Apple, Coca Cola, JPMorgan fear Trump's visa policy will harm US economy

Vague and unpredictable Trump administration immigration policies threaten the US economy amid a tightening labour market, CEOs from major American companies have warned.

In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Thursday, the Business Roundtable urged a rethink of recent directives from Washington that have thrown the status of workers into doubt and are damaging the recruitment of talent.

"Few (workers) will move their family and settle in a new country if, at any time and without notice, the government can force their immediate departure -- often without explanation," the roundtable said in the letter. "At a time when the number of job vacancies are reaching historic highs due to labour shortages, now is not the time restrict access to talent."

The Business Roundtable represents most of the biggest US companies. The group has criticised the Trump administration before on immigration, while praising the White House for cutting taxes and regulation.

JPMorgan's Dimon says bitcoin 'is a fraud' and will blow up

Bitcoin "is a fraud" and will blow up, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co, said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a bank investor conference in New York, Dimon said, "The currency isn't going to work. You can't have a business where people can invent a currency out of thin air and think that people who are buying it are really smart."

Dimon said that if any JPMorgan traders were trading the crypto-currency, "I would fire them in a second, for two reasons: It is against our rules and they are stupid, and both are dangerous."

Dimon's comments come as the bitcoin, a virtual currency not backed by any government, has more than quadrupled in value since December to more than $4,100.

Bitcoin is a digital currency that enables individuals to transfer value to each other and pay for goods and services bypassing banks and the mainstream financial system.

While banks have largely steered clear of bitcoin since it emerged following the financial crisis, the virtual currency has a range of people who support it, including technololgy enthusiasts, liberterians skeptical of government monetary policy and speculators attracted by its price swings.
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JPMorgan Q2 net income up 13.4% to $7.03 billion on better loan growth

JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest US bank by assets, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday as gains from higher interest rates and loan growth more than offset a drop in bond trading.

Trading revenue fell for the first time in five quarters as volatility hit multi-year lows, but the drop was not as bad as expected by a company executive in the run-up to the results.

Executives at big banks warned in recent weeks that trading revenue for the quarter would be down from a year earlier, when client trading surged around UK's Brexit vote.

The quarter benefited from the Federal Reserve raising interest rates for the second time this year in June. The target range for overnight interest rate now stands at 1 percent to 1.25 percent, compared with 0.25 percent to 0.50 percent a year earlier.

"We continued to post very solid results against a stable-to improving global economic backdrop. The U.S. consumer remains healthy," Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, 61, said in a statement.

The bank's net income rose 13.4 percent to $7.03 billion in the second quarter ended June 30.

Excluding a gain from a legal settlement, the company earned $1.71 per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.58 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Markets revenue fell 14 percent, led by a 19 percent decrease in fixed income markets revenue to $3.22 billion.
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US markets end flat as financials drop, defensives gain

US stocks were little changed on Wednesday as financials dropped after JPMorgan and Bank of America warned of revenue weakness, offsetting gains in defensive plays.

JPMorgan blamed lower volatility for a 15 percent decline in trading revenue in the current quarter compared with last year, while Bank of America said trading revenue in the second quarter was on track to be 10 to 12 percent lower than last year.

Financials rallied more than 20 percent in the wake of the US presidential election on hopes of fiscal stimulus and deregulation under President Donald Trump, but they have struggled in recent weeks. The sector is now down 0.3 percent on the year.

"All the things that Trump told us were going to happen, which was infrastructure spend, deregulation, tax reform, people don’t believe any of those will happen, certainly the magnitude and with the speed the market had originally priced in," said Ernesto Ramos, head of equities at BMO Global Asset Management in Chicago.

"That is why you’ve seen a lot of the move back, specifically banks."

Measures of market volatility are at rock-bottom, hitting trading desks at big banks. The US stock market's main gauge of investor anxiety closed at its lowest level in over two decades on May 8 and has not topped its long-term average of 20 since November. It did, however, hit a seven-day high of 11.30 on Wednesday.

JPMorgan shares lost 2.1 percent while Bank of America was down 1.9 percent as the two biggest weights on the S&P 500. Goldman Sachs fell 3.3 percent, the biggest drag on the Dow.

Defensive plays such as utilities, up 0.46 percent and telecoms, up 0.35 percent, were the bright spots as enthusiasm fades for sectors that would benefit from Trump policies.

Energy stocks, down 0.4 percent, also lost ground. Oil prices touched a three-week low as rising output from Nigeria and Libya fueled concerns that OPEC-led output cuts are being undermined. US crude settled down 2.7 percent at $48.32 a barrel and Brent settled 3 percent lower at $50.1.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.82 points, or 0.1 percent, to 21,008.65, the S&P 500 lost 1.1 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,411.81 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.67 points, or 0.08 percent, to 6,198.52.

Shares of Michael Kors plunged 8.5 percent to $33.18. The luxury fashion retailer gave a bleak full-year forecast and said it would shut more than 100 full-price retail stores in the next two years.
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