Apple Lost $11 Billion Buying Back Its Own Stock In 2018

There's a funny thing about buybacks: when stocks are rising (and are therefore more expensive), companies have zero doubts about repurchasing their own stock, especially if said purchase is funded with cheap debt. Of course, by repurchasing their stock, the price goes even higher making management's equity-linked comp more valuable, which explains why management teams usually have no misgivings about allocating capital to this most simplistic of corporate uses of funds. However, when stocks fall, companies tend to clam down on buybacks due to fears that the drop may continue, forcing the CFO or Treasurer to explain his actions to the CEO or the board, and why they risked losses on capital (as well as getting a pink slip) instead of investing in "safer" corporate strategies like M&A, R&D or capex.

The irony, of course, is that companies should not be buying back stocks when the stock is rising (as that's when it is more expensive), and accelerate repurchases when it is dumping. And yet, that virtually never happens in reality as management teams, like most investors and algos, tend to chase momentum and direction. Meanwhile, confused by underlying pricing mechanics, management - which is singlehandedly responsible for the levitation in the stock price with its buybacks - then watches its stock price tumble even more one stock repurchases are halted.

But the "funniest" moments are reserved for when companies spent tens of billions on stock repurchases then had the rug pulled under from under the market - and their stocks - resulting in billions in unbooked losses on invested capital.

And in 2018, there has been no company that has had a greater share of "funny" buyback moments than Apple, which as we reported recently, accounted for 24% of all buyback growth in the first half of 2018, a year that will go down in history books for a record $1+ trillion in stock repurchase announcements and over $700 billion in executed buybacks.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-27/apple-lost-11-billion-buying-back-its-own-stock-2018

Trump: ‘Most of the people not getting paid’ in shutdown are Democrats

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President Trump early Thursday resumed his feud with Democrats on Capitol Hill over funding for a border wall, claiming that most of the hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or forced to work without pay due to a partial government shutdown are Democrats.

“Have the Democrats finally realized that we desperately need Border Security and a Wall on the Southern Border. Need to stop Drugs, Human Trafficking, Gang Members & Criminals from coming into our Country," he tweeted.

"Do the Dems realize that most of the people not getting paid are Democrats?" he added.

The president did not provide an explanation for his claim.

The border wall has been the focal point of government funding negotiations between Capitol Hill and the White House.

The Senate initially passed a bill without the border wall funding, but Trump, after facing pressure from several conservative allies, declared the next day he would not sign it without money for his signature campaign promise.

The House last week passed a bill with $5.7 billion in wall funding, though it was seen as dead on arrival in the Senate as it was clear it would fail to reach a 60-vote hurdle.

Democrats in both houses have declared their opposition to the border wall, with Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) calling it a “non-starter.”

The president during a trip to visit U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday doubled down on his demand for $5 billion for a border wall to end the shutdown, now in its sixth day.

“Whatever it takes. We need a wall. We need safety for our country. Even from this standpoint. We have terrorists coming in through the southern border,” he told reporters.

In a sign that the two sides are not yet close to reaching a compromise, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) office said Wednesday that no votes in the House are expected on Thursday and that members will get a 24-hour notice of when they need to return to Washington.

Democrats will have significantly more leverage in negotiations come Jan. 3, when the party officially take control of the House of Representatives. Conservatives have suggested that these negotiations represent Trump’s last best chance of making good on his promise for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/422952-trump-most-of-the-people-not-getting-paid-in-shutdown-are-democrats

I called this yesterday, market will fluctuate to highlight the manipulation

Dow drops 500 points after record-breaking rally

Stocks dropped sharply Thursday morning as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 500 points one day after a historic rally

The Dow, Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 were down roughly 2 percent by 10:25 a.m. Thursday, a day after stocks surged to erase record losses.

The Dow gained a record-high 1,086 points Wednesday and the S&P rose 5 percent to escape from a bear market.

President Trump’s spiraling anger with the Federal Reserve and a government shutdown with no end in sight have set the stock market on track for its worst December since 1931. Stocks have slipped into the red for 2018 after soaring from Trump’s election through the second half of this year.

Traders have recoiled at deepening fears of a possible recession, rising interest rates, the mounting costs of the U.S.-China trade war and reports that Trump has considered firing Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

The Dow suffered its worst Christmas Eve losses Monday as Trump called the Fed “the only problem our economy has” and claimed on Twitter that bank officials “don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or Strong Dollars or even Democrat Shutdowns over Borders.”

Wall Street was also rattled Monday after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sought to reassure financial markets after steep stock losses the previous week.

Mnuchin announced Sunday afternoon that he had spoken to the heads of the six largest U.S. banks and said there was no reason to expect a credit crunch or market meltdown. While the Treasury secretary sought to settle fears of a crisis, his statement alarmed traders and analysts, who have not seen signs of a broader financial panic.

Stocks erased much of their Monday losses on Wednesday, the first day of trading after Christmas. Reports of record levels of holiday spending from MasterCard and Amazon helped spur a massive rally.

https://thehill.com/policy/finance/422978-dow-drops-500-points-after-record-breaking-rally

Russia warns Ukraine and NATO against sending ships through the Kerch Strait

Moscow called on Ukraine and its Western partners to abandon the new attempt to send naval ships through the Kerch Strait.

At a press briefing, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called the possible passage of Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait "a reckless initiative", RIA Novosti reports.

Zakharova also noted that the "Western supervisors" of Kyiv should come up with a way of "reasoning with the ruling regime" in Ukraine in order to make them abandon the steps that could lead to escalation in the region.

According to Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry believes that Ukraine’s plans to make a new attempt to send warships through the Kerch Strait are nothing more than a "provocation" in which Kyiv plans to involve NATO and the OSCE.

"Apparently, the recent incident with Ukrainian sailors, who became hostages of the aggressive policy of Kyiv authorities, did not teach anyone anything," Zakharova added.

As previously reported, the Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, Oleksandr Turchynov announced that the Ukrainian warships would make another attempt to pass through the Kerch Strait which would the involve Ukraine’s international partners.

On the morning of November 25, Ukraine informed the Russian port of its intention to transfer three ships through the Kerch Strait, as required by the Agreement on the joint use of the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait. However, at around 8:00 a.m., Russian ships carried out acts of provocation against the Ukrainian vessels, even ramming into the Yany Kapu tugboat.

Russia later accused the Ukrainian ships of illegally entering its territorial waters, claiming that they were “maneuvering dangerously” and “not complying with the legitimate demands of the Russian authorities”. Russia also physically blocked the Kerch Strait with a transport ship. The Ukrainian ships decided to return to Odessa, but they were chased and subsequently attacked by the Russian military. The Berdiansk and Nikopol boats were hit, and two crew members were wounded. All three of the ships were seized by Russia.

On November 28, the Kremlin-controlled court of Simferopol placed the Ukrainian sailors under 2 months of arrest – until January 25, 2019.

http://uawire.org/russia-warns-ukraine-and-nato-against-sending-ships-through-the-kerch-strait

Chinese Christians Defy Crackdown on Christmas: ‘We Will Not Forfeit Our Faith’

2018 brought one of China’s worst crackdowns on religion, from the astonishing persecution of the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province to a series of raids against “underground” Christian churches.

Some Chinese cities banned Christmas decorations and celebrations in an effort to establish the primacy of the communist government and stoke the fires of nationalism at the height of a trade war with the United States.

The South China Morning Post found this Christmas less “cheerful and bustling than other years” in China:

Christmas decorations reportedly have been banned in at least four cities this year, including Langfang, about 55km (34 miles) south of Beijing, where shop windows were stripped of Christmas stickers and streets were kept free of Christmas banners and lights.

The seasonal humbug follows similar outbreaks of anti-Christmas rhetoric in 2014 and 2017. It appears not to be centrally organized, but rather a spreading resistance to foreign festivals by local authorities seeking to align themselves with a changing outlook in the Chinese government.

The capital itself seems free from such bans, though. As a South China Morning Post reporter found, people were continuing to mark Christmas across the sprawling metropolis in ways both commercial and religious, though for the most part Christmas has largely continued to be a shopping festival in Beijing and other cities.

It is not surprising that Beijing would try to appear more relaxed and inclusive to foreign visitors, or that the central government would feel less insecure about the appeal of religion in the seat of its power. Elsewhere in China, regulators were emboldened to go after “unauthorized religious gatherings” by recent amendments to the law.

“It is impossible to have large gatherings. All we can do is get together and celebrate Christmas in small groups,” said one member of an underground church whose founder is currently under house arrest.

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/12/25/chinese-christians-defy-crackdown-on-christmas-we-will-not-forfeit-our-faith/

Banking giant HSBC divests from Israel arms manufacturer

Human rights groups have claimed a major victory after HSBC, one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world, confirmed that it fully divested from Israeli drone manufacturer Elbit Systems, which sells weapons to the Israeli military used in attacks on Palestinians.

As part of the campaign, over 24,000 people emailed HSBC with concern over its investments in Elbit Systems and other companies selling weapons to Israel’s military. Forty HSBC branches across the UK were picketed monthly to call on HSBC to stop aiding Israel’s brutal occupation and human rights abuse of millions of Palestinians.

Campaigners said that they targeted Elbit Systems because it is one of Israel’s largest arms manufacturers, notorious for its deadly drones used in attacks on Palestinian civilians. Shamefully, the company prides the deadly use of its arms in operations against Palestinians to market its products abroad as “combat proven”. The company has also manufactured white phosphorous and artillery systems that can be used for cluster munitions.

Elbit Systems has been excluded from pension and investment funds around the world over the company’s involvement in supplying surveillance systems and other technology to Israel’s illegal Separation Wall and settlements in the West Bank. Elbit has also supplied surveillance technology for use along the US-Mexico border.

READ: Activists expose UK university’s links to Israel weapons manufacturer

Along with a number of major arms companies Elbit Systems has become the target of campaign groups over the past few years with notable victories for human rights groups. Last month the University of Leeds made the decision to divest from three companies which were found to be complicit in the violation of Palestinian human rights: Airbus, United Technologies and Keyence Corporation. It was seen as another sign of the growing momentum of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS).

HSBC’s link with Elbit Systems was first exposed in 2017 in a War on Want report on UK banks’ business dealings with companies selling military technology to Israel. The campaign calling on HSBC to divest from complicit companies received a critical boost when the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and other groups joined, picketing bank branches across the UK over its connections to Elbit and other companies.

In making their case to the bank, campaigners said that HSBC has a “Defence Equipment Sector Policy” which specifies that the bank would not provide financial services to companies involved in the production or selling of cluster munitions. Campaigners pointed out that its involvement with Elbit Systems, even if “on behalf of clients” as the bank long claimed, violated this policy as well as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Activists come together to protest outside branches of HSBC bank over shares in an Israeli arms company accused of manufacturing internationally banned weapons [Ryan Ashcroft]

Elbit Systems is rumoured to be on a list currently being compiled by the UN Human Rights Commissioner of companies that are violating international law by providing support for Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/69951/banking-giant-hsbc-divests-from-israel-arms.html

WikiLeaks Releases U.S. Embassy Shopping List, Further Exposing Surveillance By The Special Collection Service

The international whistleblowing organization, WikiLeaks, has published a Christmas-themed searchable database of more than 16,000 acquisition requests posted by United States embassies around the world for various job listings, revealing covert activities like spying.

RELEASE: The US Embassy Shopping List: 16,000 procurement requests

posted by US embassies around the world.https://t.co/LN4MjTiHvS

Search the documents:https://t.co/ecyLrZrJQD pic.twitter.com/lOKXpp7uLl

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) December 21, 2018

All U.S. embassies post requests for quotations and job listings on their websites when they need to purchase goods or services. In some cases, these requests may hint at covert activities performed by US agencies in the country. For example, in an August 2018 procurement request for “Tactical Spy Equipment“, the US embassy in El Salvador asked vendors to provide 94 spy cameras, most disguised as everyday objects such as ties, caps, shirt buttons, watches, USB drives, lighters, and pens. Similar spy cameras were also requested by the US embassy in Colombia.

The majority of the procurement requests focus on mundane activities required for the day-to-day operation of embassies and consulates, such as construction projects, laundry service, and gutter cleaning. In one case, the US consulate in Guayaquil, Ecuador lost track of the number of fish in its fishpond and needed someone to count the fish and clean the pond. Interspersed among these banal requests are documents that provide insight into the priorities and agenda of the US Government abroad. For example, to promote trade interests in China, the US consulate in Shanghai requested the production of “three marketing and promotional videos that highlight U.S. beef quality”.

Even the banal requests may be worth scrutiny because numerous secret programmes are operated out of US embassies. WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 publications showed that the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence runs a covert hacking base out of the US consulate in Frankfurt and the documents disclosed by Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA and CIA jointly operate a covert signals intelligence programme called the Special Collection Service, which uses US embassies around the world as bases for interception of communications and clandestine operations. These procurement documents do not appear to include details related directly to these programmes, but they do include information about the actual activities of the divisions used as cover for CIA programmes, note which jobs require security clearance, and provide clues about the existence of infrastructure that may be potentially useful to US intelligence services operating abroad, such as the data center at the Frankfurt consulate.

https://www.activistpost.com/2018/12/wikileaks-releases-u-s-embassy-shopping-list-further-exposing-surveillance-by-the-special-collection-service.html

C_A using wikileaks site control to attack Trump Gov?