Written by Gary
Treasury yields in holding pattern as investors track U.S. stimulus talks (SPY +0.1%). Premarket biggest movers: BioTelemetry, Winnebago, and Scholastic on Quad Witching Day.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 0.27% while London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.17% and France’s CAC 40 is up 0.03%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Why Theres Still Room For Oil To Go HigherCrude oil prices are on the rise again after a short reversal of fortunes prompted by a huge crude oil inventory build reported by the U.S. EIA last week and renewed worry about demand. And the reason they are rising is, in fact, demand from China and India. China has been the main driver of oil prices this year because of its massive refining capacity and growing storage capacity. To fill up its reserves, China went on a buying spree earlier this year, when oil was at its lowest, battered by the Saudi-Russian price war and the looming pandemic. |
| Teslas 1,000% Stock Price Explosion Isnt About Electric CarsThe list of things that are gearing up because of the EV boom is a long and lucrative one. Its not just about EVs anymore. EVs are simply one delivery mechanism in a massive worldwide energy transition.Sure, September saw record EV sales up 91% year-on-year, with UBS forecasting that EV market share will reach 40% by 2030, and Tesla planning to rapidly accelerate production with 3 new factories in 3 countries and 20 million EVs coming off the line by 2030, for a 40x increase over this year. But there are major money-making opportunities |
| U.S. Backs EastMed Pipeline To Supply Gas To EuropeThe United States supports the EastMed pipeline project that is expected to deliver natural gas from offshore Israel via Greece and Cyprus to the wider European market, U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said during a visit to Greece on Thursday. “We are going to continue to work with Israel, Greece and other interested parties to ensure that the infrastructure will be developed,” Secretary Brouillette told reporters, as carried by Reuters. The planned EastMed pipeline, for which a final investment decision is expected in 2022, is expected |
| Rosneft Extremely Bullish About Arctic Oil And Gas DiscoveriesAt the core of Russias hydrocarbons-related power is its Arctic oil and gas reserves, with the Russian Arctic sector comprising over 35,700 billion cubic metres of natural gas and over 2,300 million metric tons of oil and condensate, the majority of which are located in the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas, lying on the south side of the Kara Sea. According to recent comments from Russias President, Vladimir Putin, the next 10-15 years will witness a dramatic expansion in the extraction of these Arctic resources, and a corollary build-out |
| SEC Eases Disclosure Rule On Oil Payments To GovernmentsThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved on Wednesday in a 3-2 vote a final rule on resource extraction disclosures, relaxing the requirements for oil and mining companies to report payments made to foreign governments. The final rule, part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is the third version of the rule for Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank act. The final rule doesnt require oil and mining companies to disclose payments on a contract-by-contract basis, only aggregate amounts of payments |
| Hydrogen Production Is Set To Increase 5000% In Just 5 YearsAfter decades of stagnation and multiple false dawns, the hydrogen economy appears primed for a major takeoff. A growing number of countries and industries are proactively investing in hydrogen technologies, with hydrogen being touted as the fuel of the future. Meanwhile, industry experts are predicting that hydrogen could become a globally traded energy source, just like oil and gas, while the Bank of America says the industry is at a tipping point and set to explode into a $11 trillion marketplace. For a sector that has been vilified |
| CVS Health, Walgreens start to provide Covid vaccines at thousands of hard-hit nursing homesNursing home and assisted living facility residents are among the first to get the shots because they have been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus. |
| Olive Garden parent’s revenue falls 19% as new dining restrictions hit same-store salesDarden Restaurants topped analysts’ expectations for its quarterly earnings but fell short of estimates for its revenue. |
| 5 things to know before the stock market opens FridayU.S. stock futures were little changed Friday, with Wall Street wondering whether Capitol Hill can deliver a new Covid-19 stimulus package. |
| Dick’s Sporting Goods teams with Instacart for same-day delivery at 150 stores amid last-minute holiday crunchDick’s Sporting Goods is teaming with Instacart to offer same-day delivery from more than 150 stores. |
| Quarantine-free travel from the U.S. to Europe shows the first, small signs of becoming realityDelta’s preflight testing programs allow a small segment of Americans to travel to Amsterdam and Rome without having to quarantine upon arrival. |
| FDA panel endorses second Covid vaccine in U.S. as Moderna wins key vote in path to emergency useAn influential FDA advisory panel on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to recommend the approval of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. |
| LG is launching a robot that disinfects surfaces amid the coronavirus pandemicThe South Korean firm says it wants to introduce the tech to the U.S. early next year. |
| 57% of workers support a mandatory Covid-19 vaccine for return to office: CNBC SurveyA partisan split emerges in a new survey of Americans asked whether co-workers should be required to have Covid-19 vaccination before returning to the office. |
| Coca-Cola will cut 2,200 jobs worldwide as part of restructuring planCoca-Cola will cut about 2,200 jobs in its global workforce as part of a broader restructuring of its business. |
| Biden to pick North Carolina environmental regulator to run EPARegan will play a critical role in supporting Biden’s aggressive plan to battle climate change and transition the U.S. economy to clean energy. |
| EV start-up Canoo unveils new vehicle ahead of Nasdaq debutThe futuristic-looking van, or MPDV, is designed for everything from last-mile deliveries to food trucks, according to the California company. |
| Mad dash to the finish: A record number of people plan to shop the Saturday before Christmas, survey saysOver 150 million Americans plan to shop on Super Saturday this year, up slightly from 147.8 million in 2019, according to the National Retail Federation. |
| At Home CEO says retailer can increase its store count almost threefold“We are throwing off a lot of cash, but we’ve got a lot of growth in front of us,” At Home CEO Lee Bird said in a “Mad Money” interview. |
| Alex Rodriguez Becomes “Platform Investor” In $650 Million Hotel FundAlex Rodriguez Becomes “Platform Investor” In $650 Million Hotel Fund Tyler Durden Fri, 12/18/2020 – 08:31 Just when we thought hospitality finally had a chance of recovering, former Yankees slugger and steroid aficionado Alex Rodriguez has decided it’s time for him to get into the industry. Rodriguez, who lives in Miami, is teaming up with Adi Chugh, founder of the New York-based Maverick Commercial Properties real estate and equity firm, to become a “platform investor” in a $650 million hospitality fund, the Sun Sentinel reports. The fund is run by CGI Merchant Group, a Miami-based investment firm focusing on real estate and private equity, the report notes. The fund is looking to acquire 20 hotels across North America and the Caribbean over the next three years and place them under the Hilton brand. Despite us playfully chiding Rodriguez, the timing to get into hospitality may not actually be too bad. Covid has decimated the industry, with names like Hilton |
| Joe Biden Claims Accusations Against Hunter Are “Foul Play”Joe Biden Claims Accusations Against Hunter Are “Foul Play” Tyler Durden Fri, 12/18/2020 – 08:13 Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times, Joe Biden on Wednesday claimed accusations against his son, who is under investigation by federal authorities, are œfoul play.
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| US Blacklists Largest Chinese Chipmaker, 60 Other CompaniesUS Blacklists Largest Chinese Chipmaker, 60 Other Companies Tyler Durden Fri, 12/18/2020 – 08:10 There was speculation early in the session that tensions between the US and China were set to ease following an FT report that the US Treasury department was “attempting to water down an executive order from President Donald Trump that bars Americans from investing in Chinese companies with suspected ties to the People’s Liberation Army” (which however was “met with furious opposition from the Pentagon and state department, opening up a heated dispute over one of the last big anti-Beijing policies of the Trump era”). So to set the record straight, Reuters first reported and this morning the Commerce Department confirmed that it’s blacklisting Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. and more than 60 other Chinese companies œto protect U.S. national security.” The designation restricts companies from exporting U.S.-origin technology to the listed firms without a license, with a provision that effectively prohibits SMIC from acquiring technology to build chips with 10-nanometer circuits and smaller, the in … |
| Futures Fly To All-Time High On Quad Witching DayFutures Fly To All-Time High On Quad Witching Day Tyler Durden Fri, 12/18/2020 – 08:01 Normally, “quad-witching” option expiration days tend to be volatile affairs resulting in bursts of volatility and occasionally aggravated downside for risk assets. Today’s quad-witch, however, will not be one of those days because while some 45% of outstanding SPX option open interest – totaling more than $2.5tln of notional – expires, the concentration of strikes is below the current spot level and will thus have limited potential gamma impact, as we noted yesterday.
And since what … |
| Fears of Christmas post delays amid ‘high demand’Fears remain over Christmas deliveries as online shopping balloons amid Covid restrictions. |
| Pre-Christmas lockdown restrictions hit retail salesSales fell by 3.8% last month, bringing to an end a six-month streak of rising trade. |
| ‘Serious concerns’ remain over funeral pricingThe UK’s competition watchdog rules out price controls but says it is keeping a close eye on the sector. |
| Tesla joins S&P 500 on Monday after a 700% rally this yearTesla will be the most valuable company ever to join the S&P 500 when it makes its debut in Wall Street’s most followed benchmark starting on Monday. |
| What technology charged up stock broking in the year of RobinhoodsBrokers are increasingly migrating to cloud-based systems to meet the spike in trading volumes and new account openings. |
| Borosil Renewables raises Rs 200 cr via through QIPBorosil Renewables Ltd (BRL) has successfully completed fundraising of Rs 200 crore through a qualified institutions placement (issue), a company statement said. |
| Documentary Of The Week: The Failure Of Neo-classical EconomicsWritten by John Lounsbury Steve Keen presented an invited lecture to the Marshall Society at Cambridge University in early November. The 1-hour presentation reviews the failure of neo-classical economics with carefully derived analytical argument. This is unusual compared to some discussions by notable economists in that it is non-ideological, but based on empirical observations of macroeconomic systems.
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| Most Read Articles Last Week Ending 12DecemberWritten by Econintersect Google Analytics has given GEI page read counts for each of the 500 most read articles on Global Economic Intersection for the week 06 December through 12 December, inclusive. The top ten are listed after the Read more >>jump.
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| Bond Report: Treasury yields in holding pattern as investors track U.S. stimulus talks, vaccine rolloutsTreasury yields trade little changed Friday, with investors tracking talks on Capitol Hill toward a $900 billion package of economic relief and vaccine developments as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. |
| : Pence receives coronavirus vaccine live on televisionVIce President Mike Pence received the COVID-19 vaccine in a television event on Friday, |
| : FDA committee supports authorization of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccineAn independent advisory committee on Thursday voted 20-0-1 that the benefits of Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate outweigh the risks, a recommendation that sets the stage for the second FDA authorization of a vaccine during the pandemic. |
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