12Mar2020 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street To Waterfall At The Opening Bell, DOW Down 1,233 Points, WTI Crude Down To 30.84

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are sharply lower today with shares in France off the most. The CAC 40 is down 7.99% while Germany’s DAX is off 5.81% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 5.49%.

GameStop investors seek board seat

A group of investors in GameStop Corp has asked the video game retailer to appoint a shareholder nominee on the company’s board.

Airline crisis deepens as U.S. puts Europeans in coronavirus quarantine

European airlines bore the brunt of a dramatic expansion of the coronavirus crisis on Thursday, as U.S. travel curbs on much of the continent deepened the sector’s misery and piled more pressure on governments to offer emergency support.

United Airlines borrows $2 billion as coronavirus slams industry

United Airlines said on Thursday it had borrowed $2 billion to cope with an unprecedented disruption to the travel industry as the coronavirus pandemic leads to widescale flight cancellations and global travel bans.

Oil falls more than 5% after Trump surprises with travel ban

Oil prices fell more than 5% on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced restrictions on travel from Europe, in an attempt to halt the spread of coronavirus after the World Health Organization described the outbreak as a pandemic.

Stocks plunge into bear market as Trump’s Europe travel ban adds to economic headwinds

Global stocks plunged into a bear market and oil slumped on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump banned travel from Europe to stem the spread of coronavirus, threatening more disruption to the world economy.

Corporate credit risk heightens as coronavirus impact spreads

Investor worries about corporate credit are heating up as the coronavirus spreads, with the prices of bond funds taking a hit, companies starting to draw on credit lines and some market watchers warning of the possibility that investors pull out of products.

Insurers face double whammy from coronavirus crisis

Having initially brushed off the potential impact from coronavirus-linked claims, global insurers are waking up to the prospect of a double whammy – a sharp rise in payouts at a time of big investment losses.

Cineworld could breach debt terms in worst-case virus scenario

Cineworld could fail to meet its debt commitments in a worst-case coronavirus scenario, it warned on Thursday, though it plans to press ahead with its $1.65 billion takeover of Canadian rival Cineplex .

Italian businesses count heavy cost of coronavirus lockdown

Even if Italy’s draconian measures to stop the spread of coronavirus prove successful, they will leave an economy in tatters, with small and medium-sized businesses the hardest hit.

Funding Markets Are Freezing: Global Dollar Shortage Hits Alarming Levels

Funding Markets Are Freezing: Global Dollar Shortage Hits Alarming Levels

The surging demand for repo liquidity – and massively expanded bailout facility size by the New York Fed – suggests there is a major global scramble for USD funding, and today’s price action in the archaic money markets exposes it has now reached extremely alarming levels.

Surging cross-currency basis swaps (measuring how much investors are willing to pay to swap their currencies for dollars for 3m) signal something has snapped…

JetBlue Flight Trapped On Runway After Passenger Tests Positive For Covid-19, Spain’s “La Liga” Joins NBA By Suspending Season: Live Updates

JetBlue Flight Trapped On Runway After Passenger Tests Positive For Covid-19, Spain’s “La Liga” Joins NBA By Suspending Season: Live Updates

Update (0834ET): Here we go again with this.

24 hours after Angela Merkel warned that up to 70% of Germans might eventually contract the coronavirus, we’re seeing yet another headline about German fiscal stimulus, though it didn’t do much to lift the market’s mood.

GERMANY READY TO DITCH BALANCED BUDGET TO COMBAT CORONAVIRUS

Of course, this is Germany, and many remain skeptical about deficit spending (even though there probably isn’t a German alive who remembers the Weimar Republic hyperinflationary era).

But liberals and Merkel have been pushing for some level of expanded spending to boost the economy since late last year. Now, the perfect excuse for more stimulus has fallen in their lap (along with a genuine threat to the economy).

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Update (0822ET): Rumors are flying around (they were mentioned on CNBC earlier, and it looks like BBG just fired off a headline) claiming the NHL might join the NBA in suspending the season just as the playoffs are set to begin. The league is expected to hold a conference call at 11am ET Thursday morning.

In New York, JP Morgan has finally joined a handful of its peers (including Barclays and Morgan Stanley) in telling its NY employees to work from home because of the virus.

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Update (0720ET): A passenger on a JetBlue flight from JFK to Palm Peach has been stuck on a runway in Palm Beach for hours after a passenger tested positive for the coronavirus,

Bitcoin And Bullion Blasted As Traders Sell Everything

Bitcoin And Bullion Blasted As Traders Sell Everything

It;s a bloodbath out there. For now, only bonds are higher in price as it seems traders are selling everything that is not nailed down in order to meet margin calls or simply reduce overall uncertainty.

Crypto markets are a sea of red with everything crashing together…

Saxo: “Trump’s Address To The Nation Failed Abysmally In Calming Sentiment”

Saxo: “Trump’s Address To The Nation Failed Abysmally In Calming Sentiment”

Submitted by Eleanor Creagh of Saxobank

Summary: The resounding theme throughout markets is too little too late when it comes to policymakers promises. With fiscal stimulus measures likely to fall short of what is required, monetary stimulus ineffective in the virus fight, and public health policy seriously lacking when it comes to preventative measures and availability of testing destroying confidence. We await the ECB tonight, will Lagardes bazooka be enough

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President Trump’s address to the nation failed abysmally in calming sentiment, with the speech driving a risk assets into the abyss. US futures plunging ” Nasdaq futures trigger limit down at 7,590, Asian indices all firmly in the red and European futures pummelled. Overnight Index Swaps pricing an immediate emergency cut tonight by the Fed. Both Brent and WTI futures crashed more than 6% and Euro Stoxx futures more than 8% at one stage as President Trump implements a ban on all travel between the US and Europe (excludes UK) for 30 days beginning Friday local time.

It seems we underestimated yesterday in saying, in this heightened volatility regime 3% days, both to the upside and downside, will be the new normal. Todays 7+% plunge on the Aussie market begs to differ! Australian stocks sinking deeper into a bear market with today’s trade dictated by the lacking US rescue package that sent US futures tumbling. We still maintain that to have real confidence in buying into any relief rally volatility needs to reset meaningfully lower. And more clarity surrounding both the economic consequences of measures to c …

Mark Mobius sees a recession coming, says India not immune

Mark Mobius sees a recession coming, says India not immuneWe are going to see a bottoming out because people will realise that covid won’t be as bad as SARS or MERS.

‘Thank God the virus didn’t start in India’

‘Thank God the virus didn’t start in India’Jim O’ Neill, the former Goldman chief economist said, there’s no way India could react in the way China has.

Bears run riot in worst day since 2008

Bears run riot in worst day since 2008The carnage wiped off Rs 11.28 lakh crore in market capitalisation on the BSE.

February 2020 Producer Price Final Demand Year-over-Year Growth Significantly Slows To 1.3%

Written by Steven Hansen

The Producer Price Index (PPI) year-over-year inflation slowed from 2.1 % to 1.3 %, This eliminates last month’s significant increase.

Economic Report: U.S. jobless claims dip to 211,000 in early March, no sign yet of coronavirus layoffs

The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in early March fell slightly and remained near a 50-year low, indicating the coronavirus epidemic has not caused an influx of layoffs so far.

Market Extra: U.S. stock-index futures tumble 5% Thursday, triggering ‘limit-down’ rule. Here’s how limit rules and stock-market circuit breakers work

U.S. stocks have been experiencing some of the most volatile trading in the past decade this week and that trend continued into Thursday morning as the three main stock-index futures hit 5% limit-down rules for the second time this week.

Walmart may cut store hours to combat coronavirus and says a Kentucky associate has tested positive

A Walmart Inc. associate in Kentucky has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the company said Wednesday while announcing potential store-hour restrictions at 24-hour locations even though traffic is rising.