…Stocks drift higher. Beige Book shows steady growth and tariff worries. Berkshire buyback. Trump on Russia: they didn’t do it, they did it, they aren’t continuing to do it. Pizza and burgers. EU fines Google. Amazon Prime smash hit. Morgan Stanley beats. Financial Review by Sinclair Noe for 07-18-2018 DOW + 79 = 25,199 SPX + 6 = 2815 NAS – 0.67 = 7845 RUT + 4 = 1691 10 Y + .01 = 2.88% OIL + .90 = 68.98 GOLD – .10 = 1228.10 The S&P 500 hit a five-month high. Financials and industrials were leading gains, both by at least 1%, while consumer-staples names led losses. The Dow Industrials closed higher, marking its longest winning period since an eight-day streak ended May 14.   A couple of weeks before a FOMC policy meeting, the Federal Reserve publishes the Beige Book; it isn’t hard economic data, just anecdotal assessments of the economy gathered from the 12 Fed districts. The Fed found that 11 of 12 regions of the country were growing at a “modest” pace or even faster. Only the states around St. Louis reported “slight” growth. Many companies say they can’t find enough skilled workers and in some cases they are turning aside new business. The ultra-tight labor market has given more bargaining power to workers and many companies have boosted pay and benefits to attract or retain employees. However, the report found “wage increases were modest to moderate.” Which is odd: one would think employers are familiar ...