Business

Once upon a time Jefferies was the country's biggest junk bond trading shop, with a small investment banking group on the side. Now, it's the other way around.

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

In last week’s Technical Update, I discussed the potential for the S&P 500 to hit 2700 by Christmas. To wit:

“The current momentum behind the market advance is clearly bullish, and with the ‘smell of tax reform’ in the air, there is little to derail the bulls before year-end.

 

Starting July 1, 2018 stock markets around the world are going to get yet another artificial boost courtesy of a decision by the $350 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) to allocate another $15 billion in capital to already bubbly equities.  Of course, if this decision doesn't make sense to you that's because it's not really meant to make sense. 

When yesterday we discussed the latest troubles facing embattled retailer Steinhoff, whose bonds are owned by none other than the ECB, we said that while the company's bonds mature in 2025, its bankruptcy is at most months away. In retrospect, and in light of the latest news, that may have been optimistic, because it now appears that a bankruptcy may be imminent and is at most just weeks away.

House Republicans have decided to attach provisions reauthorizing a popular child health-insurance program and allocating an unprecedented $81 billion in disaster-aid spending to a continuing resolution that would keep the federal government funded until Jan. 19, Politico reported Tuesday, citing anonymous Congressional aids.

House Speaker Paul Ryan disclosed the new strategy in a GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning.