The RNC and DNC have some great scandals on their hands – if nothing else makes for some very entertaining times. Much more and plenty of ideas to chew on in this episode.

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Markets acting like the Energizer Bunny – Keeps going an going and going… Seems that world events, economic headwinds and even coup attempts are not enough to dissuade investors from throwing their money into stocks.

Earnings season is well underway with hundreds of companies reporting over the next couple of weeks.

John nails it with his latest pick !

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Brexit turned out to be nothing. In fact markets making new highs as the promise of stimulus and liquidity quiet market fears.

Meanwhile, several U.K. based real estate funds are denying withdrawals as investors are pulling out too much money. Bonds rallying hard along with equities as the flight to safety pushes sovereign debt “more” negative. Crazy times….

What comes next as earnings season begins?

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The Brexit vote sent shock wave throughout financial markets. What really happened and what is the outlook for Europe and the rest of the world?

Is there a chance for a re-vote and an undo of the referendum? Markets jolted, financial leaders say be calm, but is this a short-term sell off or is something more ominous in store? Markets lost over $2 trillion over the last few days…

We cover the ins and outs of the markets, what could be in store and some ideas on how to profit.

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Countdown to the Brexit vote – two days from now we will know the result. Some are predicting that if the U.K. were to vote to leave that the pound could drop and a global recession would ensue.

Janet Yellen testifies to Congress over the next two days, shedding light on some of the Fed’s recent decisions. Dovish commentary and a defensive posture should be the overall tone – with nothing new to illuminate us on the outlook for the U.S. economy.

Netflix has a new “icon” and advertisers have a new way twist to an up and coming technology – all this and more on this episode.

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~ Quick note: AH will be traveling the next two weeks ~

Markets in a bit of a tailspin and incredible rally after the latest Brexit poll. SURGING on weekend poll. Each day another poll update is released from various parties. Sunday the “stay” camp saw an uptick – pushing up stocks globally. Today the “leave” camp saw an increase by 2%

Oil back above $50 after a sizable draw-down of inventories reported after the close on Tuesday.

Yellen testimony to Congress today and tomorrow  –

— Asked about forward Guidance: Yellen said that the Fed is not relying much on forward guidance right now. Says a projections are helpful to the public, but not a commitment on policy. Says paths can change over time as economic outlook is updated.

— Asked about most recent jobs report: Says that labor market continues to perform well; not overemphasizing one jobs report. Says can watch economic developments since inflation is low.

BREXIT Poll Update

Last week’s title to episode was about China not being denied MSCI inclusion – had a picture with that and only one follower mentioned that the picture was had Japanese writing…

BIG NEWS after the close today – Tesla (TSLA) offering to buy SolarCity (SCTY). SCTY up 15% on news to $24.35 (offer may be approx $26-$28) and Tesla SLAMMED down 12%.

– All share deal – no cash but….

– Serious headscratcher – Tesla does not have the money to do the deal as it needs all it has and more to build factories to produce cars.

– What is synergy?

– Hail Mary attempt to prop price of SCTY for Elon Musk?

– Musk majority owner of both companies. Cousin is CEO of SolarCity

TSLA/SCTY After Hours

Noticing that Bloomberg has a fascination with writing about watches. Now Barron’s cover is about the best watches of 2016 [LINK] – AND they are expensive! Is this just adverts?

Speaking of covers – New York Daily News covers are even more nuts than ever…. SEE LINK

NY criminalizes bots buying up tickets – Ticketing outlets and credit card companies revealed that bots scoop up the best seats in seconds, which scalpers then resell at prices many times over face value. Scalpers who exploit such software could now face crimi...

China markets were once again denied the coveted inclusion by MSCI in a further setback to the markets.

Brexit worries are preventing new market highs as trades are unwound ahead of the June 23rd vote and hopes are alive that the Fed will say something, anything that will reignite a flame for bulls to keep buying…

What to make of the VIX? Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn and more…

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Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by YestoBitcoins.com

Markets in a bit of a tailspin after the latest Brexit poll. With the Fed meeting this week – is this just a way of pressing on the Fed to not do anything?

Retail sales for May came in slightly better than expected, but still nothing to get too excited about.

– U.S. luxury fashion retailer Neiman Marcus Group Ltd LLC reported its third straight quarterly drop in sales at established stores and a nearly 81 percent fall in profit amid a slowdown in apparel spending.

– What is going on with higher end retail ???

The VIX – skyrocketing – 50%+ over past few days to a high of over 21 today. Was under 13 last week. The last time  we saw this lvel was back in February as markets were being sold off in a hard correction. Moves like this often signal bottoming potential as many are seeking to buy protection at any price.

Microsoft (MSFT) buying LinkedIn (LNKD) for 50% premium – about $25 billion. Any other targets?

– LinkedIn down 13% YTD even after the $196 price paid…

– Twitter shares surge on the report as hope is alive that they will become a target for acquisition

Brexit – the polls now show a lead to the LEAVE side of things – markets are moving along with every headline. Some listener emails about what will benefit and what will see more problems.

Apple WWDC – anything exciting???? Stock did not price as anything was incrementally beneficial….

MAC

* Mac OS will feature universal clipboards for copying and pasting across devices.

* Mac OS will allow desktop saved files available for download from iPhone and iPad.

* Mac OS will feature Apple Pay for the web.

* Mac OS will feature SIRI for Mac

TV

* Apple TV now has 1300 video channels.

* Will feature ability to watch 4 sports games at one time through Fox Sports Go (FOXA).

* Apple TV will feature Sling TV with many cable channels.  (DISH, NFLX)

* Apple TV introduces TV remote applications where you can change channels from iOS device without reaching for Apple TV remote.

* Apple TV will feature ‘Dark Mode’

* Apple TV OS will available this Fall.

Watch

* New WatchOS accelerates application launch time.

* New WatchOS will feature a ‘dock’ feature for recently used apps on the Watch.

* Will have feature to reply to messages without tapping reply.

* New WatchOS will allow users to write on the screen.

After a seemingly interminable wait, the yield on Germany’s 10-year sovereign debt has dropped below zero for the first time. The shift into negative territory is part of a continuing trend across global markets that has seen record low yields and surging volatility in developed market sovereign debt.

Investors will be watching China as MSCI Inc. is set to announce early Wednesday local time whether they are going to include mainland shares in their global benchmark indices. NO! Declined for the second time around. MSCI said China had made “significant steps̶...

The weakest jobs report in years does not dissuade investors from piling into equities. While there is plenty of headwinds for markets, there is seemingly no thought to any downside potential. Oil is helping to keep a floor under prices as production has dropped and rumors continue to floated from OPEC.

Fed speakers are talking both sides of the story – ignore weak jobs numbers as the economy is in good shape while rate hikes may not be in the cards due to many concerning factors. Which story to believe? What is for sure is the the Fed wants to create confusion to keep investors guessing over what their next move will be.

Please check out  YestoBitcoins.com

Click HERE for Show Notes and Links

Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by YestoBitcoins.com

As Gomer Pyle would say: “Surprise, Surprise”

– Jobs report came in very light with on 38k new additions to payroll. However, the Unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% (Nov 2007 was last time unemployment rate was this low)      ?? Is this a weak or strong report?

– About 450k dropped out of labor force

– Some weakness due to the Verizon strike (35k)

– Last 2 months data revised down by 50K

– Average adds over 3-months 116k

– Wage growth was up slightly

With the weak jobs report the probability of a Fed rate hike in June dropped from 20% to 4% – through Fed futures outlook.

USD dropped hard on the report and sent gold, silver screaming higher – equity markets were not too thrilled – but recovered – now the S&P 500 is just 1% from all-time high. DJIA hit 18,000 in early trade.

– Are the negative interest rates finally kicking in?

Is the Fed creating “Organized Confusion” purposely? (Fed speakers out with both sides of the story – ignore the jobs report as economy is strong, but rates to remain low)

Oil holding close to the $50 level as almost all of the Nigerian pipelines are offline. Rebel attacks are causing major problems. Corrupt country – could big boys be helping to the rebels?????

Economic news just in:

* Among six regions that Moody’s assesses, the decline in growth is most pronounced in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Here, Moody’s estimates that average median growth will be 2.6% from 2013 to 2016 compared to average growth of 6.5% from 2005 to 2008.

* World Bank cuts 2016 global growth forecast to 2.4% from 2.9% due to sluggish growth in advanced economies, stubbornly low commodity prices, weak global trade and diminishing capital flows

Podcast Awards voting is open!

 

OPEC met to attempt to agree on “production caps” and the meeting ended with no agreement – again. But oil was unfazed as reports of a 9% drop in production over the past few months due to U.S. rigs offline. WTI Crude ~ $50.

Last week there was a some news about auto sales that was of interest. Is peak-auto now a thing?

* Automotive News reports that May 2016 marked the biggest monthly sales drop for the U.S. auto industry in nearly six years.

* The downturn was driven by a big drop in demand for passenger cars and two fewer selling days this May than the year-ago period.

* May 2016 was only the industry’s eighth monthly sales decline since 2009.

* Automotive News, citing True Car estimates, indicated average incentives per vehicle increased 7.1% to $3,034 in May versus the same period a year ago.

Snapchat Inc.