Business

Launching Q2 earnings season, moments ago JPM reported Q2 an adjusted record Net Income of $7.03 billion and EPS of $1.82, which however included an 11 cent legal benefit, beating expectations $1.57 and 27 cents higher than a year ago, on "managed" revenue of $26.4BN, beating consensus expectations of $25.1BN.

JPM reported average core loans up 8% Y/Y with net interest income also 8% higher to $12.5bn, “primarily driven by the net impact of rising rates and loan growth" even as average NIM missed.

Authored by Cyril Widdershoven via OilPrice.com,

OPEC exports have come under pressure this week from technical threats to oil fields, with Saudi Arabia’s Manifa problems grabbing the headlines.

It was another painfully low-volume overnight session, which however did not prevent global stocks from hitting another record highs, capping their best week in over two months as the dollar stayed close to nine-month lows following Yellen's dovish retreat in which she noted caution on persistently low inflation (hence today's CPI print will be especially important) as odds of future rate hikes in 2017 and 2018 dropped.

New data released by the Chinese government suggests trade with its restive neighbor, North Korea, has only increased by a modest degree since the beginning of the year, rebutting criticisms from President Donald Trump and UN ambassador Nikki Haley that the world's second-largest economy is undermining US efforts to curb trade with the North.

One month ago, when describing the bizarre, not to mention systemically dangerous practice of dozens of small and mid-cap Chinese companies and executives offering to backstop losses on their employees' purchases of company shares, we couldn't quite explain it, although it seemed to revolve around a simple, and fraudulent, ponzi scheme: the same executives who were making the "make whole guarantee" had themselves taken out substantial loans collateralized by a pledge on their own stock.