Written by Gary
GM shares tank 8%, head toward worst trading day since covid, after earnings miss (SPY -0.4%). Royal Caribbean posts wider-than-expected loss and disappointing revenue.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Bovespa gained 1.21%, while the IPC led the S&P 500 lower. They fell 1.14% and 0.06% respectively. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Saudi Aramco Hikes Oil Prices To Asia For Second Consecutive MonthThe worlds largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, raised on Wednesday its official selling prices for crude oil loading for Asia in September in a widely expected move tracking stronger Middle East oil benchmarks. Saudi oil giant Aramco lifted its official selling price (OSP) for its flagshipArab Lightgrade for key customer Asia by $0.30 a barrel to a premium of $3.00 a barrel above the Dubai/Oman benchmark, off which Middle Eastern producers price their oil going to Asia, according to an Aramco price list seen by Reuters. The pricing |
| Donut Makers Urge Biden To Change Biofuel PolicyThe American Bakers Association (ABA) is lobbying with the Biden Administration to lower or at least halt the rising mandates for biofuel blending in gasoline and diesel, fearing that rising agricultural commodity prices could raise the costs for bread and donut makers. Representatives of ABA have told Reuters that they had met with officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week to call for reduced volumes of blending of biofuels. The EPA is the agency responsible for supervising and mandating the so-called Renewable |
| Surprise Crude Inventory Build Forces Oil Prices LowerCrude oil prices moved lower today after the Energy Information Administration reported an inventory build of 3.6 million barrels for the week to July 30. This compared with analyst expectations of a 2.9-million-barrel draw. For the previous week, the EIA had estimated an inventory draw of 4.1 million barrels. The EIA also reported an estimated 5.3-million-barrel draw in gasoline stocks for the week to July 30, which compared with a decline of 2.3 million barrels for the previous week. Gasoline production averaged 10.2 million barrels daily last |
| Oil Tanker Seized In Gulf of Oman, Ordered To Sail To IranA tanker carrying bitumen has been hijacked in the Gulf of Oman and has been ordered to sail to Iran, the BBC reported, citing information from Lloyds List Maritime Intelligence. An earlier report by The Independent said that the Royal Navy’s UK Maritime Trade Operationshad reported that a tanker had been hijacked off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE, saying that soldiers stormed the Panama-flagged Asphalt Princess. The BBC notes in its report that, according to analysts, Iran’s military will be the primary suspect. Iran, for its part, has |
| Oil Prices Slide For Third Day In A Row On Delta FearsOil prices fell for a third straight day early on Wednesday as concerns about demand amid surging Delta COVID variant continue to weigh on market sentiment. As of 9:13 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, before the weekly EIA inventory report, WTI Crude was down below $70 per barrel again, after dipping briefly below that mark on Tuesday. WTI Crude traded at $69.09, down 2.08%. Brent Crude was trading down by 1.60% at $71.25. Soaring COVID cases with the fast-spreading Delta variant were front and center in the oil market on Wednesday, trumping geopolitical |
| U.S. Airports Are Facing Serious Jet Fuel ShortagesA shortage of tanker truck drivers hascaused fuel delivery disruptionsat airports from Nantucket to California. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a”Notice to Airmen”warning that some airports would not have enough jet fuel through Monday. Flights were delayed at California’s Santa Barbara airport, and some departing planes were forced to add stops for refueling last weekend. Meanwhile, the airport in Nantucket, Massachusetts, ran out of jet-A-grade fuel over the weekend. Those problems followed |
| Spirit Airlines cancels half its flights to ‘reboot’ operation, vows to learn from disruptionsSpirit Airlines canceled or delayed more than half of its flights as disruptions continued for a fourth day. |
| Target to pay 100% of college tuition and textbooks in bid to attract workersThe big-box retailer is the latest company to dangle perks to woo job candidates in a competitive labor market. |
| WHO asks wealthy nations to hold off on Covid vaccine boosters at least through SeptemberThe World Health Organization on Wednesday called for a halt of Covid-19 booster shots, citing vaccine inequity around the world. |
| Royal Caribbean shares fall as cruise line posts wider-than-expected loss, disappointing revenueRoyal Caribbean reported second-quarter results with a wider-than-expected loss and a disappointing revenue. |
| CVS Health boosts pay, cuts education requirements as retailers compete for workersThe retailer said it will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour as of July 2022. |
| General Motors misses Wall Street second-quarter earnings expectations, raises 2021 guidanceGM said quarterly earnings were dragged down by some $1.3 billion in warranty recall costs, including $800 million related to the Chevrolet Bolt EV. |
| CVS Health raises estimates after strong earnings, but shares fall on investment plansThe drugstore chain said its business has begun to normalize, as customers buy more items in the front of the store and pharmacists fill more prescriptions. |
| Kroger partners with Kitchen United for ghost kitchens in its grocery storesKroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, and Kitchen United are partnering to put ghost kitchens inside grocery stores. |
| From Beijing to Wuhan, China orders mass testing and restrictions as Covid cases riseEconomists are concerned that strict measures by the government to control the Covid-19 outbreak would hurt the Chinese economy. |
| ‘Made in China’ products are running into new logistics problemsAccess to cheap manufacturing in China is becoming a disadvantage for some Chinese businesses selling overseas due to the pandemic and trade tensions. |
| Australia’s vaccinations need to rise before country can set up travel bubbles, let students inAustralia’s trade minister, Dan Tehan, says relaxing border restrictions and letting foreign students back in are still “very much part of the roadmap.” |
| ‘For $1/Day’… Double-Blind Ivermectin Study Reveals COVID Patients Recover More Quickly, Are Less Infectious‘For $1/Day’… Double-Blind Ivermectin Study Reveals COVID Patients Recover More Quickly, Are Less Infectious A double-blind Israeli study has concluded that Ivermectin, an inexpensive anti-parasitic widely used since 1981, reduces both the duration and infectiousness of Covid-19, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The study, conducted by Prof. Eli Schwartz, founder of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Disease at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, looked at some 89 eligible volunteers over the age of 18 who had tested positive for coronavirus, and were living in state-run Covid-19 hotels. After being divided into two groups, 50% received ivermectin, and 50% received a placebo. Each patient was given the drug for three days in a row, an hour before eating. 83% of participants were symptomatic at recruitment. 13.5% of patients had comorbidities of cardi … |
| HOOD ‘Gamma Squeeze’ Spike Fades As Options Traders Shift To Puts Over CallsHOOD ‘Gamma Squeeze’ Spike Fades As Options Traders Shift To Puts Over Calls Update (1135ET): As options trading began this morning on HOOD, it appears someone engineered a ‘gamma squeeze’ with buying in $70 Calls and even some in $95 Calls.
In fact, the $70 Calls were by far the most active, forcing dealers into a gamma squeeze amid the relatively illiquid first few days post-IPO…
It worked and HOOD screamed higher… but has started to fade now… |
| GM Shares Tank 8%, Head Toward Worst Trading Day Since Covid, After Earnings MissGM Shares Tank 8%, Head Toward Worst Trading Day Since Covid, After Earnings Miss Update 8/4/2021 1133 EST: Shares of GM are heading for their worst day since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and the company is pennies away from hitting a 5 month low.Â
*** Shares of General Motors and Ford are both lower this morning – GM by about 8% and F by about 3% -Â after GM reported mixed earnings and Ford updated on sales of its Mustang Mach-E. General Motors missed analyst expectations for Q2 even after reporting a record operating profit and raising its guidance for the year. The company reported adjusted EPS of $1.97 vs. estimates of $2.23 and revenue of $34.17 billion vs. estimates of $30.9 billion. Shares plunged about 7% at the open. |
| Rabo: What The CDC Did Is Blatantly UnconstitutionalRabo: What The CDC Did Is Blatantly Unconstitutional By Michael Every of Rabobank I See No Ships US equity markets are at fresh all-time highs; and US 10-year yields are plumbing 1.14% and trending lower. It doesn’t get any more plain-sailing than that – but it is also a harbinger of a storm on the horizon. If markets are saying we are heading for the New Normal at full speed, then we are doing absolutely no Build Back Better at all. In which case, watch out for the icebergs of social unrest and populism. If you want an example of that from the last 24 hours, consider that the US Centre for Disease Control has just announced an extended eviction moratorium. While that may allay some immediate economic pressures, it is also blatantly unconstitutional – which is why it had not been done until now. The Supreme Court already stated this is an issue only Congress can act on: and yet the House of Representatives is now already in recess until 13 September. Of course, for all the concerned headlines about holding the ship of state together, which seem to have disappeared of late, markets are only really concerned for the very near term (and the very fast return) rather than the far off destination of the future: œYes, society may collapse. But my fund will hopefully have outperformed the benchmark. Fair enough, perhaps. Yet markets are also failing to see oncoming ships on the horizon that lie between them and that outperformance. œI see no ships, they retort like Admiral Nelson: but it is unclear if this is echoing that famous sailor’s blind confidence, or just markets being bli … |
| High Court backs compensation for Provident customersThe doorstep lender’s borrowers can claim partial compensation for mis-sold loans after court ruling. |
| Net zero targets ‘unrealistic’ says Oxfam reportOxfam’s chief executive said that net zero targets made by companies and governments are “unreliable and unproven”. |
| Taylor Wimpey rejects housing market bubble fearsThe housebuilder sees bumper profits and builds a record number of new homes in the first half of 2021. |
| SBI Q1 takeaways: Plummeting SMA-2 loans bring cheer to investorsThe year-on-year fall in provisions by nearly 20 per cent also helped the lender post a 55 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 6,504 crore. |
| Will Adani Ports come out of the bear grip post Q1 earnings?Analysts, who see limited positive surprises ahead, have upside targets as low as 5 per cent. Others who see it as a compelling story on India’s EXIM play see up to 40 per cent upside on the counter. |
| Adani Green Energy Q1 results: Net profit zooms 10-fold to Rs 219 crThe consolidated net profit of the firm was Rs 22 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2020, the company said in a regulatory filing. |
| July 2021 ADP Employment Grew 330,000
ADP reported non-farm private jobs growth of 330,000 which was below expectations. A quote from the ADP authors:
|
| NewsWatch: Dow slides after ADP payrolls marks weakest gain since FebruaryStocks head lower Wednesday, after a report on private-sector jobs for July came in much weaker than expected, setting the stage for the monthly nonfarm-payrolls report on Friday to disappoint as investors assess the economy’s recovery from COVID-19 amid the spread of the delta variant. |
| Retire Better: Seniors, vaccinations and the Delta variant ” what you need to knowIs it safe to travel? Should I wear a mask? |
| : Walgreens, Google and other U.S. companies ask employees to get vaccinated before returning to workSee which U.S. companies are requiring workers to get vaccinated before returning to the office |
Written by Steven HansenEarnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
Current Commodity Prices
Commodities are powered by Investing.com
Current Currency Crosses
The Forex Quotes are powered by Investing.com.
To contact me with questions, comments or constructive criticism is always encouraged and appreciated:
