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ES Morning Update February 26th 2016

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ES Morning Update February 26th 2016

de7807b6-586e-4f53-b9fe-3fa516dd5a94Futures now appear to be in the 5th wave up inside a C up that started at the 1920 low on 02/25.  The A wave up start at the 1886 low on 02/24 and ended the same day at the 1936 high.  The quick short B wave down to 1920 had a smaller ABC pattern in it while the C up that followed has 5 waves in it, and we seem to be in the last wave and most likely ended it before the open.

The rising trendline has been climbed on the entire part of the C wave up.

This mornings high of 1968.75 hit two old rising trendlines of resistance right at the Apex (the ending of a triangle, or it's "point") where they are now double resistance.

This 60 minute chart shows the MACD walking out off a cliff into thin air as it clear wants to drop.  The 2 hour chart looks pretty much the same and the 4 and 6 charts are also ready to rollover anytime today.

Considering how over the futures are now, and how they went up almost 30 points over the 1940 horizontal resistance (1950 area on the SPX) I'd have too think at this point that all the bears who were short from 1940 have been taken out now.  Their stops were hit and there's not much fuel left for SkyNet to take out (should call it "Ms Pacman" as it gobbles up bears).  So now we only have the cash open with the SPX to gobble up the new bears that short the open.  It's now getting very overbought and I don't see much upside left before a nice move down.

With the SPX cash being the last straw to fall I get the feeling it will happen today.  The risk of another 10 points up on it today (to squeeze out bears shorting the open and to close the weekly candle out strong) pales in comparison to the reward of a drop down to 1860-1880 with in then next week or two.  Therefore I again think today is a day to start getting into short positions and layering them if the market goes higher after the close today.

Yesterday I was ready to inch into some shorts but I was wanting the horizontal resistance to be broken first to take out the bears' stops.  I didn't think it was possible at the open because the charts were all aligned so bearish.  The market did fall as I expected but it wasn't allowed to drop very far as the bulls "held the line" and force the bears to chop sideways until midday when the selling pressure dried up and the market was able to grind higher.

I told everyone in the chatroom that it was becoming less and less bearish as time went on and that the market was making a bull flag.  This allowed everyone to exit shorts and go to cash (or chase the long up for you day traders) and wait for a better entry.  I think we'll see that "better entry" today.  Whether we rollover at the open or grind up a little higher throughout the day the risk/reward of looking for 1860-1880 in the next two weeks is really low for the bears and high for bulls looking for 2000 or more.  I'll be looking again to inch into some shorts and ride out the next weeks.

ES Morning Update February 25th 2016

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ES Morning Update February 25th 2016

68b1f829-c681-45dc-a41b-ec1ab78507eeFutures banging on overhead resistance from falling trendline.

Rising trendline providing early support but forms a triangle that will force a break before noon today in one direction or the other.

MACD's on this 60 minute chart are trying to turn up but the 2 hour, 4 hour and 6 hour all look ready to rollover near the open.

Just looking at the ES Futures I'd say we breakdown near the open but the SPX is lagging behind a little and might help hold the futures up early today. While I'd love to see the SPX pierce through the 1950 area horizontal resistance and make a run up for 10+ points to clear out all the bears' stops before rolling back over and dropping hard it just doesn't look likely to happen today from the looks of the charts.

I talked yesterday about a right shoulder forming and I think that's exactly what we now have today.  From an Elliottwave count the move down from the high on Monday to Wednesday's low was some kind of A wave and the squeeze up yesterday into the close was a B wave.  Next we should have a C wave down (starting today) that takes us into Friday with a lower low then yesterday.  The most likely target is the gap window at 1890 on the ES Futures from 02/16 or gap fill at 1860 from 02/16

I'd like to present a bullish case here but I just don't see one.  Unless they put out some news event to spike the market higher I can't find any reason to be long today and would only look for shorts.  So if this move down does happen and we make a lower low by Friday then we'll analyze the charts again to see if we are likely to break on down further to the prior lows in the 1810 area or if it's just pullback before another move up into early March to finally breakthrough the 1950 resistance and make a run for 2000+

Needless to say, as I'm sure it's obvious, but a breakout through the falling trendline is a gift for the bears as if they can take out the 1945 prior high on Monday they should squeeze up another 10 points or so as they hit all the bears' stops.  Do that and we are probably looking a move down to retest the 1810 low in the coming weeks, which should break on this third hit.  So, will the futures breakdown early or will the SPX Cash give them enough early support to push on up?

Apple Is Said to Be Working on an iPhone Even It Can’t Hack

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Apple Is Said to Be Working on an iPhone Even It Can’t Hack

New York police officers stood guard during a demonstration outside the Apple store on Fifth Avenue on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — Apple engineers have already begun developing new security measures that would make it impossible for the government to break into a locked iPhone using methods similar to those now at the center of a court fight in California, according to people close to the company and security experts.

If Apple succeeds in upgrading its security — and experts say it almost surely will — the company would create a significant technical challenge for law enforcement agencies, even if the Obama administration wins its fight over access to data stored on an iPhone used by one of the killers in last year’s San Bernardino, Calif., rampage. The F.B.I. would then have to find another way to defeat Apple security, setting up a new cycle of court fights and, yet again, more technical fixes by Apple.

The only way out of this back-and-forth, experts say, is for Congress to get involved. Federal wiretapping laws require traditional phone carriers to make their data accessible to law enforcement agencies. But tech companies like Apple and Google are not covered, and they have strongly resisted legislation that would place similar requirements on them.

“We are in for an arms race unless and until Congress decides to clarify who has what obligations in situations like this,” said Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Companies have always searched for software bugs and patched holes to keep their code secure from hackers. But since the revelations of government surveillance made by Edward J. Snowden, companies have been retooling their products to protect against government intrusion.

Apple built its recent operating systems to protect customer information. As its chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, wrote in a recent letter to customers, “We have even put that data out of our own reach, because we believe the contents of your iPhone are none of our business.”

But there is a catch. Each iPhone has a built-in troubleshooting system that lets the company update the system software without the need for a user to enter a password. Apple designed that feature to make it easier to repair malfunctioning phones.

In the San Bernardino case, the F.B.I. wants to exploit that troubleshooting system by forcing Apple to write and install new software that strips away several security features, making it much easier for the government to hack into the phone. The phone in that case is an old model, but experts and former Apple employees say that a similar approach could also be used to alter software on newer phones. That is the vulnerability Apple is working to fix.

Apple officials alluded to this in a conference call last week when a journalist asked why the company would allow firmware — the software at the heart of the iPhone — to be modified without requiring a user password. One executive replied that it was safe to bet that security would continue to improve, and someone close to the company confirmed this week that Apple engineers had begun work on a solution even before the San Bernardino attack. A company spokeswoman declined to comment on what she called rumors and speculation.

Independent experts have offered possible solutions in both public forums and private, informal conversations with the company over the last few weeks. “There are probably 50 different ideas we have all sent to Apple,” said Jonathan Zdziarski, a security researcher.

Apple regularly publishes security updates and gives credit to researchers who hunt for bugs in the company’s software. “Usually, bug reports come in an email saying, ‘Dear Apple Security, we’ve discovered a flaw in your product,’ ” said Chris Soghoian, a technology analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union. “This bug report has come in the form of a court order.”

The court order to which Mr. Soghoian referred was issued last week by a federal judge magistrate, and tells Apple to write and install the code sought by the F.B.I. Apple has promised to challenge that order. Its lawyers have until Friday to file its opposition in court.

In many ways, Apple’s response continues a trend that has persisted in Silicon Valley since Mr. Snowden’s revelations. Yahoo, for instance, left its email service unencrypted for years. After Mr. Snowden revealed how the National Security Agency exploited the company, the company quickly announced plans to encrypt email. Google similarly moved to fix a vulnerability that the government was using to hack into company data centers.

James B. Comey Jr., director of the F.B.I., said the government is not seeking a skeleton key to iPhones.

Apple’s showdown with the Justice Department is different in one important way. Now that the government has tried to force Apple to hack its own code, security officials say, the company must view itself as the vulnerability. That means engineers will have to design a lock they absolutely cannot break.

“This is the first time that Apple has been included in their own threat model,” Mr. Zdziarski said. “I don’t think Apple ever considered becoming a compelled arm of the government.”

The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey Jr., signaled this week that he expected Apple to change its security, saying that the phone-cracking tool the government sought in the San Bernardino case was “increasingly obsolete.” He said that supported the government’s argument that it was not seeking a skeleton key to hack all iPhones.

Apple, though, says the case could set a precedent for forcing company engineers to write code to help the government break any iPhone. “The U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create,” Mr. Cook said in his letter.

The heated back-and-forth between the government and technology companies is, at least in part, a function of the Obama administration’s strategy. The White House has said it will not ask Congress to pass a law requiring tech companies to give the F.B.I. a way to access customer data. That has left the Justice Department to fight for access one phone at a time, in court cases that often go unnoticed.

While it is generally accepted that Silicon Valley’s tech giants can outgun the government in a technical fight, the companies do face one important limitation. Security features often come at the expense of making products slower or clunkier.

Apple’s brand is built around creating products that are sleek and intuitive. A security solution that defeats the F.B.I. is unworkable if it frustrates consumers. One of the impediments to encrypting all the data in Apple’s iCloud servers, for instance, has been finding a way to ensure that customers can easily access and recover photos and other information stored there.

“Telling a member of the public that they’re going to lose all the family photos they’ve ever taken because they forgot their password is a really tough sell,” Mr. Soghoian said. “A company wants to sell products to the public.”

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Pressured Viacom May Sell Minority Stakes in Paramount

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Pressured Viacom May Sell Minority Stakes in Paramount

Under pressure from shareholders including Mario Gabelli's Gamco Investors and Eric Jackson's SpringOwl Asset Management, Viacom  (VIA - Get Report) (VIAB - Get Report) Exeuctive Chairman and CEO Philippe Dauman said Monday the company would consider selling minority stakes in its Paramount Pictures unit.

"We have been approached by several potential strategic investors in Paramount," Dauman said at a Jefferies conference in New York. The New York media group retained PJT Partners to weigh options for the movie studio behind The Big Short, Zoolander 2, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and others.

Dauman said an agreement, which could be announced around the end of the third fiscal quarter, would bring financial gain but would also include strategic benefits from new forms of digitial content distribution in global markets.

"I've gotten a glimpse of what some of that can be based on discussions that I've had and we'd like to be able to pursue some of those discussions to brig not just fin benefit but strategic benefit to help drive the growth of Paramount," Dauman said.

Investors sought this kind of strategic open-mindedness two weeks ago, when Viacom announced results for the first fiscal quarter of 2016. Gabelli and Jackson had pushed Viacom to consider steps such as selling a minority stake in Paramount to Alibaba (BABA - Get Report) or Amazon (AMZN - Get Report) .

Longtime Chairman Sumner Redstone stepped down recently, succeeded by Dauman. The markets apparently had anticipated bolder strategic from the new chairman during the Feb. 9 earnings presentation. When Viacom did not announce a review, the stock dropped nearly 18%.

Viacom class B shares spiked as high as $39.45, a gain of 7%, before closing at $37.01. The class A shares closed at $41.

"The positive reaction in share price illustrates the support we have among shareholders,"SpringOwl's Jackson, a columnist for TheStreet's Real Money site,  said in an emailed statement. "Good things happens when this team and board put the shareholders first in their thinking."

It's likely that a report issued privately last week to institutional investors from  Institutional Shareholder Services factored into Viacom's decision to launch a strategic review for Paramount.

The proxy advisory firm on issued a report Friday, obtained by The Deal, that recommended shareholders to "withhold" their vote -- essentially vote against -- for six incumbent directors over "ongoing pay-for-performance concerns" in an upcoming uncontested director election scheduled for March 14.

In addition, ISS recommended voters back a recapitalization proposal up for a vote at the meeting to establish a capital structure in which voting power equates with economic interests. Currently, Sumner Redstone controls the majority of the voting power through a holding company so a dissident investor would never technically succeed at electing directors.

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Apple to argue First Amendment in iPhone encryption fight

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Apple to argue First Amendment in iPhone encryption fight

Should the computer code for an iPhone be considered free speech?

Apple will apparently turn to the First Amendment in its fight against a court order demanding that it write code to skirt an iPhone's security features.

On February 16, a federal judge ordered that Apple cooperate with the FBI in unlocking an iPhone 5C used by one of the terrorists in the San Bernardino shootings. The order would require Apple to build a custom version of its iOS mobile software so that investigators can access data protected by encryption. Apple has said that the breach, however well-intended, could in essence create a backdoor to countless iPhones.

The case strikes at the heart of the clash between privacy and national security. Apple and other technology companies have argued that encryption -- the scrambling of data so that it can be read only by someone with authorized access -- is necessary to protect private, personal information and communications. But law enforcement agencies say that technology hinders their ability to disrupt criminal and terrorist activity.

To force the issue of gaining access to the iPhone 5C tied to the San Bernardino massacre in December, in which 14 people died and 22 were injured, the government has called on the All Writs Act, which was first passed by Congress in 1789 and amended over the years. The Act gives the government the power to issue orders under extraordinary circumstances when no other law or statue can be applied.

Theodore Boutrous, one of the attorneys on Apple's team, told the Los Angeles Times in a story published Tuesday that one of the strategies will be to argue that using the All Writs Act violates Apple's right to free speech. That's because, the argument goes, computer code like that underlying the iOS software is protected under the First Amendment.

"The government here is trying to use this statute from 1789 in a way that it has never been used before. They are seeking a court order to compel Apple to write new software, to compel speech," Boutrous told The Times.

Boutrous said that the courts have deemed the writing of computer code a form of speech protected by the First Amendment.

In a 1999 case known as Bernstein v. US Department of Justice, a graduate student intended to publish an algorithm for an encryption equation he created. The government wanted to review Bernstein's information and force him to obtain a license to publish it. Bernstein sued the government, arguing that such a demand infringed on his First Amendment rights. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of Bernstein.

However, the matter isn't so cut and dried. Other judges have found that free speech doesn't apply to computer code, according to Bloomberg. The law "is murky in this area," Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami, told the news agency.

The American public is divided on the question of Apple's stance. The Pew Research Center said that about 51 percent of those it surveyed believe the company should comply with the court order, while 38 percent said it should not unlock the iPhone. A Reuters poll came back with a nearly opposite finding: 46 percent of respondents agreed with Apple's position and 35 percent disagreed.

Apple has until Friday to formally respond to the court order, and a hearing on the matter is set for March 22. CEO Tim Cook has said the Cupertino, California-based company is willing to take the case all the way to the US Supreme Court, if necessary.

Meanwhile, Cook wants Congress to form a commission to look into the larger clash over technology and security to "discuss the implications for law enforcement, national security, privacy and personal freedoms." A congressional committee on Wednesday will consider a proposal to create such a commission.

Apple did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment, nor did Boutros.

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McDonald’s rolls out low-cal breakfast for SoCal

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McDonald’s rolls out low-cal breakfast for SoCal
McDonald's all-day breakfast a hit with customers

McDonald's is rolling out a low-cal menu for SoCal, featuring Tex-Mex-style breakfast bowls and Chobani parfaits.

Starting this week, McDonald's (MCD) is testing two different low-carb breakfast bowls in 800 restaurants in Los Angeles and San Diego.

The egg white and turkey sausage bowl with spinach and kale has 250 calories and 27 grams of protein. The scrambled egg and chorizo bowl with a hash brown, salsa and Pico de Gallo has 460 calories and 26 grams of protein. They each cost $4.39.

McDonald's is also incorporating Chobani Greek Yogurt into its Fruit N' Yogurt Parfaits. The Chobani parfaits are 110 calories, compared to the non-Chobani parfaits, which are 150.

McDonald's is also using Chobani in its McCafe smoothies, which are flavored with mango pineapple and strawberry banana.

Related: McDonald's sued for mock mozzarella in cheese sticks

McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa McComb said the regional roll-out is customized to California tastes, where both Mexican food and kale are popular.

McDonald's also recently launched another local breakfast item in Ohio, a chicken-pancake sandwich combo called the Chicken McGriddle.

Betting on breakfast has paid off for McDonald's. The company started offering all-day breakfast last year, and CEO Steve Easterbrook said that's the main reason that same-store sales jumped 5.7% in the fourth quarter in the U.S.

The more traditional nationwide breakfast menu features the good-old fashioned Egg McMuffin (300 calories,) the Hash Brown (150 calories,) and the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes, which tips the scales at a formidable 1,050 calories.

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UL Reveals How It Tests Safety Of Hoverboards While Swagway Does U-Turn

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UL Reveals How It Tests Safety Of Hoverboards While Swagway Does U-Turn
Hoverboard

U.S.-based Underwriters Laboratories has revealed how it tests the safety of the hoverboards. Popular self-balancing scooter maker Swagway, which had previously asked people to refrain from using its boards, has retracted and says its products meet the safety standards.

Amid concerns over the safety of hoverboards, ]independent product testing company Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has shown off how its conducts the new hoverboard safety standard.

At its Northbrook, Illinois headquarters, UL showed off the comprehensive tests the hoverboards or the self-balancing scooters are put through before being given the new UL 2272 certification.

The UL standards focus on the "safety of the electrical drive train system and battery and charger combination and does not evaluate the performance or reliability of these devices. In addition, it does not evaluate the overall safety of the self-balancing scooters."

Hoverboards have come under scrutiny as they have been catching fire suddenly. The concerns surrounding the safety of hoverboards are not only related to circuitry or battery, but also how the gadget has been assembled.

Due to escalating concerns, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has stepped in and issued a letter to manufacturers, importers and retailers, asking them to adhere to the voluntary standard outlined by UL.

The evaluations are done at UL's Fluid Lab, where the employees conduct a series of tests such as dropping the hoverboards from a height of 1 meter (3.28 feet), puncturing the batteries with nails, jamming the wheels of the self-balancing scooter and making the device run for 7 hours to check if it catches fire, etc.

Jamming the wheel can result in the scooter overheating as it tries to free itself during the 7-hour period. Should it fail this test, the hoverboard does not get the UL certification.

The lithium ion cell burst during the "torture tests" it was subjected to, such as the nail being pushed into the middle of the battery. The indirect heat applied near the battery remotely also led to the cell bursting into flames.

On Friday, one of the popular hoverboard brands - Swagway - declared that in a bid to comply with the CPSC's standards, the customers who had bought a self-balancing scooter should desist from "using their boards in the interim."

While this was viewed by many as a near recall, the company did a complete U-turn on Monday, saying that it never intended that the customers stop using the Swagway.

"The original Swagway from the very beginning already meets the newly required standard and we are currently evaluating if our product complies with the new voluntary standard as recommended by the CPSC. We stand by our products and are confident that Swagway still remains the safest on the market," a company representative wrote to Mashable.

While Swagway's X1 and Swagtron hoverboards meet the new UN38.3 certification, which is imperative according to the United Nations and the U.S. Department of Transportation, it is not clear if the products meet the UL 2272 voluntary certification for safety.

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US home sales climbed in January despite weaker economy

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US home sales climbed in January despite weaker economy

In this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, photo, In this Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, photo, "For Sale" signs are stacked up outside a new complex of townhouses in Houston. On Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index is released.

U.S. home sales are climbing. Prices are rising, too. So the outlook for the housing market is golden, right?

Not entirely.

A series of reports released Tuesday pointed to potential cracks in the foundations of America's residential real estate market.

On the one hand, job growth and low mortgage rates have fueled demand and boosted sales to levels that were last glimpsed in the waning months of the housing bubble nine years ago. Those gains could spur more construction and additional spending on furniture and renovations that could help lift the economy.

Yet the number of homes for sale has fallen. With demand for homes up and supply down, prices have risen faster than incomes. Because many homes have become unaffordable for would-be buyers, further gains may be unsustainable.

"The real takeaway from the numbers is that despite demand being high, the future is looking somewhat muted for homebuyers," said Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at the real estate firm Trulia.

This mismatch between supply and demand arrives at a delicate moment. Global pressures have roiled the stock market and hurt exports. That's meant that the economy must lean more heavily on consumers — including home buying — to extend its 6½-year-old recovery from the Great Recession.

A snapshot of the housing market points to some concerns:

— Sales of existing homes rose 0.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Those gains build on a strong 2015. Sales last year reached a nine-year peak, evidence of healthy demand that has led some economists to predict that the real estate sector will keep improving.

But the report also shows a shortage of available homes. The number of home listings in January fell 2.2 percent from a year ago. The result is that those shopping for homes have fewer options and must pay elevated prices. The median home sales price was $213,800 in January, an 8.2 percent annual increase from a year ago.

— Price increases are concentrated in some of the hottest job markets, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index. Home values are up 11.4 percent in Portland, 10.3 percent in San Francisco and 10.2 percent in Denver. Yet even Detroit, which has been emerging from municipal bankruptcy, notched a year-over-year gain of 7.1 percent in December.

— Strong demand showed some hints of weakening ahead of the spring sales season. The share of Americans looking to buy a home within six months reached a six-month low, according to the Conference Board's consumer confidence index. That percentage sank to 5.3 percent for February from 7.4 percent in January.

Solid demand for housing has failed to coax more homeowners to list their properties. Many are reluctant to sell. They're enjoying savings from low mortgage rates, and many lack enough equity to comfortably upgrade to another house. The consequence is that would-be buyers now face both rising prices and more competition from others looking to buy.

"So far, sales have been bulletproof to price increases, but this is unsustainable in a slowly growing economy unless inventory improves," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at the real estate brokerage Redfin.

Sales have been buttressed so far by a stable job market. Employers have added a healthy 2.67 million jobs over the past year, and the unemployment rate has fallen to a low 4.9 percent. Pay growth has been less robust, though it has accelerated somewhat, with a 2.5 percent increase from a year ago.

But it remains unclear whether the pace of job gains will endure amid signs that U.S. economic growth has dwindled. China's slowdown and troubles in such other emerging economies as Brazil and Russia have triggered a sharp decline in commodity prices such as oil. Those price drops, in turn, have driven a downturn in U.S. stock prices and a rise in the dollar's value to levels that have hurt exports.

Still, for now, the global chaos may have helped boost home sales. As many investors have shifted money into the safety of 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, the cost of borrowing has dropped for both the government and homebuyers. Mortgage rates tend to track the yields on long-term Treasurys.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage remained near record lows last week — 3.65 percent, significantly less than the historic average of roughly 6 percent.

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Oil prices extend losses in Asia – Financial Express

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Oil prices extend losses in Asia – Financial Express

oil price Oil prices fell further in Asia today after OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia shut the door on an output cut to ease the global crude supply glut, touting only a freeze in production.

Oil prices fell further in Asia today after OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia shut the door on an output cut to ease the global crude supply glut, touting only a freeze in production.

Traders were cautious ahead of the release later today of data on US commercial crude stockpiles which have been rising for weeks, indicating softer demand in the world’s top energy consumer.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April was down 56 cents, or 1.76 per cent, at USD 31.31 and Brent crude for April fell 33 cents, or 0.99 per cent, at USD 32.94 a barrel.

WTI tumbled 4.6 per cent and Brent tanked 4.1 per cent yesterday.

“We think that it’s inevitable that oil prices move back below the USD 30 market soon as supply continues to outstrip demand and inventory levels are very high,” Jason Wong, a currency strategist in Wellington at Bank of New Zealand Ltd said in an e-mail to clients, according to Bloomberg.

Bernard Aw, market strategist at IG Markets in Singapore said there was a “litany of oil-negative comments”.

He added: “Saudi oil minister said the country will not reduce output, while Iran said the Saudi-Russia pact is ‘ridiculous’ amid plans to raise Iranian oil output”.

Saudi Arabia and Russia — the world’s top oil producing nations – had earlier proposed to freeze output if other producers followed suit.

But Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh described the proposal as a “very funny joke” as production levels vary among oil producers.

“These developments reinforced my view that there is unlikely to be any concrete plans to ease the supply glut in the near term. Any solutions may be demand-led when the global economy picks up pace,” Aw told AFP.

While trimming production may be out of the picture for now, Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said he remained hopeful other producers would join a tentative freeze to January output levels it had agreed with Russia, Qatar and Venezuela last week.

He said freezing output was more realistic than cutting because “not many countries are going to deliver, even if they say they will cut production”.

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Shake-Up Atop Tribune After a Big Investor Arrives

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Shake-Up Atop Tribune After a Big Investor Arrives

Jack Griffin helped oversee Tribune Publishing’s spinoff from its parent company, now called Tribune Media.

After taking over as the chief executive of Tribune Publishing in 2014, Jack Griffin withstood a string of controversies and criticisms and a decline in the company’s share price to about $7 from nearly $25.

The one thing he could not survive was a new investor who initially seemed like a potential savior.When Michael Ferro, a Chicago entrepreneur and the majority owner of The Chicago Sun-Times, took a $44 million stake in Tribune Publishing in early February, many there thought the move might give Mr. Griffin more cash to pursue acquisitions and more leverage to stave off potential takeover bids. At the time, Mr. Griffin described the investment as one that would help Tribune Publishing execute its strategic plan. The company owns The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and The Hartford Courant, among other newspapers.

Less than three weeks later, Mr. Griffin has been abruptly replaced. The news, first reported by Politico, was announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission early Tuesday. Mr. Griffin will be succeeded by Justin C. Dearborn, the former chief executive of Merge Healthcare, and a close associate of Mr. Ferro.

Current and former Tribune Publishing staff members, speaking on condition of anonymity, attributed the move to Mr. Ferro. The company declined to comment on Mr. Griffin’s departure.

In a subsequent statement, Mr. Griffin said he had laid the foundation for the future success of the company and that “the timing is right for a new leader to come on board and lead Tribune Publishing through its next phase of transformation.”

Mr. Griffin helped oversee Tribune Publishing’s spinoff from its own parent company, now called Tribune Media, after years of turmoil. But he has been criticized recently by, among others, current and former members of the staff, and by civic leaders in Los Angeles, for cost-cutting that they said endangered The Times and for the lack of a clear plan to turn around the company’s newspapers. They are struggling, as are many in the industry, as precipitous downturns in print advertising are not being made up by digital revenue.

In a memo to staff members on Tuesday, the company said that Mr. Dearborn believed “that Tribune Publishing has a significant opportunity to leverage technology to increase the value of our content and distribution channels.” Before his appointment, Mr. Dearborn accompanied Mr. Ferro to some Tribune Publishing meetings, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Mr. Ferro, who also became board chairman upon making his investment, said in a statement, “The board thanks Jack Griffin for his significant contributions and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Robert Feder, who operates an independent website and has covered the news media in Chicago for decades, said it seemed clear that Mr. Ferro was “carrying out a strategy that he had planned from the beginning to take over the company.” Mr. Ferro, he said, was expected to make further executive changes, which could include “most of the people who were top executives around Griffin.” The plans, he said, could be unveiled early next month, around the time of the company’s earnings call.

Mr. Griffin’s departure represents the latest upheaval for Tribune Publishing’s newspapers. The Tribune Company, its corporate antecedent, was bought by the Chicago billionaire Sam Zell for $8.2 billion in 2008. Less than a year later, in the face of reports of erratic management, it tipped into bankruptcy, listing $7.6 billion in assets against a debt of $13 billion.

In 2014, after years of dealing with the bankruptcy and its fallout, the company spun its newspaper assets out into a separate company, Tribune Publishing, which it left with $350 million in debt. Mr. Griffin, who had consulted on the company’s spinoff, was appointed chief executive.

The Los Angeles Times, its flagship newspaper, responsible for the largest portion of the company’s revenue, has waged a continuing battle with its ownership through the years. Two former top editors — including Dean Baquet, now the executive editor of The New York Times — left after refusing to cut newsroom jobs. Despite their efforts, the newsroom, once staffed by 1,200 people, declined to about 500.

And late last year, Mr. Griffin fired Austin Beutner, the recently appointed publisher of the newspaper, who had injected a sense of optimism into the newsroom, after the two disagreed about strategy.

Many of those who protested Mr. Beutner’s firing have held out hope that the Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad, who previously expressed an interest in leading a group to buy The Times as an act of civic benevolence, would do just that. It was not immediately clear on Tuesday what impact the change in Tribune leadership might have on the newspaper’s future.

In the Times newsroom on Tuesday the feeling was one of resignation from afar. The journalists, said one person who was there, had been through this before.

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Justice Department Wants Apple to Unlock Nine More iPhones

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Justice Department Wants Apple to Unlock Nine More iPhones

The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., foreground, and New York City’s police commissioner, William J. Bratton, behind him, say they have about 175 iPhones they have been unable to unlock.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is demanding Apple’s help in unlocking at least nine iPhones nationwide in addition to the phone used by one of the San Bernardino, Calif., attackers.

The disclosure appears to buttress the company’s concerns that the dispute could pose a threat to encryption safeguards that goes well beyond the single California case.

Apple is fighting the government’s demands in at least seven of the other nine cases, Marc J. Zwillinger, a lawyer for the company, said in a letter unsealed in federal court on Tuesday.

“Apple has not agreed to perform any services on the devices,” Mr. Zwillinger wrote. Starting in December, the letter says, Apple has in a number of cases objected to the Justice Department’s efforts to force its cooperation through a 1789 statute known as the All Writs Act, which says courts can require actions to comply with their orders.

In the San Bernardino case, prosecutors have cast their demands for Apple to help them unlock the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook — one of the attackers in the December rampage, in which 14 people were killed — as a limited effort in response to an unusual situation.

Still, “no one should be surprised that we’re investigating other cases and looking for assistance in those other cases,” a law enforcement official said on Tuesday.

Since challenging a judge’s demand in the San Bernardino case, which called for Apple to create a special tool to help investigators more easily crack the phone’s passcode, the company has repeatedly asserted that such a move could not be done in isolation.

“Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices,” Apple’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, said in a letter to customers. And in a note on its website on Monday, Apple said law enforcement agencies nationwide “have hundreds of iPhones they want Apple to unlock if the F.B.I. wins this case.”

Apple has long maintained that it would hand over data to comply with a court order when it was technically able to do so. In a report covering the first six months of 2015, Apple said it had received nearly 11,000 requests from government agencies worldwide for information on roughly 60,000 devices, and it provided some data in roughly 7,100 instances.

But while the data backed up on Apple’s iCloud service is readily accessible by the company, it has made the security on the iPhone itself increasingly hard to crack.

Because a number of the newly disclosed cases remain sealed, Apple’s letter did not describe the types of crimes at issue. But they appear to involve run-of-the-mill prosecutions for offenses like drug trafficking and pornography, rather than a high-profile terrorism investigation, officials said.

The newly disclosed cases are in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston.

The existence of the other demands came to light in a drug-trafficking case in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, where prosecutors are seeking access to the data held in an iPhone linked to a methamphetamine distribution ring.

The owner of the phone, Jun Feng, 45, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the case. But prosecutors have pushed ahead anyway with their efforts to force Apple to unlock his phone, in part because they maintain that it could lead them to other drug suspects.

The two sides are awaiting a ruling from Magistrate Judge James Orenstein on whether Apple should be forced to cooperate. Before issuing a ruling, Judge Orenstein wanted Apple to detail other pending requests from prosecutors.

The Brooklyn drug-trafficking case has been dwarfed by the fight in California. But national security lawyers say the Brooklyn case remains important, because Judge Orenstein’s decision is expected to be the first to offer a broad examination of the government’s authority under the All Writs Act to force Apple to unlock passcode-protected iPhones.

The judge has indicated skepticism over the government’s demands. Initially, Apple agreed to a formal order to help the Justice Department gain access to Mr. Feng’s phone, but Judge Orenstein balked, questioning whether the All Writs Act could be used that way. He invited Apple’s lawyers to raise objections.

While his ultimate decision will not be legally binding in California, it could influence the legal arguments there. And an appeal by either side has the potential to work its way through the federal court system to become significant case law.

Law enforcement officials around the country are anxiously watching the cases in both Brooklyn and California to see how their own investigations might be affected.

At a news conference last week after the debate erupted in California, the New York City police commissioner, William J. Bratton, and the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., said they had collected about 175 iPhones, in investigations, that they have been unable to unlock.

Mr. Vance rejected the notion that Apple should be forced to cooperate only in certain prominent crimes.

“What we discover is that investigation into one crime often leads into criminal activity in another, sometimes much more serious than what we were originally looking at,” he said.

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Starbucks Revamps Loyalty Program To Count Dollars Spent, Not Number Of Visits

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Starbucks Revamps Loyalty Program To Count Dollars Spent, Not Number Of Visits
Starbucks

The new Starbucks Rewards program will count the dollars that customers spend instead of the number of transactions in giving out stars that can be collected for a free food item or drink. Low spenders are not welcoming the change, which will highly benefit customers that spend more.

Starbucks is revamping its loyalty program to make it easier for big spenders to gain rewards, as the new program will now be counting the dollars spent by customers as opposed to the number of times they have visited.

In the current My Starbucks Rewards program, customers earn stars for every transaction they make in Starbucks, regardless of the amount they spent. After accumulating 12 stars, customers are entitled to a free drink or food item of their choice.

Beginning April, Starbucks will be awarding stars to customers based on how much they spend in the store. In the renamed Starbucks Rewards program, every dollar that they spend will net the customer two stars, and a free drink or food item can be cashed in after collecting 125 stars. This would mean that, under the new program, customers will have to spend $62.50 to get their reward.

Customers who are low spenders, such as those who usually only purchase the $2 regular drip coffee, are getting the short end of the stick in the new program. They will now need to make more than 30 visits to Starbucks before they get their free drink or food item, as opposed to the current program that allows them to get their reward after only spending $24 over 12 visits.

On the other hand, customers who regularly purchase drinks and food items for their families or for team meetings, for example, will be able to accumulate enough stars for rewards faster and more often.

According to Starbucks, there are 11 million members of the company's loyalty program, with each member spending three times as much on average compared to non-members. The number of members is less than one out of every six Starbucks customers though, which is a rate that is lower compared to other companies with similar programs in other industries.

Starbucks chief strategy officer Matthew Ryan said that the change in the program is the most requested one, and is being depended upon to entice more customers to join Starbucks Rewards.

With all that said, the company is still facing some backlash on social media due to the new program. Understandably, loyal Starbucks customers that are not big spenders are unhappy about the change.

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Starbucks’ new rewards program isn’t for the frugal

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Starbucks’ new rewards program isn’t for the frugal

With the new Starbucks rewards system, money matters.

On Monday, Starbucks announced a new rewards program that will begin in April. The program will reward customers based on dollars spent at Starbucks locations and shift away from rewarding frequent visits. The decision was based on consumer demand, according to Starbucks, but has caused a backlash from customers on Twitter.

The new rewards system has the potential to aid big spenders to more quickly earn free rewards. But for customers getting a quick drink to go? They’ll have to spend more to qualify.

“If you always buy only one beverage or pastry when you visit Starbucks, it might mean taking a little longer to get a free reward than you do today,” it states on the Starbucks website.

The current Starbucks reward system is based on visits. Each visit results in a customer being rewarded with one star. With 30 stars customers reach Gold status, after which every 12 stars results in a free reward. At a minimum, a Gold customer could earn a free reward by spending about $24 and buying a cup of regular coffee over 12 visits. For people buying more expensive drinks, it would still take 12 visits.

Under the revamped rewards system rolling out in April, every dollar spent at Starbucks will gain a customer 2 stars, according to the website. It will take customers 300 stars to reach Gold level and 125 stars to gain a free reward. At a minimum, Gold customers would need to spend $62.50 and for customers only buying a cup of coffee, it would take more than 30 visits to reach a free reward. A Gold customer buying more expensive drinks would earn a free reward faster.

In other words: spend more money and you will earn a reward even faster under the new system.

The change in rewards system comes as many fast food establishments have been shedding programs that offer cheap food and replacing them with programs to boost the dollar per order amount. In November 2015, McDonald’s ditched its dollar menu in exchange for a McPick 2 menu, where customers can pick two items for $2. Wendy’s also ended its dollar menu and became the first burger chain to test a “4 for 4” menu nationally, which Business Insider credits with helping to achieve a 4.8 percent boost in sales in the fourth quarter.

Starbucks could be leveraging its popular reward system aiming at the same goal: upping the amount, even slightly, of how much customers spend when they order.

Last month, Starbucks reached more than 11 million customers using their loyalty program, a growth of 23 percent over the last year, according to The Associated Press. Current loyalty rewards members spend about three times more than non-members.

Starbucks has stated that the new plan will also offer new ways to earn reward stars, including Double-Star Days and other as yet undisclosed methods.

“You’ll be able to collect Stars in so many places, from Starbucks and Teavana stores to the grocery aisle, even in your inbox. Soon we’ll be launching new ways for you to earn even more Stars, both in and out of our stores,” it says on the website.

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This Is How An Illinois Lab Is Testing Hoverboards For Explosions Risks

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This Is How An Illinois Lab Is Testing Hoverboards For Explosions Risks
Hoverboard

Underwriters Laboratories is the company tapped by the United States government to issue certifications for the new safety standards concerning hoverboards. So far, no hoverboard has received the certification.

The United States government, through the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has deemed hoverboards as unsafe as of now, as new safety standards have been released for the personal transportation devices.

Despite reports that certain models and brands of hoverboards carry fire and explosion risks, the devices have still been very popular. However, companies and retailers are now being urged to take all hoverboards off the market until they have received testing to see if they pass the new standards. Amazon is one such retailer that has taken down listings of hoverboards in its website.

The independent product testing company tapped to check if hoverboards fall in line with the new safety standards is Underwriters Laboratories, located in Northbrook, Illinois. The lab will be issuing UL 2272, the new certification that will focus on the safety of the hoverboards in terms of their electrical system, batteries and chargers.

UL Consumer Safety Director John Drengenberg noted that hoverboards are usually powered by 20 lithium ion cells within their battery packs, and the lab is subjecting these cells to different kinds of tests to see how they can hold up.

Tests include pushing nails straight into the middle of the cells and applying indirect heat to them. In a demonstration of the two tests, the cell exploded into flames. That is only one cell, so it would be easy to imagine how much damage a battery pack made of 20 cells would do when all of them would explode at once.

Another test drops hoverboards from 1 meter above the ground, while another test traps the wheel of the device in a vice for 7 hours. If the hoverboard would overheat over the time, then it would not pass the standard.

These are not all the tests that hoverboards will be subjected to, but on first glance, they may seem a bit over the top. However, these tests were designed this way to eliminate low-quality devices easily.

Drengenberg said that there is no new technology in hoverboards, with the only new thing being the combination of these technologies. UL has previously accused hoverboard maker Swagway of using UL certification stickers on their products despite the certification only being on some of the parts of the hoverboards, and not on the hoverboard as a complete product.

"It's how the whole system works together that matters," Drengenberg noted. "It shouldn't be impossible to make a safe hoverboard, but so far there isn't a single hoverboard that's been certified."

Yes, that's right. No hoverboards have yet been certified for the new safety standards, and it could be some time before the first safe hoverboards are determined.

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ES Morning Update February 24th 2016

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ES Morning Update February 24th 2016

ee638338-f61a-4766-bf40-628c95bbf358Futures shown 5 waves down in them from Monday's high and are resting at horizontal support

MACD's on this 60 minute are at -5 area and look like they want to turn up but the 6 hour, 4 hour and 2 hour are still pointing down

When I look at other time frame charts the odds are shifting more and more to the bears holding that Monday high and any move up today and/or Thursday only putting in a higher low, possibly hitting the falling trendline now connecting Monday's high to Tuesday's high... and it's coming in around 1928 area the futures right now.

There is horizontal support right at the 1900 level and it's an even number play... meaning it's one of those levels that mentally people are drawn too because it seems important.  Just like 2000 SPX, 2100, 1800, etc... or in the DOW it would be 16,000... 17,000... you get the picture.  From a technical point of view the next support area is around 1890 on the futures, then a retest of that falling channel that just below that 1890 but falling.

After a low is found this morning we could (and should) see it turn back up later in the day (or sooner?) to attempt one more breakout, which should fail from the looks of the charts and just put in a lower high that will also look like the right shoulder of a nice "head and shoulders" pattern with the head at Monday's high and the left shoulder at last Thursday's high.  It might end up looking a lot like the head and shoulders pattern that formed back on 2/1 (the head), 1/22 and 1/27 (two left shoulders) and 2/4 (double right shoulder).

If they fail to turn back up and continue lower today and into tomorrow then they could work off enough of the overbought conditions on the larger time frame and allow another turn back up next week to make another run attempt to breakthrough overhead resistance at the 1950 SPX horizontal line in the sand.   Right now I see those odds as low, but if it happened then that 1860 area for the gap fill on the futures would be about a 50% retrace and my target to be hit today/tomorrow if NO right shoulder.

The scenario I favor is the right shoulder to form today/tomorrow and then a big drop starting Friday and continuing into next week with that 1860 being busted and a move on down to make a triple bottom at the 1810 zone, which I think will break this go around.  But for now lets just say I'm looking for early selling and a midday to late day turn back up.

Jack Griffin, Chief Executive of Tribune Publishing, Is Replaced – New York Times

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Jack Griffin, Chief Executive of Tribune Publishing, Is Replaced – New York Times

Jack Griffin helped oversee Tribune Publishing’s spinoff from its parent company, now called Tribune Media.

After taking as the chief executive of Tribune Publishing in 2014, Jack Griffin withstood a string of controversies and criticisms and a decline in the company’s share price to about $7 from nearly $25. The one thing he could not survive was a new investor who initially seemed like a potential savior.

When Michael Ferro, a Chicago entrepreneur and the majority owner of The Chicago Sun-Times, took a $44 million stake in Tribune Publishing in early February, many there thought the move might give Mr. Griffin more cash to pursue acquisitions and more leverage to stave off potential takeover bids. At the time, Mr. Griffin described the investment as one that would help Tribune Publishing execute its strategic plan. The company owns The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and The Hartford Courant, among other newspapers.

Less than three weeks later, Mr. Griffin has been abruptly replaced. The news, first reported by Politico, was announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission early Tuesday. Mr. Griffin will be succeeded by Justin C. Dearborn, the former chief executive of Merge Healthcare, the company said.

Current and former Tribune Publishing staff members, speaking on condition of anonymity, attributed the move to Mr. Ferro. The company declined to comment on Mr. Griffin’s departure.

In a subsequent statement, Mr. Griffin said he had laid the foundation for the future success of the company and that “the timing is right for a new leader to come on board and lead Tribune Publishing through its next phase of transformation.”

Mr. Griffin helped oversee Tribune Publishing’s spinoff from its own parent company, now called Tribune Media, after years of turmoil. But he has been criticized recently by, among others, current and former members of the staff, and by civic leaders in Los Angeles, for cost-cutting that they said endangered The Times and for the lack of a clear plan to turn around the company’s newspapers. They are struggling, as are many in the industry, as precipitous downturns in print advertising are not being made up by digital revenue. The company’s stock price has fallen to about $7.20 Tuesday afternoon from nearly $25 in 2014.

In a memo to staff members on Tuesday, the company said that Mr. Dearborn believed “that Tribune Publishing has a significant opportunity to leverage technology to increase the value of our content and distribution channels.” Before his appointment, Mr. Dearborn accompanied Mr. Ferro to some Tribune Publishing meetings, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Mr. Ferro, who also became board chairman upon making his investment, said in a statement, “The board thanks Jack Griffin for his significant contributions and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Robert Feder, who operates an independent website and has covered the news media in Chicago for decades, said it seemed clear that Mr. Ferro was “carrying out a strategy that he had planned from the beginning to take over the company.” Mr. Ferro, he said, was expected to make further executive changes, which could include “most of the people who were top executives around Griffin.” The plans, he said, would most likely be unveiled early next month, around the time of the company’s earnings call.

Mr. Griffin’s departure represents the latest upheaval for Tribune Publishing’s newspapers. The Tribune Company, its corporate antecedent, was bought by the Chicago billionaire Sam Zell for $8.2 billion in 2008. Less than a year later, in the face of reports of erratic management, it tipped into bankruptcy, listing $7.6 billion in assets against a debt of $13 billion.

In 2014, after years of dealing with the bankruptcy and its fallout, the company spun its newspaper assets out into a separate company, Tribune Publishing, which it left with $350 million in debt. Mr. Griffin, who had consulted on the company’s spinoff, was appointed chief executive.

The Los Angeles Times, its flagship newspaper, responsible for the largest portion of the company’s revenue, has waged a continuing battle with its ownership through the years. Two former top editors — including Dean Baquet, now the executive editor of The New York Times — left after refusing to cut newsroom jobs. Despite their efforts, the newsroom, once staffed by 1,200 people, declined to about 500.

And late last year, Mr. Griffin fired Austin Beutner, the recently appointed publisher of the newspaper, who had injected a sense of optimism into the newsroom, after the two disagreed about strategy.

Many of those who protested Mr. Beutner’s firing have held out hope that the Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad, who previously expressed an interest in leading a group to buy The Times as an act of civic benevolence, would do just that. It was not immediately clear on Tuesday what impact the change in Tribune leadership might have on The Times.

In the Los Angeles Times newsroom on Tuesday the feeling was one of resignation from afar. The journalists, said one person who was there, had been through this before.

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Bertha resumes digging under Seattle

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Bertha resumes digging under Seattle

SEATTLE – Bertha, the machine boring the State Route 99 tunnel under Seattle, resumed tunneling Tuesday after being shut down for more than a month due to safety concerns.

WSDOT announced Seattle Tunnel Partners resumed digging after getting conditional permission to lift the “suspension for cause” that halted tunneling.

The state ordered STP to stop digging January 14 after a sinkhole formed behind Bertha. The hole was 35 feet long, 20 feet wide and 15 feet deep. Two days before that, a barge used to haul dirt from construction partially tipped, damaging a pier.

“As part of the conditions for lifting the suspension for cause, STP will be permitted to tunnel forward and install approximately 25 concrete tunnel rings. During this time, they must demonstrate that they have implemented a number of changes to ensure they can safely continue mining,” WSDOT said in a press release.

Those changes include:

  • Updated tunnel work and quality plans, including calculations of the amount of soil removed during excavation of each tunnel ring
  • Realignment of key personnel within their quality assurance program
  • New quality assurance protocols
  • New personnel at key positions within the tunneling operation
  • Restructured daily tunneling meetings that include additional participants and protocols

Barging activities will still be restricted for the time being and soil will be removed by truck.

WSDOT says the lifting of the suspension is conditional. Bertha will dig 160 feet. If the new requirements show that everything is working OK, Bertha will dig another 100 feet. That’s where there will be a final maintenance stop which could last several weeks.

After that, Bertha will dig beneath the Alaskan Way Viaduct. That stretch of highway will be closed for about two weeks during digging. The date of that closure has not yet been determined. From there, Bertha will be digging under downtown Seattle.

The contractor now has an opportunity to show progress during this test period, prior to tunneling under the viaduct and underneath Seattle,” said Gov. Jay Inslee.

Bertha spent two years idle underground while undergoing repairs. It resumed moving on Dec. 23, 2015, but was stopped less than a month later after the sinkhole and barge incidents.

The tunnel was originally scheduled to be open by now. Due to the two year hiatus, the tunnel is now expected to open in spring 2018. Much of the work on the north end, where the tunnel will exit, has continued during the shutdown.

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London Stock Exchange in Merger Talks With Deutsche Börse

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London Stock Exchange in Merger Talks With Deutsche Börse

Even after Deutsche Börse failed to merge with the N.Y.S.E., it has struck a number of acquisitions.

Four years ago, Deutsche Börse called off an effort to merge with the parent of the New York Stock Exchange, after European antitrust regulators threatened to block the combination.

Now, the German market operator is willing to try another deal — this time with the London Stock Exchange.

The two exchanges said on Tuesday that they were in talks to combine in an all-stock deal, potentially uniting two of the biggest European market operators and creating a new giant in an industry that has rapidly consolidated.

“The boards believe that the potential merger would represent a compelling opportunity for both companies to strengthen each other in an industry-defining combination, creating a leading European-based global markets infrastructure group,” the two said in a joint regulatory statement.

In the last decade, numerous market operators have pursued ever-bigger scale through mergers. Both of the big, old names in American exchanges, the N.Y.S.E. and the Nasdaq, are the products of mergers themselves: the Big Board with Euronext and then the IntercontinentalExchange, and the Nasdaq with the OMX Group of Sweden.

Under the terms of the proposed merger disclosed on Tuesday, shareholders in the LS.E. would receive 0.4421 of a new share in the combined company for every L.S.E. share they own. Their counterparts at Deutsche Börse would receive one share of the new company for each of their shares, giving the 54.4 percent of the united market operator over all.

The new company’s board would be evenly divided between directors of each of the two companies.

Shares of the L.S.E. were up nearly 17 percent in Tuesday trading in London. In Frankfurt, shares of Deutsche Börse were up 7.4 percent.

The two are no strangers to deal-making. Even after Deutsche Börse failed to merge with the N.Y.S.E. — clearing the path for the Big Board to sell itself to the IntercontinentalExchange — it has struck a number of acquisitions.

The L.S.E. has played both acquirer and potential target, not least with Deutsche Börse itself. The two discussed plans to merge in 2000, though no deal emerged, and then four years later, Deutsche Börse made an unsuccessful bid for its London-based rival.

Other exchange operators, including OMX and Nasdaq, also made bids for the L.S.E. that the British firm rejected.

Instead, the L.S.E. has struck acquisitions like those of Borsa Italiana of Milan and Russell Investments, the owner of the Russell stock market indexes. The London exchange also sought to acquire TMX, the parent of the Toronto stock exchange, though that deal was scuttled by investors in the Canadian firm.

Robey Warshaw is advising the L.S.E., while Perella Weinberg Partners is advising Deutsche Börse.

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Consumer confidence falls to seven-month low

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Consumer confidence falls to seven-month low

Consumers aren’t as optimistic about the economy in early 2016 as they were last fall.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Consumers confidence fell in February to the lowest level in seven months, as American became a bit more pessimistic about business conditions. Turmoil in stock markets probably also increased anxiety.

The consumer confidence index dropped to 92.2 from a revised 97.8 in January, the Conference Board said Tuesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had projected the index to fall to 96.9.

The present situation index, a measure of current conditions, slid to 112.1 from 116.6.

The future expectations index declined to 78.9 from 85.3.

“Consumers’ assessment of current conditions weakened, primarily due to a less favorable assessment of business conditions,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. “Consumers’ short-term outlook grew more pessimistic, with consumers expressing greater apprehension about business conditions, their personal financial situation, and to a lesser degree, labor market prospects.

Still, the survey also suggests that consumers believe the economy “will continue to expand at a moderate pace in the near term,” Franco added.

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New London rail line to be named Elizabeth Line after queen

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New London rail line to be named Elizabeth Line after queen

Britian’s Queen Elizabeth II, centre, talks to Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, left, and Mayor of London Boris Johnson, centre, during a royal visit to the construction site of the new Bond Street Crossrail Station in central London, Tuesday Feb. 23, 2016. The Queen is scheduled to tour the Crossrail project which will provide new links through new tunnels under Central London, opening in 2018, (Dominic Lipinski / PA via AP) UNITED KINGDOM OUT - NO SALES - NO ARCHIVES (Associated Press)

By Associated Press February 23 at 7:36 AM

LONDON — A new rail line under London is to be named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II.

Developers say the project known as Crosssrail will be named the Elizabeth Line when it opens in December 2018. When it is finished, the line will run for more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) from east to west, including a 13-mile (21-kilometer) underground stretch through London.

The monarch, who turns 90 in April, unveiled a sign with the purple “Elizabeth Line” logo on a visit to a Crossrail tunnel on Tuesday.

Several London transit lines already have royal connections. The Jubilee subway line was named in honor of Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee marking 25 years on the throne in 1977, while the Victoria Line and Victoria railway station are named after Queen Victoria.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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