Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Will the United Nations kindly assist Puerto Rico. They need drinking water straws.

Leptospirosis (click here) is a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. Humans become infected through direct contact with the urine of infected animals or with a urine-contaminated environment. The bacteria enter the body through cuts or abrasions on the skin, or through the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and eyes. Person-to-person transmission is rare.
In the early stages of the disease, symptoms include high fever, severe headache, muscle pain, chills, redness of the eyes, abdominal pain, jaundice, haemorrhages in the skin and mucous membranes, vomiting, diarrhoea, and rash.

"LifeStraw" (click here)

October 17, 2017

Nearly three weeks (click here) after Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico, the vast majority of the island remains without power and the death toll from the storm has risen to 45, authorities said.

In addition, more than 110 people remain unaccounted for, according to Karixia Ortiz, a spokeswoman for Puerto Rico’s Department of Public Safety.

The recovery has moved slowly since Maria struck the US territory on September 20, leaving most of the island without basic services such as power and running water, according to residents, relief workers, and local elected officials.

Acting US Department of Homeland Security Elaine Duke will make her second trip to the island on Thursday, DHS spokesman David Lapan said Wednesday....

October 11, 2017
By Joe Nocera

Is it possible that Puerto Rico’s bondholders (click here) are finally coming to their senses? For a few of them at least, it certainly looks like an overdue change of heart has taken place. And to think: All it took was a Category 4 hurricane that destroyed the island....
4 January 2017
By Tom Buerkle

Among Hillary Clinton's (click here) alleged sins were close ties with Goldman Sachs. So it's ironic that the Wall Street firm has been the biggest corporate winner of Donald Trump's many cabinet appointments. Jay Clayton, a Goldman go-to attorney, was tapped Wednesday to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. If the President-elect means what he says about deregulating the money business, it's hard to imagine a better choice.

Clayton's employer, Sullivan & Cromwell, is virtually the house legal arm of Goldman. The firm ranked a clear first as legal advisor on deals that Goldman was involved in between 2006 and 2016, working on $2.9 trillion of global M&A deals as well as $152 billion of debt and equity issues on which Goldman was the sole bookrunner, according to Thomson Reuters data. Among those deals he worked on Alibaba's record $25 billion IPO in 2014....

Just to be clear as to the lawsuits Sullivan & Cromwell files. You think they might be getting help now?

Landmark French Constitutional Court (click here) Decision on the 3% Tax on Dividend Distributions: The French Constitutional Court Ruled That the 3% Tax on Dividend Distributions Is Unconstitutional

SULLIVAN & CROMWELL LLP - OCTOBER 6, 2017

Goldman Sachs needs a visit from the SEC.

The reason Trump wants to decertify Iran's nuclear agreement is pure in party fighting. It is nothing more than politics. 

Iran is upholding it's part and Trump wants to expose those in Congress that are actually responsible and honest. He wants his party to divide and put more Tea Party members in Congress. He wants more extremism. He wants to be President forever.

Additionally, the Dow is dependent on the profits of Goldman - Sachs.

October 10, 2017
By Matthew J. Belvedere

...With the stock market (click here) hitting record highs again early Tuesday, investors will be hard-pressed to find bargains, said the chief U.S. equity strategist at Goldman Sachs.

"There's no value anywhere in the market. Everything trades at high levels. And everything trades in a well-ordered fashion," David Kostin told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."

In the absence of cheap stocks, the earnings side of the price-earnings ratio becomes key as third-quarter results start to pour in over the next few weeks, he contends.

Kostin expects technology stocks to deliver about 11 percent earnings growth for the July-to-September period compared with roughly half that for the rest of the market....

This is from Morgan Stanley:

October 10, 2017
By Patti Domm

Goldman Sachs could be a winner this earnings season even with weaker revenues, while General Electric could be a loser, with a rare profit miss, according to Morgan Stanley.

Morgan Stanley equity strategists picked nine stocks they believe could be near-term movers in the early weeks of earnings season, either due to earnings or other developments.

One of those is Goldman, which could post better-than-expected on revenues, they said. (There are numerous former employees in the Trump administration overseeing deregulation.)...

...The stock could also see the added benefit of deregulation. Fed Vice Chair of Supervision Randy Quarles was confirmed last week, and Joseph Otting, former OneWest CEO, is likely to be confirmed in the next several weeks to run the Office of the Comptroller of Currency. Four of seven "key regulatory positions will be filled by nominees from the new administration, paving the way for deregulation to accelerate," Graseck wrote.

Goldman, she said, is the cheapest way to play the deregulation theme since it is less pricey than the money center banks on a price-earnings basis. The company has targeted $900 million in cost cuts (That was $900 million, nearly a trillion US in cost cuts. That doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. Especially, considering Goldman is adding personnel to their tech stock holdings.) and seeks to drive its expense ratio lower, from 66 percent in 2016 to 62 percent in 2018....

GE, on the other hand, could see a rare earnings miss, said Morgan Stanley analyst Nigel Coe. Coe said GE could miss versus the consensus due to its power and aviation results....

...Coe said he agrees with the bears that GE has "deteriorating cash flow, low earnings quality, persistent downside and no clear break-up value." There will likely be revisions to 2018 expectations but he added that earnings can grow past 2018 with improved growth in aviation, healthcare and renewables through 2020.

Among the stocks on Morgan Stanley's potential list of earnings season winners are Alexion Pharmaceuticals, which may miss on Solaris revenues but could get approval for extending the drug's use. The FDA PFUDA data is Oct. 23 and could drive the stock "materially higher and more than offset the weak quarter," the firm noted. Margins are also improving as a new, experienced management team takes charge.

Others in the group for potential upside are Bank of the Ozarks, Invesco and Thermo Fisher.

Stocks that may stumble during earnings include AmgenGroup 1 Automotive and Popular, Inc., according to the note. On Amgen, Morgan Stanley said the earnings could be weak on concerns about Enbrel, which is 25 percent of revenues. Morgan Stanley, however, is overweight Amgen and said there will be upside from its pipeline and recent launches.

The author of the above article stated 9 stocks to watch. The Financial Sector has at least three of those nine and one is Goldman Sachs. 

From the Financial Times:

October 10, 2017
By Katie Martin

...But, as Goldman’s close links to the Trump administration (click here) have given risen to the term ‘Government Sachs’, Mr Barroso said the bank “should not be seen as a political institution. We are a business, a commercial institution. So, I think we should avoid partisan intervention. That’s not what people expect from a firm like Goldman Sachs.


Goldman - Sachs is looking to Germany as the place where it's EU interests will take shape.

Business Insider:

October 11, 2017
By Frank Chaparro

Goldman Sachs (click here) is continuing to fill its ranks with top tech talent to cement its position as a leading technological force on Wall Street.

On Tuesday the financial services powerhouse said Jeff Wecker, a former senior manager at Bridgewater Associates, the Connecticut-based hedge fund, will join the firm in the new role of chief data officer, according to a memo seen by Business Insider. 

Jeff Wecker didn't leave the hedge fund expecting a lateral move in his financial compensation at Goldman. They had to pay him plenty to get him, yet they cut costs by nearly a trillion in a year. Wecker is not the only tech guy moving to Goldman. Those cost cuts don't happen. They simply don't happen.

"In this newly created role, Jeffrey will be responsible for Data Governance and Architecture firmwide, with a particular focus on our data and information strategy, controls, policy, commercialization, and business intelligence," the memo said....

October 10, 2017

...Goldman Sachs Group Inc (click here) has hired Benno Meier, formerly at Morgan Stanley, as a managing director of institutional sales for commodities, two sources said on Tuesday....

Benno Meier didn't volunteer at Goldman Sachs.

Kathy Matsui, MD (click here for audio and video report worth hearing - Thank you) and chief Japan strategist, Goldman Sachs, says that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seen keeping a simple majority for his coalition government in the Oct. 22 election.

The same website as above reports on Walmart profits as being up $5 billion. They are still a corporate welfare company. Their employees still can't pull their own weight in this world without Food Stamps and Medicaid, but, the private owners have increased their take out of our economy of $5 billion over past performance.
No one should be tampering with the USA's nuclear weapon arsenal. I don't want it modernized. I want them to work as a deterrent until the Non-Proliferation Treaty is satisfied by every country currently engaged in nuclear weapons.

One of the statements by Trump outside his demands for more nukes is a statement about Russia. As President, Donald Trump is stated to increase the amounts of nuclear weapons, as Russia consented to be an arms race again. It was said in the same breath. The USA nukes is a Russian issue. It adds more to the issues regarding Russia involved in the elections. Increasing the number of USA nukes would break the treaties the USA is currently involved.

I am somewhat troubled by the idea of MODERNIZATION. What is the definition of MODERNIZATION? The USA needs to protect their nukes from MODERNIZATION.

Modernization opens up the topic of computerizing the nuclear triad and opening it up to vulnerability.

I do believe Trump and Putin had a conversation about nuclear capacity. The Strong Man would increase the nuclear capacity of the USA and in the name of modernization would computerize it. That would break every treaty and open the nuclear weapons to hacking or otherwise and destroy the capacity of the USA to carry out a nuclear defense. Millions upon millions of Americans would be dead with the USA computerized system made helpless.

To allow tampering with the USA Triad would make the USA highly vulnerable and opens up attacks on allies as well. Is the UK and France ready to defend themselves and the USA with the idea sabotage of the USA can occur from inside the government? 

I think we have real problems and Congress is doing nothing.

Quite frankly, I am waiting for Trump to announce we are no different than Turkey and enter into an autocratic dictatorship backed by Congress.