The stock market just might shuffle to a weekly win, helped by all those good vibes from the energy sector, small caps and the royal wedding.
It’ll be close though, as China and North Korea remain headaches, and the 10-year Treasury yield refuses to lend a hand. Some traders, of course, are mocking the blame game:
funny how some days the market just "shrugs off" the yield on the 10-yr, and other days it matters
— StockCats (@StockCats) May 17, 2018
So what looks like a big winner, regardless of the broad market’s action?
Spotify, according to Scott Galloway, founder of marketing company L2 and an NYU professor. “I believe Spotify could be the next horseman,” he wrote recently, suggesting that Sweden’s music-streaming star deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Netflix NFLX, -0.14% and even “the Four” — Amazon AMZN, -0.42% , Apple AAPL, +0.14% , Facebook FB, -0.39% and Google GOOG, -1.20% GOOGL, -1.08% .
But Josh “The Reformed Broker” Brown ain’t havin’ it, and his reaction to Galloway’s upbeat take provides our call of the day.
“Spotify SPOT, -3.46% is fine. I just don’t understand how that becomes a huge business,” the Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO says in a video.
Peer comparison has made him skeptical on the definitely-not-Swiss company, which had its NYSE trading debut last month.
Rival Pandora’s P, -1.42% valuation has been “low for years and years,” notes Brown, who says he’s a Pandora Premium user. The Oakland, Calif.-based company makes money, but “nobody cares,” he says.
Galloway, on the other hand, argues that Spotify is head and shoulders above Pandora thanks to its global footprint, its social aspect and its superior technology, merchandizing and brand.
Brown does at least throw Spotify’s fans a bone: “I’m not shorting it.”
Don’t miss: From Spotify to Instagram, the entire internet is now a dating site
And read: Spotify finds defenders after earnings-driven drop
The Ritholtz Wealth’s crew full video is below, covering “Chart Crimes,” Robinhood and more.
Key market gauges
The Dow DJIA, +0.14% , S&P 500 SPX, -0.12% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.17% are mixed in the early going, after they slumped yesterday. The three gauges are on track for weekly drops of 0.3% to 0.5% as of Thursday’s close.
The 10-year Treasury yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -1.39% is around 3.08%. Europe SXXP, -0.38% is lower, after Asia closed mixed. The dollar index DXY, +0.19% is higher, while oil CLM8, -0.17% and gold GCM8, +0.18% are falling. Bitcoin BTCUSD, -1.53% has been changing hands around $8,100.
See the Market Snapshot column for the latest action.
The quote
“The wedding will be labeled a ‘boost for Brexit.’ Someone, somewhere will call the wedding ‘a sign to the world that Britain is open for business,’ because nothing says ‘competitive economy’ like a society that still loses its mind over a thousand-year-old dynastic aristocracy.” — A satirical Times of London guide for tomorrow’s royal wedding is anticipating the TV commentary.
Meghan Markle has asked for “space” for her dad, as Prince Charles now will walk her down the aisle. Plus, the American bride’s high school is proud of her. And purveyors of royal wedding-themed kitsch are loving the potential $1.4 billion economic boost, but transportation authorities think the big day won’t be a big deal.
Check out: What it’s like to share your big day with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
And read: What’s happening to London’s cranes? Brexit bites into U.K. construction
The buzz
Telsa CEO TSLA, -1.54% Elon Musk’s latest grand promise: His Boring Company wants to charge $1 for a 150 mph Loop ride, taking passengers from downtown Los Angeles to LAX in eight minutes.
President Donald Trump has acknowledged new doubts about the fate of his coming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump is also reportedly planning to ban federally funded clinics from discussing abortion with women.
China is denying it proposed a $200 billion reduction in its trade surplus with the U.S.
Nordstrom JWN, -9.25% and Applied Materials AMAT, -8.35% are dropping after their earnings late yesterday, while Deere DE, +5.24% and Campbell Soup CPB, -10.43% are in the red as well after posting earnings before the open, with the soup seller saying its CEO is out.
On the Federal Reserve front, the Cleveland Fed’s Loretta Mester is calling for a financial stability report.
Italy’s two biggest populist parties have agreed on a coalition program that includes plans to cut taxes and increase spending.
More royals news: An employee for Queen Elizabeth II’s bank, Coutts & Co., was photographed wearing a hat featuring a penis-shaped protrusion on a company-sponsored charity trip to Rwanda, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The chart
Investors seem to get hung up on certain key levels, whether it’s for the 10-year yield or oil. And the global benchmark for crude LCON8, +0.18% has clambered above a big round number this week, with Brent crude spending time above $80 a barrel.
That has helped a popular energy ETF XLE, -0.64% score a super-long win streak — and created quite a spread between Brent and WTI.
Random reads
“Brieing” (taking the drug MDMA wrapped in cheese) is allegedly now a thing.
Ecuador nixes WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extra embassy security.
Messages in a bottle: Activists are sending rice and dollar bills to North Korea.
Capitals repay Qatar for keeping DC’s Metro open late by... losing.
Pope Francis says finance’s bigwigs learned nothing from the last crisis.
This U.K. pub has forbidden talking about the royal wedding.
The Twitterverse is offering #GraduationAdviceIn5Words:
Owning your computer is so last year:
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