Crude Futures (/CL)

Crude Futures (/CL) dropped 6.6% to $53.43, after President Trump reiterated the strong ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.  Some felt that President Trump’s  comments were an attempt to keep Saudi Arabia from cutting oil production at the OPEC meeting in December.  Besides the comments, concerns over a global slowdown and oversupply have driven crude oil into a bear market.

shortened holiday week

With the shortened holiday week, most of the earnings reports will take place earlier in the week as the markets are closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and have a shortened session on Friday.  The retail sector will take center stage with earnings from the likes of Best Buy (BBY), Kohl’s (KSS), Loews (LOW) and Target (TGT) will all release their results tomorrow.  As of this writing, U.S. crude oil futures (/CL) are 1% lower near $56 per barrel and S&P 500 futures (/ES) are 0.4% lower near 2731.

Brent crude

Their combined wagers against West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude soared for a seventh straight week, the longest global short-selling streak in data going back to 2011. The bearish bets jumped 14 percent in the week ended Nov. 13 and have tripled since the end of September, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trade Commission and ICE Futures Europe on Friday.

With oil prices slipping into a bear market, OPEC has promised to do what it takes to cut output. Still, it’s unclear how far the cartel and its allies will go and it may take a reduction well beyond the 1 million barrels a day that’s been publicly discussed to restore faith, said Daniel Ghali,            

UK's FTSE is lower by 1.0%. 11/16

UK's FTSE is lower by 1.0%. Financials and select consumer names are among the laggards with RBS, British American Tobacco, Lloyds Banking, Compass, Persimmon, Prudential, Direct Line Insurance, Barclays, and ITV holding losses between 0.8% and 4.0%. France's CAC is down 0.7% amid losses in most components. Financials Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, and Credit Agricole show losses between 1.1% and 1.6% while STMicroelectronics, Kering, TechnipFMC, Airbus, Renault, Danone, and Louis Vuitton are down between 0.6% and 1.9%. Germany's DAX is down 0.7%. Infineon is down 2.5% while Bayer, Adidas, BMW, SAP, BASF, and Daimler hold losses between 0.6% and 2.5%.

OPEC officials 11/12

Over the weekend, remarks from OPEC officials indicate that they are likely to formally cut output at their next meeting in December.  Concerns of no deal being achieved on Brexit are flaring back up, and Prime Minister May is feeling pressure on all sides.  Reports are surfacing that satellite images of  North Korea, indicate that the country’s  nuclear threat has worsened since the Trump-Kim summit.  This week’s economic calendar will be weighted towards the end of the week with CPI being released on Wednesday and  Jobless Claims, Retail Sales, and Import/Export Prices coming out on Thursday.  Earnings continue to roll on with Home Depot (HD)  results coming out on Tuesday morning and Walmart (WMT) on Thursday morning.  As of this writing, U.S. crude oil futures (/CL) are 1% higher near $60.85 per barrel and S&P 500 futures (/ES) are slightly lower near 2775.

Disney (DIS)

Disney (DIS) – The Mouse beats the house --  The entertainment juggernaut reported earnings of $1.48 per share which was well ahead of the consensus estimate of $1.35 per share.  Revenue figures also beat, with the company reporting revenue of $14.3 billion versus estimates of $13.76 billion.  The shares are trading 1.5% higher, near $118 in the pre-market.

Hologic Inc. (HOLX)

Hologic Inc. (HOLX) shares rose in the extended session Wednesday as the medical technology company's earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates but revenue topped them. Hologic shares rose 4.6% after hours, following a 2% gain to close the regular session at $41.26. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $50.5 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with $82.7 million, or 29 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 58 cents a share. Revenue rose to $813.5 million from $802.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 59 cents a share on revenue of $806.3 million. For the year, Hologic expects earnings of $2.38 to $2.42 a share on revenue of $3.29 billion to $3.34 billion, while analysts had forecast $2.42 a share on revenue of $3.31 billion.