On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his disappointment with the Fed's policy  rate hikes and hinted at his worries about the impact on U.S. trade/economic growth. The Fed has raised rates twice so far in 2018 and is expected to make two more hikes by the end of the year.The U.S. President is worried that higher interest rates might heat up the U.S. dollar and therefore put the U.S. at a “disadvantage” - amidst low interest rates maintained by central banks in the Europe and Japan, coupled with China’s plunging currency. Following the interview’s airing, the White House released a statement asserting that “the President respects the independence of the Fed” and that his “well-known” opinions on interest rates are not intended to interfere with the Fed’s decisions.  

“I’m ready to go 500”, said U.S. President Donald Trump in CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ interview.Just a couple of days back, the Trump administration announced 10% tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports. So far, $34 billion of Chinese goods have already met with Trump’s tariffs, to which China had responded with levies on $34 billion of U.S. goods imported into its nation. Trump seems to be in no mood to give up his one-upmanship in this apparent ‘tariff war’, as is suggested by his ‘threats’ and actions in recent days.

Canadian pot grower and seller Tilray (TLRY) went IPO today on Nasdaq and gained +31% to $22.39 per share.The offering was multiply oversubscribed to the large demand from investors in USA.  In that sense Tilray reminds of Canopy Growth (CGC) and Cronos Group (CRON) that are both Canadian marijuana companies that were first listed in Canada but than moved to Nasdaq and New York stock exchanges. After super successful IPO Tilray is planning to invest over $100,000,000 in expanding it’s growth operations to a close of whopping  1,000,000 square feet of growth space capable of delivering 1 million plants for harvesting every 3 months with an estimated retail value of $5,000 * 1mil = $5 Billion every quarter.

The fast pace growing industry of Cannabis is opening a lot of opportunity for women, and they are taking full advantage of it.According to a Marijuana Business Daily, women are holding 27% of the C-Suite jobs (Chief level positions).

Congressman Brad Sherman during the Wednesday hearing of a subcommittee for the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee suggested prohibiting US citizens from buying and mining cryptocurrencies. The California Democrat said that beyond cryptocurrencies being possibly used as a form of money soon, it can currently be utilized by tax evaders and countries trying to bypass U.S. sanctions.

But the patience of the Wall Street is running out. On the positive side, Tesla finally produced 5,000 Model 3 cars last week and is aiming at producing 6,000 in the nearest future.Will that be enough to pacify and excite Wall Street remains to be seen? Oh, yes – and the cars are stunning!

Stories have cited a toxic work culture and the use of a racial slur by founder and (now former) chairman John Schnatter.Mr. Schnatter has now been removed from the company amid other scandals potentially ranging from spying on employees to sexual harassment, though he still owns 29% of shares. But the news that moved shares on Wall Street had nothing to do with Papa John's current PR nightmare -- it had to do with a potential merger or acquisition of the Wendy's fast food chain. The deal, if it went through, would mean upgrading Papa John's technology and hoping to scale up the pizza chain.

The U.S. Justice Department has filed to appeal the decision that allowed the mega-merger between AT&T and Time Warner, even though U.S. District Judge Richard Leon made it fairly clear he believed the Justice Department’s case was weak.The Justice Department’s decision to appeal is somewhat unsurprising, but also somewhat odd – the deal already went through in June.

For the first time in history, a company is set to have a $1 trillion valuation, but the question is who will hit the milestone first -- Apple or Amazon? Apple remains the world's most valuable company, but Amazon is nipping at its heels as it reached a $900 billion valuation this week."  Amazon shares are up over 50% for the year and have soared over 100,000% since it debuted on the NASDAQ back in 1997.

Its rising ubiquity around the world means increased attention for the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem, placing digital currencies firmly in government regulatory crosshairs.Sweden recently announced their intention to create a state-backed digital currency, joining a growing list of governments to broach the subject. Countries like the UK, Ecuador, Estonia, Russia, Senegal, and more have begun exploring their own state-backed cryptocurrencies, but only one has officially launched as the declared primary currency of the state – the Venezuelan Petro.

  Google introduced the mini program “Caihua Xiaoge”( or “Guess My Sketch”) on China’s largest social media platform WeChat.Mini programs are apps that users can access without having to install Google Play or Apple App store. Caihua Xiaoge is an AI-powered game in which players get to draw something on their smartphone/tablet in a limited time, so that Google’s AI software can identify the object drawn. In a nation where most of Google's apps/services including Google Play, Gmail and Youtube are banned, the company’s AI product on WeChat marks one of its rare (and therefore significant) connections with the Chinese market, following its investment of $550 million in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com last month.

Comcast decides to no longer bid for 21st Century Fox’s assets, ending one of the biggest bidding wars in show business.But now, Comcast ‘s stepping back potentially clears the way for Disney to go ahead with its $71 billion cash-and-stock offer to buy Fox’s assets. However, Comcast is now eyeing Sky Plc.

Texas could surpass Iraq and Iran in oil production by next year, as suggested by a HSBC analysis. The rapid explosion of oil output from the state could catapult Texas to the position of the 3rd highest oil producer (behind Russia and Saudi Arabia)  if it were a country, according to HSBC. The two major oilfields of the state, the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford are projected to pump a combined output of 5.6 million barrels per day in 2019 – compared to 2.5 million barrels per day in 2014, according to HSBC analysis.Iraq and Iran are estimated to produce 4.8 million and 3 million barrels per day respectively next year. However, it remains to be seen if the Permian Basin can resolve its existing infrastructural/ logistical bottlenecks such as pipeline shortages, and how far it can channel its massive production potential into effective supply networks.

The European Union (EU) is readying its retaliation plan, in case U.S. President Donald Trump does not budge from his tariff threats for cars. Last month, Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs to 20% from 2.5% on cars imported from the EU into the U.S., if an ongoing investigation convinces him that auto imports are indeed endangering U.S. national security.On Thursday, EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom announced that the region is preparing a list of “rebalancing measures” to be implemented if Donald Trump decides to go ahead with the tariff hike. Hoping to temper the trade tensions, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet Trump on July 25 to propose  a lowering of levies on automobiles and auto-parts among  all major car exporters (akin to a plurilateral agreement), along with an expected free-trade offer. Following U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel imports and the EU’s hitting back with levies on $3.3 billion of American goods, the next round

July 18, 2018 Dow gained +79 points to 25,200 while Nasdaq remained almost unchanged, but the market still produced some interesting winners and losers today. One of the huge winners was Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) that gained +5% to $303,210 per share and almost $50 billion in capitalization gain in just 1 day, because Warren Buffet announced more repurchases of its own stock soon.Another winner was United Airlines (UAL) that gained +8% to $79 per share due to a record profit forecast for 2018 and also reduction in new airplane purchases because of skyrocketing fuel costs. One of the big losers today was Clorox (CLX) that declined by -4% to $128 per share when Goldman Sachs downgraded the company saying it is overvalued, earnings are at risk and pricing headwinds can reduce revenue.

Mastercard got a patent that will allow them to conduct blockchain payments on their credit cards.This would provide a major inconvenience to everyone. 

As of today, Amazon's Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Bezos, is officially the richest person in the world with a Net Worth of $112 Billion!!With Bill Gates coming in second at $90 Billion. 

She points out to the run of Russell 2000 (the index of small-cap stocks) – is up almost 10% this year (through yesterday’s close). The run of FAANG stocks continues (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet).Where are we on the standard cycle of the investor's emotions: Optimism, Excitement, Thrill, Euphoria, Anxiety, Denial, Fear, Desperation, Panic, Capitulation, Despondency, Depression is anybody’s guess?

The buyback boom has seen by investors as a sign of confidence among business executives.  According to an analysis of regulatory filings by TrimTabs Investment Research, insiders sold $8.4 billion of their shares in May and $9.2 billion in June.Apple (AAPL) also announced plans last quarter for $100 billion in buybacks. However, according to an analysis from SEC Commissioner Robert Jackson Jr, insider selling increases immediately after buybacks are unveiled.

EU regulators have charged the Android developer for compelling smartphone makers into pre-installing Google Search app and Chrome as a condition for licensing Google Play store, and even paying them to bundle Google apps into the operating system in some instances. The investigation, started by EU regulators in 2015, apparently indicates that Google has been using its Android dominance to milk advertising and other revenues, while restricting choices for European consumers. Previously, EU had slapped $2.7 billion fine on Google in 2017 for unethically favoring its own shopping services over rivals on its search results.Adding the latest charge, Google potentially faces more than $7 billion in fines from the EU. Google however, argues that Android has actually enhanced consumer choice and that providing Android software free of charge to manufacturers has helped lower phone prices and therefore increased online usage by consumers.