Paul Tudor Jones is a reclusive hedge fund legend who never talks to the press. So much so that “PTJ” even tried to bury a PBS documentary featuring him from 1987 by purchasing all the available copies. CNBC pointed out at the end of last month that some investors and traders were starting to discuss it once again. Back in 2000, this version of the chart shows that investors had valued the stock market at more than 130 percent of the total economy. The indicator basically shows investors are unr

Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer believes changes that President Donald Trump is exploring on bank regulations could pose a serious threat to the financial system. Speaking as Trump is directing officials to look at alterations to post-financial crisis reforms to the system, the central bank official expressed a high level of caution. “We seem to have forgotten that we had a financial crisis which was caused by behavior in the banking and other parts of the financial system and it did enormous

U.S. stocks fell slightly on Friday as investors looked ahead to France’s presidential election while digesting more quarterly results from companies. “We’ve had a pretty decent week, so people are taking a bit of risk off the table ahead of the French election,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. “The market is concerned over the French election.” But centrist and pro-European candidate Emmanuel Macron is still the favorite to win the contest, according to French polling

With the top four candidates all polling within a margin of error, CNBC will be bringing you all the reaction and results live on Sunday in a special show, “France Votes” on TV and live streamed right here on CNBC.com. Live from our European HQ in London, CNBC’s Carolin Roth delivers all of the action, analysis, and the likely implications for the markets on Monday morning. With Karen Tso, Nancy Hungerford and Claire Fournier live from Paris, the show is not to be missed. The show will be stream

John Taylor shared his market views in an exclusive interview Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” On the economy: “The early part of this year the economy is coming in a bit weaker than people thought. John Taylor is a professor of economics at Stanford University. He served as undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs from 2001 to 2005. Taylor also discussed:Federal ReserveYield curveRules-based monetary policyBankruptcy codeTo watch the broadcast interview in its entirety, you must b

A daily morning look at the financial stories you need to know to start the day. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s comment that the Republicans are close to presenting their tax reform plan is buoying investors. FRANCE LATEST-A terrorist attack on the Champs Elysees in Paris Thursday left one police officer dead and two others wounded. THE TRUMP TRADE-President Donald Trump will sign two executive orders today. One is expected to call for a review of the Dodd Frank rules.

Investors should buy McDonald’s shares because its new menu improvements will drive earnings above expectations next year, according to BMO Capital Markets, which initiated on the restaurant chain with an outperform rating. “We believe MCD has a well-developed pipeline of menu news to continue to support customer engagement with the brand, including more focused value efforts, renovations around core menu items, and new product innovation,” analyst Andrew Strelzik wrote in a note to clients Thur

Facebook spent $3.2 million lobbying the federal government in the first months of the Trump era. During the same period last year, Facebook spent $2.8 million (about 15% less). While the search giant decreased its lobbying spending compared to this time last year, Amazon, Microsoft, and Uber all boosted their beltway budgets for the first three months of 2017. Amazon spent nearly $3 million on lobbying, behind only Facebook and Google, and was 17th out of all companies in or out of tech. Founde

“What’s happening politically with the H-1B visas being reviewed and the crazy stories you’re hearing, people have to hedge their situation and see where the high growth is happening,” Ahmed Shabana, managing partner of Parkpine Capital, a Silicon Valley firm, told CNBC. “It might be risky to get talent in the U.S. if things escalate.” The first of its kind, the Global Ventures Summit in Bali aims to find scalable technologies in high growth markets while connecting investors with ideas. The eve

Samsung’s newest smartphone, the Galaxy S8, hit shelves Friday, and analysts told CNBC they’re impressed by the tech, which initial market reaction appeared to confirm. “What’s great about it is, it’s got a great hand feel … it really does make a difference,” O’Donnell told CNBC’s “Rundown” on Friday. Samsung Electronics jumped by 2.38 percent on Friday as the Galaxy S8 smartphone was unveiled in Seoul and ahead of its slated debut in the U.S. The company said last week that pre-orders for the G

With regards to the specific factors at play in the French first round, the market’s expectation is for centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen to sail through into the deciding face-off to take place on May 7. Should an upset occur whereby, for example, Macron is eliminated at this hurdle, leaving Le Pen to meet with far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, French risk assets are likely to post a more extreme downside reaction. Independent research house Vanda Securities has put the

Rising protectionism in the West has become a threat to Asia’s prosperity, Tommy Koh, ambassador-at-large for Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Thursday. “I worry about the rise of protectionism and economic nationalism in the U.S. and in Europe. I see this as a direct threat to the prosperity and prospects of Asia,” Koh said at the Credit Suisse conference on megatrends, held in Singapore. Mulford also went on the attack against claims the U.S. had grown overly protectionist: “There

Former U.S. President Barack Obama has given his backing to centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron ahead of French elections this Sunday, telling the presidential hopeful to work hard until the very last minute of the campaign. Macron is running as an independent in what’s being described as one of the most uncertain elections in French history. Aside from the vote being highly spread between all the candidates, it’s also expected that about 38 percent of French voters will abstain, which increases

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has urged the government to immediately restore state borders and expel foreigners monitored by surveillance after a suspected terror attack in Paris. In reaction to Thursday’s assault claimed by Islamic State, in which one police officer was killed and two others were wounded, Le Pen demanded the Socialist government enact the measures proposed in her manifesto as a matter of urgency, according to Reuters. This is a breaking news story, plea

After all, Chinese President Xi Jinping met recently with Trump, and the U.S. indicated that China appeared willing to tackle trade gaps. But even if the U.S. were to slap high tariffs on Chinese steel, and other countries followed suit, experts said it’s unlikely to impact China’s economy by much. That’s because most of the steel China produces is used domestically, and not actually exported. For years, China pumped its economy by rapidly building new infrastructure and factories, fueling massi

Tesla Inc founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk said his latest company Neuralink Corp is working to link the human brain with a machine interface by creating micron-sized devices. Neuralink is aiming to bring to the market a product that helps with certain severe brain injuries due to stroke, cancer lesion etc, in about four years, Musk said in an interview with website Wait But Why. “If I were to communicate a concept to you, you would essentially engage in consensual telepathy,” Musk said in

South Korea and the United States have also been conducting annual joint military exercises, which the North routinely criticises as a prelude to invasion. “It is a situation where a lot of (military) exercise equipment is amassed in North Korea and also a lot of strategic assets are situated on the Korean peninsula because of the South Korea-U.S. military drills,” Lee told a briefing. “We are closely watching the situation and will not be letting our guards down,” Lee said. U.S. President Donal

France is the second-largest economy in the euro zone and one of the seven biggest across the world. Its president holds enough powers to influence the country’s economic and political path. Furthermore, this election takes place at a time when the French people are increasingly concerned on security matters, after several terrorist attacks across the country, and disenchanted with high levels of unemployment and poor economic performance since the 2008 crisis. The candidates’ proposals show tha

An attack in central Paris, claimed by militant group Islamic State, could bolster Marine Le Pen’s odds in the first round of France’s presidential election. Because the incident comes just days before the election, it could lead to “a greater performance of Marine Le Pen than otherwise would have been the case,” Fredrik Erixon, director at the European Centre for International Political Economy, a Brussels-based think tank, told CNBC. Leader of the right-wing Front National party, Le Pen has ca

Our live blog is tracking market reaction as the French CAC 40 opens lower after one police officer was killed and two wounded during an attack on Thursday night claimed by ISIS. We’ll bring you the latest analysis below.