Written by Gary
Shares of SPAC for electric car company Lucid plummet another 20% after merger announcement (SPY +1.1%). Stocks & bonds dumped-n-pumped as Powell promises MOAR.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Carbon Dioxide: A $550-Billion OpportunityAnyone would be forgiven for being shocked when they see the words carbon and opportunity in one sentence. Carbon, after all, or rather carbon-oxygen compounds, are the ultimate enemy of the planet. It is something to be eliminated, not utilized. Nothing could be further from the truth. In addition to being an essential element for photosynthesis and as such an essential element for all organic life on the planet, carbon has many other uses. It is these uses that are opening up an opportunity that could develop into |
| Exxon Sells UK North Sea Oil, Gas Assets For Over $1 BillionExxonMobil will sell most of its non-operated assets in the UKs central and northern North Sea to private equity fund HitecVision for more than $1 billion, the U.S. supermajor said on Wednesday as it divests non-core assets to focus on its priority areasthe Permian, Guyana, Brazil, and LNG. Exxon will be selling to HitecVisions NEO Energy ownership interests in 14 producing fields in the UK North Sea operated primarily by Shell, including Penguins, Starling, Fram, the Gannet Cluster, and Shearwater. The sale also includes Exxons |
| A Key Fracking Indicator Just Hit Record LowsOil prices have staged an extraordinary rally in the last three months, rising by 50%. Bidens presidency, the vaccine rollout, a weak dollar, low interest rates, no inflation, and hopes of more stimulus in the future have all played a part in sending oil prices higher. Now, the recent Polar Vortex in Texas has taken prices to a new 13 month high, with WTI rising 3 percent on Monday the 22nd February. The storm in Texas, which killed at least 25 people, pushed an estimated 4 mbpd of U.S. oil production offline, output that will take an estimated |
| Iran And Venezuela Swap Jet Fuel And Gasoline CargoesVenezuela and Iran, both sanctioned by the United States, have found a way to help each other as shipping companies stay away from dealings with the two oil-producing countries for fear of running afoul of the U.S. Venezuela is shipping jet fuel to Iran in the same tankers in which Iran delivers gasoline and spare parts for the refineries in Venezuela, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter and documents of Venezuelas state oil firm PDVSA it had seen. Venezuela, which has an excess of jet fuel with flights |
| Traders Are Betting On $100 Oil Following Texas FreezeAmid all the issues ignited in the Texas turmoil, and as oil prices roar to post-COVID highs, analysts across the energy space appear to be outdoing each other with their bullish forecasts. Source: Bloomberg Brent Crude prices could hit $70 a barrel in the second quarter of 2021, while they are set to average $60 this year, Bank of America said this week, raising its average price outlook by $10 a barrel from its previous projection. Echoing Bank of America, Morgan Stanley also sees Brent touching the $70 mark this year, but a bit later – in the |
| Jet Fuel Demand Is The Only Thing Holding Oil BackOil prices have rallied since the start of this year, pushed up by the OPEC+ cuts tightening the market and the vaccine rollouts. Analysts and industry leaders have already called the balancing of demand and supply, but one corner of the market is still struggling to catch up and will likely struggle for another two yearsjet fuel demand. Pre-pandemic, aviation fuel accounted for around 8 percent of global oil demandnot a very large share in itself, but the collapse in air travel has severely cut into jet |
| U.S. is ready to roll out J&J vaccine ‘without delay,’ pending FDA clearance, Biden health officials sayPresident Joe Biden’s Covid czar Jeff Zients said the administration is ready to deliver J&J’s vaccine “without delay” if granted FDA emergency authorization. |
| Marvel’s ‘Loki’ series will debut on Disney+ starting June 11The long-awaited “Loki” series, which takes place after the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” stars Tom Hiddleston and arrives June 11 on Disney+. |
| Dr. Fauci says new data suggests ‘long’ Covid symptoms can last up to 9 monthsNew data suggests that people with Covid-19 can continue to suffer from symptoms for up to nine months after the initial infection, Dr. Anthony Fauci said. |
| Marriott CEO says leisure travel will rebound as vaccines roll out, but business travel will return tooHotels have been suffering during the pandemic from less tourism, but Marriott CEO Tony Capuano expects the industry to recover with the help of vaccines. |
| Gap to invest $140 million to build Texas warehouse as online sales swellThe Longview, Texas, warehouse will be able to process 1 million packages per day as Gap tries to double its online business over the next two years. |
| U.S. retail sales to rise 6.5% to 8.2% in 2021, as Covid vaccine triggers fastest economic growth in over two decades, NRF saysRetail sales are expected to grow in 2021 between 6.5% and 8.2%, amounting to more than $4.33 trillion, the National Retail Federation said Wednesday. |
| Shares of SPAC for electric car company Lucid plummet another 20% after merger announcementShares were down as much as 19.6% during midday trading, adding to a tumultuous week for the special purpose acquisition company, also known as a SPAC, |
| General Motors says worst of global chip shortage may be behind itGeneral Motors believes the worst of a global chip shortage that’s forced automakers to cut production and close plants is behind it. |
| First COVAX vaccine shipment arrives in Ghana as developing world hopes to catch upThe news is a hopeful turning point for poorer countries that risk being left behind in the global race for vaccinations. |
| Drugmakers are ramping up Covid vaccine production after fixing initial manufacturing delays“We’ve been in the process of developing a manufacturing process for a vaccine product that we’ve never made before,” Pfizer Chief Business Officer John Young said. |
| Fisker shares surge on electric car deal with Apple iPhone assembler FoxconnShares of electric vehicle start-up Fisker surged more than 20% in trading Wednesday morning after the company announced a manufacturing deal with Foxconn |
| Mattel outlines plan for 2021 and beyond, expects sales to grow by mid-single digits through 2023During Mattel’s investor day Wednesday the company reiterated its expectations for growth in the coming year and laid out its forecast for 2022 and 2023. |
| These are the most common side effects from J&J’s one-shot Covid vaccineRoughly 40% of people who took J&J’s Covid vaccine reported headaches and just more than 38% reported feeling fatigued, the FDA staff said. |
| Stocks & Bonds Dumped-n-Pumped As Powell Promises ‘Moar’Stocks & Bonds Dumped-n-Pumped As Powell Promises ‘Moar’ Another day, another chaotic roller-coaster in the thing we call a stock market as Powell’s incessant promises of “moar” of “whatever it takes” is all that’s needed now…
And Bonds followed a similar path… puking into the open, then aggressively bid as Powell plugged more holes with his bond-buying bonanza…
Source: Bloomberg “…either they buy… or fucking die…” |
| Deja Vu All Over Again: Gamestop Halted After Soaring 70% In Minutes On No NewsDeja Vu All Over Again: Gamestop Halted After Soaring 70% In Minutes On No News The squeeze is back. About a month after everyone was transfixed by the Gamestop-led short squeeze insanity, which however fizzled in early February when the stock plunged more than 80% from as high as $500 to $40, moments ago GME exploded higher, surging more than 70% in the last half hour of trading on no news, and what appears to be yet another attempt to spark a short squeeze…
… which however will be difficult with just 32.8% of the float now short, a drop of roughly 100% from a month ago. Squeeze or not, after GME was reopened for trading following a brief halt, the stock exploded even higher, and was halted for a second time when it was up 100%, trading just above $91. |
| “It Must End Badly” – Munger Says Market Resembles Dot Com Bubble, Calls SPACs “Shit”“It Must End Badly” – Munger Says Market Resembles Dot Com Bubble, Calls SPACs “Shit” Warren Buffett’s “No. 2” spoke during the annual meeting of the Daily Journal Corporation, the Los Angeles newspaper-publishing company chaired by Munger. The 97-year-old Charlie Munger is best known for his work as Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, where he has served as Buffett’s right hand man for decades. And like Buffett, Munger has a soft spot for newspapers and legacy media companies, and thus took time out of his (busy?) week to answer questions from Daily Journal shareholders in a meeting broadcast live online (watch recording below). While there were only 410 shareholders of record of Daily Journal’s common stock as of Dec. 15, according to the firm’s annual report, Munger attracts a sizable and engaged audience each year, including non-shareholders, to listen to his aphorisms and wisecracks (many of which are not exactly politically correct) about business, investing, and life… which unfortunately have become somewhat confused due to Munger’s age. Those who tuned in on Wednesday hoped to hear Munger answer questions on one critical topic: the state of contemporary markets, and whether or not all the craziness in equities, crypto, commodities etc constitutes an asset bubble. Among the myriad topics covered in Mungers marathon, 2-hour presentation, the 97-year-old reflected on the crazy price moves in companies like GameStop, and said the prevailing attitude in the US equity market as a “horse-racing mentality toward stocks.”
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| The Top 10 Takeaways From JPMorgan’s Conference Call On Asset BubblesThe Top 10 Takeaways From JPMorgan’s Conference Call On Asset Bubbles On Tuesday, we pointed out something which we hoped was only unintentionally ironic: at the same time as the first day of Jay Powell’s highly anticipated Congressional Testimony (which, to loosely paraphrase Gabriel Garcia Marquez was titled “inflation love in a time of Treasury cholera”) was set to begin, JPMorgan was holding a conference call “on potential asset bubbles” – all of which have been sparked by the abovementioned individual – which included the who is who of sellside JPM research, including the bank’s heads of global equity and credit research, the top quants, and so on.
During the call, which had thousands of JPM clients dialing in and which was riddled with technical difficulties, JPMorgan traders and researchers discussed their outlook for global markets in the context of what virtually everyone now sees is one massive bubble… |
| Vauxhall: Crunch talks to save Ellesmere Port plant continuesVauxhall’s parent company has previously said its fate depends on the government’s commitment to the car industry. |
| Covid lockdown: ‘My closed hair salons cost me £1,000 a day’The hair and beauty industry is calling for a cut in VAT to help mend the sector’s finances. |
| Fraudsters stepped up efforts in new year, HMRC figures showCon-artists claimed people could receive a tax rebate or a grant, as they tried to steal financial details. |
| Two telecom lines fail to protect world’s top derivative bourse‹Surprisingly, both service providers — Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Tata Communications Ltd. — went down at the same time, hamstringing migration from the financial capital Mumbai to the southern city of Chennai, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing internal deliberations. |
| Facing existential threat, crypto backers seek identity change and regulationExperts and commentators at the ETMarkets Conclave today pleaded with the government to see the positive side of technological innovation and said that they will welcome any regulations instead of a blanket ban. |
| Commodity rally, cheaper valuation to support Vedanta stock in medium termThe stock still trades below the five-year average valuation multiple despite a 25% rise over the past month. |
| The Moneyist: I’m 28, have no debt, 401(k), Roth IRA and $45K and live in California. Should I save for a house or buy a Tesla Model 3?‘I believe I can buy the car and strap down, and save more aggressively to replenish the funds.’ |
| The Moneyist: We put our spendthrift neighbors in touch with our financial adviser. They called her ‘lousy.’ So how come WE are the ones who retired early?‘Warren Buffett and Harry Potter couldn’t get those two retired early.’ |
| The Moneyist: We started a homeschool pod with another family. After our out-of-state vacation, they isolated from us and refused to split the nanny cost for 2 weeks. Who’s right?‘I still paid my share of the nanny during our absence and intended to pay the nanny in full after our return, although I did not agree with their assessment.’ |
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