China

U.S. calls out Asia’s leading exporters, Germany over economic policiesThe Obama administration delivers a shot across the bow to Asia’s leading exporters and Germany for their economic policies and warns that a number of major economies around the globe could face intense pressure to engage in currency interventions to counter slow growth.

Eaton profit tops estimatesEaton Corp., whose diverse business lines make it a bellwether of global industrial activity, said Friday rising demand for its lighting and electric gear from an improving U.S. home-construction industry drove better-than-expected first-quarter profit.

Weekly roundup: Apple’s brutal shift | Twitter’s harm to shareholders | Goldman wants your savings account 10 MarketWatch articles to read this weekend10 MarketWatch articles to read this weekend.

Oil’s wild ride set to continue after April’s big climb WTI futures tally a nearly 20% monthly riseOil prices end the month with a hefty gain, but it hasn’t been an easy climb.

Yen logs 5% April gain vs. dollar with Fed, Bank of Japan on hold Rising oil drives Russian ruble, Brazilian real to big monthly gainsThe dollar tumbled to an 18-month low against the Japanese currency Friday after a widely watched gauge of inflation showed upward price pressures abated last month, removing some pressure for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

4 reasons why silver outshone gold in April rally Some analysts expect silver to climb to $20 an ounceHere are the reasons why silver outshone gold in April.

Low expectations are acting as a crutch this earnings season -- but not for tech Facebook’s and Amazon’s stellar quarters have FANG stocks divergingThe tech sector is underperforming the broader S&P 500 this season with many big players falling short.

Seagate Technology misses profit expectationsSeagate Technology PLC swung to a loss in its latest quarter amid waning demand for its storage products. Chief Executive Steve Luczo said results fell short of the company's expectations "as a result of several near-term demand factors," calling current dynamics "challenging." Earlier this month, the Cupertino, Calif., data-storage company warned that results would fall short of estimates because of lower-than-expected demand for enterprise disk drives and desktop-client products, primarily in China.

‘Captain America: Civil War’ is already taking rivals’ ticket sales Analysts expect ‘Captain America: Civil War’ to pull in $200 million in opening weekend.There is still a week before Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” swoops in to officially kick off the summer movie season, but the superhero flick is already dominating conversations.

Donald Trump’s foreign-policy ideas are dangerous Former U.S. diplomat R. Nicholas Burns says Trump may want to rethink ‘America first’ sloganFormer U.S. diplomat R. Nicholas Burns says Donald Trump doesn’t appear to have the in-depth knowledge—about the world, history, economics, politics—that any serious presidential candidate should have.

Stock pickers beware, this unwelcome pattern is driving markets again HSBC risk-on-risk-off index spikes to highest level since 2010It’s back. The risk-off-risk-on correlation is once again the “single most important driver of asset markets,” according to HSBC.

Paragon Shipping stock rockets 9-fold in two daysParagon Shipping Inc.'s stock soared 38% to a seven-week high of $2.41 in midday trade Friday, with volume of 14.8 million shares already nearly 15-times the full-day average. But that's nothing, as it rocketed nearly 7-fold on volume of 24.1 million shares on Thursday. The troubled Greece-based shipping company's shares had closed Wednesday at a record low of 26 cents, and that was after a 1-for-38 reverse stock split went into effect March 1. The company said Thursday it filed a lawsuit against news site TradeWinds and reporter Joe Brady Stamford for defamation damages, following a Feb. 18 report that Paragon obtained board approval to file for bankruptcy. "The company and its board of directors declared that the above statement was totally untrue," the company said in a statement. Separately, Paragon said Thursday it entered into an agreement with Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co. to extend the deliveries of its three drybulk carriers through November; the Bank of Ireland said earlier this month that a payment-in-kind loan maturing December 2020 would be cancelled; and the company said it won't make an interest payment due May 15 on a note maturing in 2021 "due to a lack of liquidity." The stock was still down 60% year to date.

The global economy’s wild ride is being fueled by too much debt Countries need to return to growth without the aid of debt-fueled overconsumptionCountries need to return to growth without the aid of debt-fueled overconsumption, says Simon Johnson.

‘Sell in May’ surfaces with major S&P support under siege U.S. dollar threatens a breakdown, Japanese yen takes flight; AAPL, MSFT, GOOG weigh down NasdaqU.S. stocks have turned lower to conclude April amid renewed currency cross currents, and with the worst six months seasonally set to start next week. In the process, major support points are under siege — most notably, Dow 17,800, and the S&P 2,080 area — though based on today’s backdrop, the late-week downdraft looks technically innocuous.

Why Japan is resisting the false allure of helicopter money Prime Minister Abe’s economic reforms are beginning to workSome experts are recommending that Japan figuratively drop money from helicopters to get the country out of its doldrums, but Tokyo is wisely resisting, writes Koichi Hamada.

Hide in these cheap safety stocks as the market rally stalls Critical information before the U.S. market opensIt’s the last trading day of April, and stocks are stumbling toward the finish line. What’s an investor to do?

The Fed is offering the markets a placebo and nothing more Central banks can soothe markets, but their policies aren’t curing the world’s illsInvestors are just looking to survive the painful uncertainty of markets that are no longer based on real-world fundamentals, leaving them wide open for to the soothing power of central banks’ placebos, says Ben Hunt of Salient Partners.

The rise and decline of Apple in one chart While hardware sales are shrinking, services revenue is gainingApple Inc. suffered its first revenue decline in 13 years in the first quarter, but not all of the company’s segments are following the same track.

Eurozone GDP rises as recovery gathers paceThe eurozone's economic recovery gathered pace in the first three months of the year, a sign of the economy's resilience and in contrast with a slowdown in the U.S. The currency bloc's gross domestic product rose 0.6% from the final quarter of 2015 and was 1.6% higher than a year earlier, the European Union's statistics agency said.

Hong Kong ends down 1.5% as most Asian markets keep sliding Yen reaches 18-month high against dollarShares in most Asian stock markets edged lower Friday, with gains capped by disappointment over the Bank of Japan holding back on additional stimulus and worries about global economic growth.

Gold has everything in its favor This year’s rally has legs, spurred by the right economic conditionsThis year’s rally has legs, spurred by the right economic conditions, writes Michael Brush.

Brexit fears turn Credit Suisse bearish on London’s housing market Stronger sterling a hurdle for overseas investors Credit Suisse on Thursday “turned bearish” on the capital city’s housing market, where it expects weakening demand “is likely remain a drag” for the next 12 to 18 months.

Mixed results for China oil giants despite aidBEIJING--China's efforts to support its state-controlled oil giants have so far yielded mixed results, showing how the global oil-price slump is reshaping the industry and how some companies will need more ambitious cost cuts to protect profits this year.

Australia to reject Chinese cattle ranch dealCANBERRA, Australia--Australia's government intends to reject a deal led by Chinese investors to buy the country's largest cattle-ranch empire, in a signal of rising official concern about offshore investment in the country's agricultural trophies.

Baidu profit drops 18.9%, but revenue jumpsBEIJING--Baidu Inc.'s profit fell 18.9% in the first quarter even as revenue jumped, as the Chinese Internet company reorganized and spent more on video content and other services outside its core search-engine business.

Saudi economic reform plan is bound to fail Blueprint preserves social order and the rent economy whose time is upSaudi Arabia’s bold plan to reform the economy isn’t nearly bold enough, because it leaves the social order in place and it continues to rely on rent-seeking rather than production, writes Amotz Asa-El.

Taiwan's economy grinds nearly to a haltTaiwan's economy slowed sharply in the first three months of 2016 as it continued to struggle in the face of a weak domestic consumption and a continuing slump in demand from China and the rest of the world for its exports.

China passes tough law against foreign nonprofits Police given broad powers to crack down on foreign influenceChinese legislators passed a law on Thursday granting police broad authority to supervise foreign nonprofit groups, reinforcing President Xi Jinping’s drive to consolidate government control over China’s society, culture and economy.

Baidu guidance, adjusted profit top expectationsBaidu Inc. projected second-quarter revenue that beat expectations as China's dominant search engine also reported first-quarter earnings fell amid higher costs that offset revenue growth. However, excluding one-time items, Baidu's adjusted earnings beat expectations, sending its American depositary shares higher.

Baidu shares rally on better-than-expected earnings U.S.-listed shares of Baidu Inc. gained in Thursday's extended session after the Chinese search engine turned in quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street's estimates. Baidu reported its first-quarter earnings fell to 1.98 billion yuan ($308.1 million), or 5.38 yuan per American depositary share, from 2.45 billion yuan, or 6.76 yuan per ADS, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company would have earned 6.80 yuan a share, or $1.06. Revenue grew 31.2% to 15.82 billion yuan ($2.45 billion). Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.01 a share. Baidu shares rose 3.5% in after-hours trading.

Dow logs worst one-day point drop since Feb. 11; Apple weighsThe Dow saw its worst one-day tumble since February on Thursday as a selloff in Apple Inc. extended a slump in the broader markets. Stocks were swooning earlier in the session after tepid economic data and a surprise decision by the Bank of Japan--not to roll out fresh economic stimulus measures--rattled investors. Shares of Apple tanked in the afternoon after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said, during a 2 p.m. Eastern Time interview on CNBC, that he dumped his entire stake in the iPhone maker, citing concerns about a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy, China, a major market for the tech giant. Apple's 3% slump followed a 6.3% slide in its shares late Tuesday after it reported its first decline in iPhones sales in 13 years. Thursdays slide rippled through the tech sector, offsetting a 7.2% surge in Facebook Inc. shares, which touched a record high of $120.79 after its late-Wednesday quarterly results beat analysts' expectations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 210 points, or 1.2%, to 17,830, marking its worst point decline since Feb. 11, when the markets hit their lowest level of 2016. The S&P 500 index sank about 20 points, or 0.9%, to close at 2,075. The S&P 500's tech and energy sectors, down more than 1.3%, lead sector declines. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index declined 57 points, or 1.2%, to 4,805. The decline for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq marked their worst one-day drop in three weeks. And the Nasdaq Composite's decline marked its sixth straight session of declines in a row, its worst losing streak since Feb. 21.

Carl Icahn dumps Apple stake amid China concerns Icahn owned nearly 46 million shares of Apple at the end of 2015Carl Icahn dumps millions of Apple shares, his entire stake.

Carl Icahn dumps entire stake in Apple, citing ChinaShares of Apple Inc. fell 2% on Thursday afternoon after activist investor Carl Icahn said he sold his stake in the company following the iPhone maker's dismal second quarter. In an on-air interview with CNBC, Icahn, whose investment firm owned 45.8 million shares of Apple as of Dec. 31, according to FactSet, spoke about concerns he had regarding Apple's growth, including sales in China, .

Obama tells all on how he saved U.S. economy Obama’s economic legacy will be debated for years to comeTo hear President Obama tell it, the U.S. economic recovery under his watch is a resounding success. He saved the banks, he saved the auto industry and he helped revive a moribund housing market.

Ford’s F-150 bet pays off — again Record results for Ford as redesigned pickup truck continues to win heartsThe redesigned truck, now in plenty supply, helps to boost Ford results.

Could Comcast’s $3.8 billion DreamWorks deal be a mistake? DreamWorks shares jump 24% after news of the dealComcast Corp. said on Thursday it reached an agreement to buy DreamWorks Animation, just two days after reports surfaced, in a deal valuing the family entertainment company at $3.8 billion.

Where Apple’s miss leaves the sharesWhile a drop earlier in the year actually provided a buying opportunity, we recently recommended a short, and have no reason to change it at the current time.

Volkswagen bullish despite huge emissions costsWOLFSBURG, Germany--At Volkswagen AG, bad news is now good news. The German car maker, embroiled in a crippling emissions-cheating crisis, has set aside EUR16.2 billion ($18.32 billion) to fund the recall of millions of cars, legal claims and related costs, precipitating its worst-ever annual loss of EUR1.58 billion in 2015.

S&P 500’s bull trend absorbs central-bank induced whipsaw Focus: Technology turns lower, Industrials break out, XLK, XLI, TXN, KMX, KATE, DRQU.S. stocks are off to a mixed Thursday start, rising from session lows after the Bank of Japan issued no additional stimulus, and following a weaker-than-expected first-quarter U.S. GDP report. Against this backdrop, the market price action remains technical, and continues to support a bullish view.

Eurozone confidence picks up after ECB stimulusEurozone businesses and consumers became more upbeat about their prospects in April, and expected prices to rise more rapidly, both developments that will be welcomed by the European Central Bank, which last month launched a fresh package of stimulus measures.