Markets appear to be climbing a wall of worry. Hoping that everything works out.

Big badminton news - not to be missed.

An update on markets and the weekly stock picks.

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Warm Up

- NEW CTP for PacWest Bank (PACW) - Wild one..

- US default - create problem fix problem (all politicians know)

- Wall of Worry - climbing

- Badminton news - this is big

- Europe Bound - No Show Next Week

- 1 month T-Bill 5.6%

Market Update

- Stocks impervious - resilient (Not much movement within range)

- Close Call- Banks skidded by another potential weekend bailout - that's good....

- Big Tech leads by a wide margin

- YTD - DJIA up <1%, NASDAQ 100 up > 18%

- Hedge Funds crowding a trade again

- AI rage making the rounds again

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Debt Ceiling

- Now they are talking about July, if June is cleared

- Will slow walk this right up until the last minute

- Game of chicken, but just politics as usual

- Default would be big BIG problem - global system would unravel

Wonky action

- US Treasuries - S/T debt moving around a bit

- Last week, the yield on 1-month Treasury bills surged 23.8 basis points to hit a high of 5.689% and yields on 2-month bills climbed to a high of 5.283% as investors sold off notes that mature about the time the debt limit could be hit.

Musk in the News

- Elon Musk hires ex-NBCUniversal ad chief Linda Yaccarino to be Twitter's CEO

- Already too many ads - obnoxious

- At first, TESLA stock got a bid as the thought was that Elon would get back to work at Tesla

- "I am excited to welcome Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO of Twitter!" Musk tweeted. He said she "will focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology."

- He added, "Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app."

More Musk........ There is always more Musk....

Tucker and Twitter

- Tucker Carlson is starting a new show n Twitter

- How does that work?

One More Musk

- Chief Executive Elon Musk has said that the company can make no new hires unless he personally approves them, including contractors

- According to the report, Musk told executives to send him a list of hiring requests on a weekly basis, while also cautioning them to "think carefully" before submitting such requests.

Crowded Trade

- Hedge Funds releasing their quarterly additions and deletions

- Crowding into mega-cap names - no wonder that the NASDAQ is so green this year

- - Crowded trades make for tough exits

M&A News

- Gold giant Newmont Corp. secured a A$28.8 billion ($19.2 billion) deal to buy Australian rival Newcrest Mining Ltd., consolidating its position as the world’s biggest bullion producer with mines across the Americas, Africa, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

- The transaction, now unanimously approved by Newcrest’s board but pending regulatory approval, is the gold mining sector’s largest deal to date, surpassing Newmont’s purchase of rival Goldcorp Inc.

- In 2019. Newcrest, whose then chief executive officer stepped down abruptly at the end of last year, rejected initial overtures, though it had indicated earlier this month that it planned to recommend an improved takeover offer from its suitor.

- Gold at high end of range is odd timing to get a deal (valuation based "cheapness")

MCD Burns again - 4-year old

- Remember the McDonald's Coffee lawsuits?

- McDonald’s and a franchise holder are at fault after a hot Chicken McNugget from a Happy Meal fell on a little girl’s leg and caused second-degree burns