Written by Gary
Major snowstorm slams Northeast, spurring shutdowns and blackouts (SPY +1.7%). Bitcoin could be the new GameStop. Short-squeeze stampede sends silver soaring.
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
![]() | New Mexico Looks To Solve Its Gas Flaring ProblemGas flaring in the largest U.S. shale plays has been in the spotlight since the shale revolution started. Pressure from society and ESG investors have recently turned up the heat on the oil and gas industry to reduce flaring and eliminate routine flaring as a step toward contributing to emissions reduction. The spotlight in the United States is on the biggest shale basin, the Permian, where flaring soared to record highs while production was surging in 2019, and fell in 2020 to the lowest since the shale boom started, due to lower oil and gas drilling |
![]() | The Guyana-Suriname Basin Could Be The Last Big Oil BoomThe tiny South American countries of Guyana and Suriname are the focus of Latin Americas latest oil boom. A slew of oil discoveries by ExxonMobil since 2015 in its offshore Guyana Stabroek block which now sees the global energy supermajor estimating that the block contains over eight billion barrels of recoverable oil resources has captured the international oil industrys attention. This is not only because of the sheer volume of discoveries, but also due to the extremely low breakeven prices, estimated to be $35 per barrel and falling, |
![]() | Will France Abandon Nuclear Power?On Wednesday January 27th, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a long-awaited report called Conditions and requirements for the technical feasibility of a power system with a high share of renewables in France towards 2050. Yet, that document was given a cold welcome by the French nuclear industry, as behind this somewhat complex title hides a key message : a scenario of 100% renewable energy is technically possible in 2060 in France. This implies that the country would potentially no longer need nuclear energy |
![]() | Iraq Raises Crude Oil Exports In JanuaryIraqs oil exports increased slightly in January 2021 compared to December 2020, data from the countrys oil ministry showed on Monday, suggesting that Iraq is again looking to maximize oil revenues at the risk of busting its OPEC+ compliance. Iraq, OPECs second-largest producer and the biggest laggard in complying with the OPEC+ groups production cuts, saw its crude oil exports increase to 2.868 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, up from 2.846 million bpd exported in December 2020, according to data from |
![]() | Silver Price Jumps To Eight-Year High On Reddit Trading FrenzySilver broke above $30 an ounce on Monday as the precious metal took center stage in theReddit investorsfrenzy. Silver futureson the Comex exchange rose by as much as 12.7% to $30.3 an ounce. The metalhas gained 19% in price since last Thursday after posts on Reddit led small investors to buysilvermining stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETF) backed by physicalsilverbars, in a GameStop-style squeeze. Retail sites for silver have been overwhelmed with demand for bars and coins as well. Dealers |
![]() | BP Sells Stake In Oman Gas Field As Part Of $25B Divestment PlanBP is selling 20 percent of its 60-percent stake in a gas block in Oman to Thailands national oil company for US$2.6 billion as part of its plan to receive US$25 billion in divestment proceeds by 2025. After the completion of the sale of 20 percent in Omans Block 61 to Thailands PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), expected this year, BP will remain operator of the block with a stake of 40 percent, the UK supermajor said in a statement on Monday. The sale needs to be approved by the |
![]() | Biden official says some doctors are holding back needed Covid vaccine doses as a reserve for second shotsHolding back doses is causing some providers to cancel appointments and preventing some Americans from getting their first shots, the official said. |
![]() | Ghost kitchens and delivery-only restaurants may be too popular for their own goodThe coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the popularity of ghost kitchens and virtual brands, but industry experts think that the market may be oversaturated. |
![]() | JetBlue reveals suites with sliding doors for London flightsJetBlue is planning to begin flights to London featuring the new seats in the summer. |
![]() | Private jet company Wheels Up to go public in a $2 billion SPAC deal that could help it unlock new marketsThe deal vaults the seven-year-old start-up past many of the industry’s longtime leaders in the race to become the Uber or AirBnb of private aviation. |
![]() | Export controls on Covid vaccines from Europe could spark collapse in global supply, experts warnThe EU’s move to implement export controls on Covid vaccines is “highly problematic,” experts warn, saying it could lead to a collapse in global supply. |
![]() | Walmart donates $14 million as part of broader pledge to advance racial equityThe big-box retailer gave an update on its promise to fight systemic racism though philanthropy and its business practices. |
![]() | Yes, bitcoin could be the new GameStopThe price of bitcoin has been volatile the last few months. Skeptics worry it’s a bubble, but Wall Street giants such as Citi and JPMorgan see room to run. |
![]() | Federal judge signals SpaceX could face tough time blocking DOJ hiring probe subpoenaA federal judge hinted that Elon Musk’s SpaceX could find it difficult to block a subpoena for hiring documents issued by the U.S. Department of Justice. |
![]() | Major snowstorm slams Northeast, spurring shutdowns and blackoutsThis year’s first major snowstorm has left cities buried in snow. |
![]() | Airlines cancel most NYC-area flights as snowstorm hitsAirlines canceled most flights in and out the New York City-area as a Nor’easter approaches the region. |
![]() | Ryanair expects a loss of over $1 billion this year as travel restrictions biteRyanair expects this fiscal year to be “the most challenging” in its 35 year-history on the back of travel restrictions across Europe. |
![]() | Nike taps the comfort trend with the launch of Go FlyEase, a no-lace slip-on sneakerNike launches a pair of slip-on sneakers, hoping to enjoy the same momentum that some of its footwear competitors like Crocs have seen during the pandemic. |
![]() | Criminals are selling fake Covid test results as they look to profit from travel restrictionsIllicit sales of fake negative Covid-19 test results are becoming more widespread as criminals look to profit from travel restrictions, according to Europol. |
![]() | Short-Squeeze Stampede Sends Silver Soaring; Stocks Surge Off Overnight SlumpShort-Squeeze Stampede Sends Silver Soaring; Stocks Surge Off Overnight Slump Well, that escalated quickly… In the early trading, Silver prices were up the most since Lehman, with Spot above $30… Source: Bloomberg …but as the way wore on the squeeze faded, but still SLV (the silver ETF) was up almost 14% in the last 3 days – the biggest jump since early August… |
![]() | Rochester Police Under Fire After Pepper-Spraying Distraught 9-Year OldRochester Police Under Fire After Pepper-Spraying Distraught 9-Year Old In the latest outrage provoking example of police overreach and brutality to go viral, the Rochester Police Department in New York are under scrutiny after last Friday officers responded to a family disturbance call which ended up in the police pepper-spraying a deeply distraught 9-year old girl as they tried to detain her. Amid a public outcry the department released two videos from body cameras. Especially driving public anger is the fact that the child was already handcuffed when an officer sprayed her with pepper-spray at close range. This occurred after an apparent struggle while the child was begging for her father to come, and as she was already in the backseat of the police car, but one female officer struggled to get her to put her feet into the vehicle. The girl was later taken to Rochester General Hospital in accord with policy regarding family distress calls involving persons in crisis. The video shows at least seven officers responding to the scene as they struggled to get the agitated girl into the car. Police said she was threatening to harm herself and her family, and they were there at the request of the family. An officer is heard saying in the v … |
![]() | Steve Cohen Opens Fund To New Investor Cash After Losses From Melvin Capital BailoutSteve Cohen Opens Fund To New Investor Cash After Losses From Melvin Capital Bailout First it was Melvin (no) Capital demanding more, well, capital form existing investors such as Citadel and a new investor, Steve Cohen’s Point72, following news that i had lost a third of its AUM in just one trading day following the massive squeeze in GME and other meme stocks. Then, a few days later, over the weekend we learned that the two anchor investors were already underwater on their investment, as the losses at Melvin accelerated, bringing the total to over $7 billion or some 53% of the fund’s AUM, at which point we joked that the “new” investors may need new investors themselves. Now, this (formerly comic) scenario is becoming all too real because as Charlie Gasparino reports, Steve Cohen – who over the weekend killed his Twitter account due to “threats”, is offering investors the “unique” opportunity to throw even more good money after bad, and his Point 72 fund “is no longer closed to new investors and began raising new investor cash from brokerages like @MorganStanley last week- sources. As Gasparino explains, the move comes “amid losses at firm due to exposure to Melvin Capital, the depressed hedge fund at the center of the GME frenzy. Person close to Pt72 contends that Cohen sees opportunities as mkts slide. Others say the timing is interesting.”
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![]() | Silver Swans, Maginot Lines, & The Unforeseen Risks Of CollapseSilver Swans, Maginot Lines, & The Unforeseen Risks Of Collapse Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, Our Nobility’s assessment of risk and their war-gaming of vulnerabilities are fatally deficient. Many people have heard of Nassim Taleb’s black swan but fewer understand how few events qualify as black swans. Per Wikipedia, a black swan is an unpredictable or unforeseen event, typically one with extreme consequences, an event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. Black swan events are characterized by their extreme rarity, severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight. Taleb’s black swan theory refers to unexpected events of large magnitude and consequence and their dominant role in history. Such events, considered extreme outliers, collectively play vastly larger roles than regular occurrences. In other words, if an event was deemed possible but very low-risk, it isn’t a black swan. France’s Maginot Line offers an interesting example of the difference between events that are deemed low-probability and that play out in ways that weren’t anticipated and a true black swan. The Maginot Line was a defensive line of impregnable fortifications constructed in the 1930s to force any future German invasion of France (i.e. a replay of World War I) to go around the Line to the nor … |
![]() | Thousands of jobs at risk as Asos strikes Arcadia dealAsos buys Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands, but not their shops, in £295m deal. |
![]() | George Osborne departs newspaper role for investment bankThe former chancellor is leaving his job as the Standard’s editor-in-chief for a boutique bank with 13 staff. |
![]() | GameStop investor battle moves on to silver as prices surgeSilver hits an eight-year high amid social media calls to buy the metal. |
![]() | GameStop sinks as shorts interest drops, retail looks elsewhereThe video-game retailer fell for the second time in three sessions as shares of silver miners and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. became the focus for retail investors and Reddit users. |
![]() | View: Some of Budget’s boldest moves happened in financial sectorThe government has followed a consultative approach as a number of suggestions made by various industry forums over time have found acceptance in this Budget. |
![]() | Market momentum back! Which stocks should you buy after Budget?Analysts applauded the Budget saying it connects capital to infrastructure which has been the biggest missing link. What we now need is meticulous structuring of these initiatives and good execution, they said. |
![]() | December 2020 ISM and Markit Manufacturing Surveys Show GrowthWritten by Steven Hansen The ISM Manufacturing survey declined but remains in expansion. The Markit PMI manufacturing index improved and remains in expansion. The index value of ISM and Markit are similar. |
![]() | : Myanmar coup is the first international challenge for Biden administration and national security teamMyanmar’s army launched a coup on Monday morning against the elected government of Nobel peace prizewinner Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained after early morning raids. |
![]() | : Tesla is in decline, SUVs are king, and more insights from the world’s largest electric-vehicle marketEurope overtook China in 2020 to become the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, amid a pedal-to-the-metal push to increase EV adoption from governments and supercharged demand from consumers. |
![]() | The Tell: A ‘Dumb-Money Confidence’ stock-market gauge is flashing a warningA gauge of the confidence of individual investors, colloquially referred to as œdumb money, was breaching a level at 0.67 that SentimenTrader’s Jay Kaeppel deemed indicative of trouble for forward returns in the S&P 500 index. |
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