Written by Gary
S&P 500, Nasdaq end at record highs after Powell’s J-Hole speech(SPY +0.9%). Federal Reserve hints it will start easing US stimulus and U.S. oil prices up over 10% for the week.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Oil Stages Strong RecoveryWith fundamentals largely remaining the same as they were last week, oil prices nevertheless are poised to post sizable gains, with global benchmark Brent trading above $72 per barrel and WTI climbing to just south of $69 per barrel. The blaze at the Ku-Maloob-Zaap offshore platform in Mexico started it off, taking some 400,000 b/d of crude out of the market for the time being, and the forced evacuation of staff from production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Ida finished off the supply disruption, overpowering COVID concerns |
| Fujairah Oil Terminal To Upgrade As Crude Trade Is Expected To SurgeThe Fujairah Oil Terminal (FOT) is upgrading its infrastructure to link the storage site with a key crude pipeline and the terminal for supertankers at the Port of Fujairah, in order to meet an expected boom in crude oil trading, FOT chairman Steve Bickerton has told Reuters. Thats a game changer because it gives us access to customers who want to be moving crude oil through VLCCs and it gives our customers direct access to the ADCOP, which brings Abu Dhabi’s Murban Crude into Fujairah, said Bickerton, who is also Senior Managing |
| U.S. Rigs Inch Higher As Prices RecoverThe number of oil and gas rigs in the United States rose by 5 this week, according to Baker Hughes after rising by 3 last week. The total rig count is now 508, up 254 from the same time last year, but lagging behind the 790 active rigs in March 2020. The U.S. oil rig count rose by 5 this week to 410, while the number of gas rigs held at 97. Miscellaneous rigs also held at zero. The EIAs estimate for oil production in the United States for the week ending August 13 rose by 100,000 bpd for the third week in a row to an average of 11.4 |
| EPA Proposes Biofuel Mandate Cut In Win For Oil RefinersThe Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a retroactive reduction in biofuel mandates, effective 2020, in very welcome news to oil refiners who have been complaining of the costly mandates. Citing two unnamed sources familiar with the proposal, Reuters reports that the document was sent to the White House to be reviewed on Thursday, adding that it will likely deepen the rift between oil refiners and biofuels producers whose interests are at complete odds in the fuel blending department. “The proposal aims to get the (Renewable Fuel Standard) |
| Texas May Soon Get A New Electricity Supplier: TeslaTexas may soon get one more electricity supplier after Tesla filed an application with the states Public Utility Commission to sell power directly to consumers, CNBC reports. Earlier this year, in March, Bloomberg reported that the luxury EV maker that doubles as energy storage developer as well was secretly building a massive battery storage facility right outside Houston. The more than 100 MW facility, according to the report, could power some 20,000 households on a hot summer day. This is not the first megabattery Tesla |
| Woodside: Gulf Of Mexico Has Solid Growth PotentialThe Gulf of Mexico offers some good growth opportunities thanks to the quality assets BHP operates there, Australias Woodside Petroleums chief executive Meg ONeill told MarketWatch. “One of the things that I think is really exciting about the merger is it does give us a substantially increased growth optionality when we look at the quality assets in the Gulf of Mexico, the quality assets we have here in Australia and then other opportunities in places like Trinidad, Tobago, Mexico and Senegal,” she said in an interview. BHP |
| How Blue Origin, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic space race could impact the atmosphereThe Bezos, Branson and Musk space race is leading scientists to try to better understand how rocket exhaust and other elements impact the environment. |
| Biden says U.S. health officials are considering Covid booster shots at 5 months, moving up timeline of third shotNew data from Israel shows a booster dose provided four times as much protection against infection from the delta variant than the previous two-dose regimen. |
| CDC director says schools with large Covid outbreaks generally aren’t following federal mask and vaccine guidanceCDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said that reopened schools struggling with large-scale Covid outbreaks generally aren’t following federal guidelines. |
| Ex-Obama health advisor says Covid is far from dying out in U.S., so masks remain necessaryDr. Ezekiel Emanuel told CNBC on Friday the coronavirus will start “dying out” once more Americans, especially those under the age of 12, get vaccinated. |
| Dollar stores are facing a ‘tough ride’ ” but one stock may be close to bottoming outDollar General’s post-earnings drop has led the stock to a key technical juncture, says Inside Edge Capital Management founder Todd Gordon. |
| Walgreens Boots Alliance announces fresh slate of executives, as new CEO Roz Brewer assembles teamThe drugstore chain is chasing new growth opportunities and trying to stay relevant as more people buy items and fill prescriptions online. |
| ‘Shang-Chi’ is a ‘crowd pleaser,’ with a ‘magnetic’ lead and a radiant villain, critics sayCritics are buzzing about “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ahead of its debut on Sept. 3. |
| Restaurants grapple with vaccine mandate policies in historically tight labor marketBig players in the industry like McDonald’s and Chipotle have not yet mandated Covid-19 vaccines for restaurant staff. |
| A race against Covid: How Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech developed vaccines in record timeThe teams at Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech recount the historic race to develop Covid-19 vaccines in a newly released documentary by CNBC. |
| Dodge to resurrect ‘Fratzog’ logo for new electric vehiclesThe Fratzog ” a made up word by a designer ” was initially used by Dodge from 1962 through 1981. |
| Peloton says it has been subpoenaed by DOJ, DHS over reporting of treadmill injuriesPeloton said Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have subpoenaed the fitness equipment maker. |
| Vaccine inequality could cost the global economy trillions, report findsThe world economy could lose $2.3 trillion because of delayed vaccinations, with developing nations losing the most, the Economist Intelligence Unit said. |
| US Intel Agency Has “Moderate” Confidence Covid Escaped From Wuhan Lab: Origins ReportUS Intel Agency Has “Moderate” Confidence Covid Escaped From Wuhan Lab: Origins Report An unclassified version of the US intelligence community’s coronavirus origins report includes an assessment from one agency which has “moderate confidence” that Covid-19 emerged from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan, while four other agencies assessed with “low confidence” that the virus has a natural origin. The rest of the US intelligence community (which was awfully confident Donald Trump was working with Russia) declined to commit one way or another.
According to the Washington Examiner’s Jerry Dunleavy:
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| “Nothing Has Changed” – White House Flip-Flops Again On Timeline For Booster Jabs“Nothing Has Changed” – White House Flip-Flops Again On Timeline For Booster Jabs President Joe Biden said U.S. regulators are looking at administering Covid-19 booster shots five months after people finish their primary immunizations, moving up the expected timetable for a third shot by about three months. President Biden, who was speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Friday, said that after consulting with Dr. Anthony Fauci and his other health advisers, he was considering moving up the timeline for booster shots to 5 months after the second shot, up from 8 months.
NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said last week that the efficacy of COVID vaccines had prompted health leaders to rethink their position on vaccine booster shots. But Twitter users immediately jumped on the announcement, blasting the administration for moving the goalposts once again, and ignoring “the science.”
The negative reaction clearly prompted … |
| Chinese Official Sets 1.1 Billion Vaccination Target By October To “Win People’s War”Chinese Official Sets 1.1 Billion Vaccination Target By October To “Win People’s War” Authored by Rita Li via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), An official in China recently announced plans to have 1.1 billion citizens vaccinated by the end of October, claiming the target was approved by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to state-run media. There will be œvaccination coverage for one billion people by the end of August and 1.1 billion by the end of October, said Qin Weiguo, mayor of Huaibei municipal government of China’s central Anhui Province. Qin made the statem … |
| Taliban Fighters Reportedly Seize Military Side Of Kabul Airport Using American WeaponsTaliban Fighters Reportedly Seize Military Side Of Kabul Airport Using American Weapons With the deadline for the American withdrawal from Afghanistan looming in just four short days, Taliban fighters are moving to take full control of the airport, according to unconfirmed media reports. At this pace, it looks like the airport will be under complete Taliban control by tomorrow.
Additionally, there are reports that Taliban special forces units – “many of whom are using stolen American military hardware” – are now trying to secure the airport following yesterday’s attack.
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| Morrisons calls for action on lorry driver dearthThe supermarket chain joins others in the food and drink industry demanding a special help with visas. |
| Peloton investigated over the safety of its treadmillsUS regulators are investigating the firm after customers reported accidents on its exercise bikes. |
| Federal Reserve hints it will start easing US stimulusThe central bank’s chairman says it could slow asset purchases this year but is in no rush to raise rates. |
| CSK @Rs 100: Will Dhoni’s team hit century after a lukewarm show in FY21The Chennai-based entity reported a 29 per cent fall in income from operations to Rs 247.83 crore in FY2021, against an income of Rs 350.27 crore in FY2020. |
| Explained: What will new Sebi margin rule mean for intraday tradersIn 2020, Sebi introduced the new margin rules for day traders under which stock brokers were now mandated to collect minimum margins on leverage-based trade upfront as against the earlier practice of collecting it at the end of the day. |
| Taper or no taper, market set to hit an intermediate top: Here are your cuesEven in the absence of so called ‘taper tantrum’, if we look at the global scenario in isolation, markets seem to have developed froth with bloated valuations, thereby warranting a major correction as a measure of self-check and a balancing act, if they have to remain in a sustainable bull market for a longer period. |
| : Support.com stock rockets again, as borrow fee for short sales tops 100%Shares of Support.com rocketed on heavy volume again on Friday, and have now run up more than fivefold in a little over a week, even as the customer and technical support services company has not released any news. |
| Bond Report: Long-end Treasury yields post biggest one-week gain since June after Fed’s Powell comes out in support of a 2021 taperTen- and 30-year yields for U.S. government debt yields slipped Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell supported a 2021 start to tapering the central bank’s of bond purchases but was vague about timing, though yields posted their biggest one-week gain since June. |
| Futures Movers: U.S. oil prices up over 10% for the week as Hurricane Ida threatens Gulf of MexicoOil and natural-gas futures settled sharply higher on Friday to tally a strong gain for the week, as a storm, now known as Hurricane Ida, takes aim at the U.S. Gulf Coast. |
People register information as they prepare to receive the Covid-19 vaccine in Ningbo, in China’s eastern Zhejiang Province on Aug. 10, 2021. (STR / AFP)Summary of Economic Releases this Week
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