“The stock market can stay overbought longer than you can stay solvent!” — unknown

1. Samsung to Eliminate Plastic in Material Packaging — it’s the latest international company to reduce its plastic waste footprint. Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) will soon begin packaging its phones, tablets, wearables and appliances in paper, pulp molds and bio-based or recycled plastics. It will also alter the design of its phone charger, replacing the glossy exterior with a matte finish and ditching plastic protection films.
2. US to Impose Sanctions Against Maduro — “The U.S. has decided to follow the path of stealing Citgo from Venezuela,” President Nicolas Maduro declared after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on its parent company – state-owned oil giant PDVSA. While the sanctions will hit Citgo, the penalties will have a minimal effect on other American refiners, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Other large U.S. importers of Venezuelan crude are Chevron (NYSE:CVX), PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF) and Valero (NYSE:VLO).
3. Vale to Shut and Dismantle All Upstream Dams After Disaster — Vale (NYSE:VALE) will spend 5 billion reais ($1.3B) to take as much as 10% of its iron ore production offline and decommission 19 dams like the one that burst last week. At the peak of that process, the impact on Vale’s production will be 40M tons of iron ore and 11M tonnes of iron pellets per year. The decision came after the death toll from the dam breach has increased to 84 from 65.
4. China manufacturing contracts for second month — manufacturing activity in China contracted for the second-straight month in January – another sign the world’s second-largest economy is slowing. The official manufacturing PMI came in at 49.5 amid domestic headwinds and the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S. China’s services sector posted stronger figures, recording a PMI of 54.7, helping cushion the impact of decelerating factory activity.
5. Federal Reserves Meeting Recap — in its latest meeting, the Federal Reserve signaled that its march toward higher interest rates may be ending sooner than expected. The Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at its first meeting of 2019, a decision that was widely expected. What surprised markets was the indication that rates, which are in a range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent, may stay put for some time. The Fed chairman, Mr. Powell said, “The case for raising rates has weakened somewhat,” pointing to sluggish inflation, slowing growth in Europe and China, and the possibility of another federal government shutdown.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: