13Feb2020 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street May Take All The Way To Noon To Shrug This One Off, DOW Down 175 Points, Cornovirus Up 63,000, 60K Chinese Corrupt Officials Unexpectedly Die Of The Virus, Inflation Rate Up +0.2%

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

Kraft Heinz misses sales expectations as demand for bacon, cheese falls

Kraft Heinz Co on Thursday reported a 5.1% fall in quarterly sales, missing estimates due to lower U.S. demand for cheese, coffee, bacon and other products.

Oil prices fall on bearish demand forecasts

Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC and IEA reports cut back demand forecasts for this year on the back of the coronavirus outbreak in China, the world’s biggest oil importer.

Jump in coronavirus cases yanks stocks rally into reverse

A sharp rise in the number of coronavirus deaths and infections unnerved world markets on Thursday, as traders halted the rally in stocks and retreated to the safety of government bonds and gold.

Tesla seeks to raise $2 billion through stock offering

Tesla Inc said on Thursday it plans to raise $2 billion by selling shares through a public offering.

Apple to reopen some stores in Beijing on February 14: website

Apple will reopen some stores in Beijing on Feb. 14 with reduced operating hours, it said on its website, while many of its other stores in mainland China will remain shut as the country continues to battle a coronavirus outbreak.

Nestle boss Schneider eyes more deals to bolster growth ambitions

Nestle Chief Executive Mark Schneider will fine-tune his transformation plans with more acquisitions, he said after the Swiss food group lowered growth expectations on Thursday.

Qualcomm to ask appeals court for vindication in FTC antitrust case

Qualcomm Inc on Thursday will urge a U.S. appeals court to reverse a ruling that it abused its position as a giant of the semiconductor industry and overcharged smartphone makers for access to its patented technology.

Russian court fines Facebook $63,000 over data law breach: RIA

A Russian court fined social media company Facebook 4 million roubles ($62,922) on Thursday for its failure to comply with a Russian data law, the RIA news agency reported.

Southwest extends 737 MAX flight cancellations through early August

Southwest Airlines on Thursday extended its cancellation of 737 MAX flights through early August as the grounding of the Boeing Co jet continued and threatened to impact nearly all of the busy U.S. summer travel season.

Consumer Price Inflation Hotter Than Expected Despite Goods Deflation

Consumer Price Inflation Hotter Than Expected Despite Goods Deflation

After jumping in December, analysts expected a modest acceleration in headline consumer prices and small slowdown in core prices, but the headline CPI printed hotter than expected at +2.5% YoY (despite only rising 0.1% MoM) – that is the hottest since oct 2018.

Tesla Slides After Disclosing New SEC Subpoena And $2 Billion Capital Raise

Tesla Slides After Disclosing New SEC Subpoena And $2 Billion Capital Raise

Tesla shares are extending overnight losses (following the Model X recall) after announcing a $2 billion secondary stock offering and revealing in their newly filed 10-K that they were issued a new subpoena by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to “certain financial data and contracts, including Tesla’s regular financing arrangements”.

The company’s disclosure in its 10-K, which is buried in a bit of lawyer speak that appears to us to be arranged to hide the new subpoena behind news of a previous investigation ending, says:

On December 4, 2019, the SEC (i) closed the investigation into the projections and other public statements regarding Model 3 production rates and (ii) issued a subpoena seeking information concerning certain financial data and contracts including Tesla’s regular financing arrangements.  Separately, the DOJ had also asked us to voluntarily provide it with information about the above matters related to taking Tesla private and Model 3 production rates.

Regarding the newly issued financing, the company stated:

Tesla today announced that it intends to offer approximately $2 billion of common stock in an underwritten …

Lead Juror In Roger Stone Trial Was Left-Wing Former Political Candidate Who Despises Trump

Lead Juror In Roger Stone Trial Was Left-Wing Former Political Candidate Who Despises Trump

The lead juror in the Roger Stone trial is a former Democratic congressional candidate who hates President Trump, and actively posted anti-Trump material online during the trial, according to Cernovich.com and the Daily Caller.

Markets Hit By “Perfect Storm” As Stocks Slide On Surge In New Coronavirus Cases, Deaths

Markets Hit By “Perfect Storm” As Stocks Slide On Surge In New Coronavirus Cases, Deaths

For weeks we had been warning that China was misrepresenting, obfuscating and otherwise lying, either directly or simply by changing the definition of an “infected case” or even “death”, about the true extent of the corona pandemic, a conclusion that was obvious by simply looking (here and here) at the underlying “official” data. This morning, the quants and algos got a huge shock when China was finally overwhelmed with the level of lies – and cremated bodies – since the breakout of the covid pandemic, and was forced to “adjust” the number of new cases higher by a whopping 15,000. Think of it as GAAP virus accounting vs non-GAAP, which excludes the inconvenient “one-time” cases.

The result has been a sharp drop in US equity futures and global stock prices, as it raised fresh questions about the scale of the crisis and more importantly, how long it will take China to truly contain the pandemic, even as markets had taken comfort from the World Health Organization’s emergency program head describing the apparent slowdown in the epidemic’s spread as œvery reassuring . Oops.

PwC India won’t offer any other services to audit clients anymore

PwC India won’t offer any other services to audit clients anymoreThis essentially means that no PwC network firm would do consulting for tax advisory to any company they audit.

Corona claims an unlikely victim in India

Corona claims an unlikely victim in IndiaThe plan to hold roadshows for Shipping Corporation of India’s stake sale has taken a hit due to virus outbreak.

Murthy’s son-in-law Rishi Sunak is new UK FM

Murthy’s son-in-law Rishi Sunak is new UK FMSunak is set to move into No. 11 Downing Street as he takes charge of the second most important govt position.

Rail Week Ending 08 February 2020 – Intuitive Sectors Rolling Average Improves And Is No Longer In Contraction

Written by Steven Hansen

Week 6 of 2020 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) contracted according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. Total rail traffic has been in contraction for the last year. The intuitive sector’s rolling average improved this week and is no longer in contraction.

Bond Report: Treasury yields slide as surge in coronavirus cases buoys haven assets

U.S. Treasury yields fall Thursday after China reported a sharp jump in the confirmed cases and deaths from the COVID-19 virus, renewing appetite for government paper which have sold off over the last two sessions.

Need to Know: Get ready for a stock peak this summer, then a U.S. recession, warns fund manager

On a day when the headlines are gloomy, our call of the day may not cheer you up. Pictet fund manager is warning of a stock market peak by summer, and recession by the end of the year.

Economic Report: Jobless claims edge up 2,000 to 205,000, but there’s still no sign of widespread layoffs

The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in early February rose slightly, but there’s still no sign of widespread layoffs in an economy that’s been expanding for a record 10 and a half years. Initial jobless claims edged up by 2,000 to 205,000.