Deutsche and Commerzbank Merger Fails
The two struggling European banking giants are calling off merger talks after determining that it probably isn’t a good idea for either of them, which could itself be bad for both of them. “We have concluded that this transaction would not have created sufficient benefits to offset” the risks and costs, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing. Commerzbank CEO Martin Zielke agreed. Shares of Deutsche (NYSE:DB) are down about 1% in premarket trading. Commerzbank (OTCMKTS:CRZBY) is down 2.44% on the German exchange so far today. The German government has been pushing for the merger to keep Deutsche solvent. The question now is can Deutsche survive in its current form without the merger?
SEE: Alliance Growers Acquires More US Cannabis Assets
In other Deutsche news, the bank is preparing to provide President Trump’s financial records having to do with the bank to the New York Attorney General’s office. That should be fun.
The Bull Market Will Continue Forever, Says Bloomberg Opinion Guy
In one of the strongest signs of a double top and impending bear market to date, Bloomberg is publishing articles now that question whether the current bull market will ever end. Maybe this time, for the first time ever in human history and stretched onto infinity, the market will be sunshine and rainbows forever and all our worries are over. His defense, summarized in a pithy subtitle, is that it is “not obvious what will stop the longest run in history”. As if it the ends of bull markets were ever obvious to those who couldn’t see them. The author cites cash staying suspended out of the market, and other analysts saying that there is no reason why the bull market cannot continue “indefinitely” because stocks are still “historically cheap compared to corporate profit forecasts. Also, we are not quite at the “frenzy” stage that signals the end of bull markets historically. Close your eyes and keep buying, essentially.
Iranians Irate, Irritated
The Iranians are unsurprisingly angry at the prospect of other countries filling in the oil gap that is being forced on them by the United States global dollar monopoly and therefore the power to enforce sanctions against the Persian nation. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will not allow any country to replace Iran in the oil market. The United States and those countries will be responsible for any consequences,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said. How Iran is going to prevent other countries from filling in its export gap is unclear, and also quite impossible, but they’re saying it anyway. In the meantime, Iran has threatened to close the straits of Hormuz, to which the United States, not quite sensing the irony of the situation, responded by urging Iran to maintain open commerce. Hmmm…. (NYSEARCA:USO)
3M Collapses on Earnings MMMiss
Speaking of Hmmm, 3M (NYSE:MMM) is freefalling in premarket trade, down 8.25% so far after an earnings miss and revenue miss and slashed guidance and reports it would cut 2,000 jobs. Overall sales declined 5% and industrial sales fell 6.6%. “We continued to face slowing conditions in key end markets which impacted both organic growth and margins, and our operational execution also fell short of the expectations we have for ourselves,” said CEO Mike Roman. Shares are still higher for the year despite the collapse, though we’ll see by the end of the day if that holds. So far, earnings season has not been so great.
Facebook Warns of $5B Fine Payable to the FTC
The Federal Trade Commission could end up fining Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) anywhere between $3B and $5B dollars for data privacy violations, giving the federal government more money to spend on things like NSA data accumulation programs and such. Nobody seems to mind though, as earnings beat expectations and the stock is up 9% in premarket trade, pushing $200 a share. Revenue topped $15 billion, and earnings would have been $1.89 a share without the fine. But what’s a few billion between Facebook and the FTC? CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company is focused on building out its “privacy-focused vision,” which doesn’t sound contrived at all. He might be referring to a new kind of X-ray lens or something.
