18May2020 Midday Update: Wall Street Soars On Hopes Of Stimulus, Coronavirus Vaccine, DOW Up Over 800 Points, WTI Crude Still Climbing At 32.34, US Dollar Is Fractionally Down At 99.65

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are sharply higher today with shares in Mexico leading the region. The IPC is up 3.26% while Brazil’s Bovespa is up 3.24% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 3.05%.

Walmart trailed supermarkets amid peak panic-buying: data

Americans increased their visits to supermarkets far more than to Walmart Inc stores as panic-buying peaked in mid-March, a Reuters analysis of foot traffic to retailers in the United States shows.

Oil futures on track for two-month highs as lockdowns ease

Oil prices jumped on Monday, with both U.S. and Brent benchmarks on track for their highest settles in two months, supported by optimism about resumption in economic activity and steady output cuts from major producers.

Delta to resume flying several major routes in June

Delta Air Lines said on Monday it would resume flying several major routes in June that were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, including some Trans-Atlantic and Caribbean destinations.

Wall Street soars on hopes of stimulus, coronavirus vaccine

Wall Street’s main indexes surged on Monday as encouraging early data from a potential coronavirus vaccine trial boosted sentiment, with investors also counting on more stimulus to rescue the U.S. economy from a deep slowdown.

Uber to lay off 3,000 workers in second cut this month

Uber Technologies Inc will cut about 3,000 jobs, in addition to the 3,700 it had announced earlier this month, as coronavirus-led restrictions sap demand for ride-hailing services, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said in an email to employees on Monday.

SoftBank’s Son hopes ‘winged unicorns’ can save crumbling tech empire

SoftBank Group Corp CEO Masayoshi Son on Monday pinned his hopes on a small group of “winged unicorns” to save the performance of his $100 billion Vision Fund – although he gave few clues on which ones they would be.

Global shares, oil rally as lockdowns ease, vaccine hopes

A gauge of global equity markets surged more than 2% on Monday and oil rallied to highs last seen in mid-April as data from a potential COVID-19 vaccine trial lifted both sentiment and hopes of a faster recovery from the coronavirus-driven economic slump.

Amazon’s French warehouses to resume work with 30% of staff on Tuesday: unions

Amazon’s French warehouses are set to re-open on Tuesday with about 30% of employees, three union officials said, following an agreement with staff representatives last week.

U.S. auto industry returns to life after lockdown

The Detroit Three automakers and their suppliers began restarting assembly lines on Monday after a two-month coronavirus lockdown in a slow revival of a sector that employs nearly 1 million people in the United States.

Austrian Study Finds “Sign Of Human Intervention” In COVID-19

Austrian Study Finds “Sign Of Human Intervention” In COVID-19 Tyler Durden Mon, 05/18/2020 – 12:16

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

A scientific study in Austria has found that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that has led to a pandemic, was likely created in a lab, barring some œremarkable coincidence that led to the virus naturally evolving to be optimised to attack human cells.

FBI Cracks Into Pensacola Shooter’s iPhone, Find “Significant Ties” To Al Qaeda

FBI Cracks Into Pensacola Shooter’s iPhone, Find “Significant Ties” To Al Qaeda Tyler Durden Mon, 05/18/2020 – 12:00

After months of trying to break into the encrypted iPhone of the Pensacola, Florida naval base shooter – Saudi Arabian national Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the FBI was able to access information on the device and discovered a contact with a suspected al-Qaeda operative, according to Bloomberg.

Access to the data was obtained via alternate methods after Apple, Inc. refused to help the DOJ.

Powell Makes History By Unleashing Record “Buying Panic” In Stocks

Powell Makes History By Unleashing Record “Buying Panic” In Stocks Tyler Durden Mon, 05/18/2020 – 11:47

Powell’s promise to the American people that there is a “lot more [the Fed] can do”, coupled with his ‘explanation’ that the Fed “prints money digitally”, alongside the news that a tiny coronavirus vaccine trial showed promise, was enough to unleash the biggest buying panic in history this morning, when according to the NYSE TICK index, a record 2,049 stocks saw positive ticks moments after the open, the highest print on record; it was this buying scramble that may have knocked out online retail brokers such as Robin Hood and Etrade in the first hour of trading.

Euro, EU Bonds Surge On Merkel/Macron EU Bailout Fund Headlines

Euro, EU Bonds Surge On Merkel/Macron EU Bailout Fund Headlines Tyler Durden Mon, 05/18/2020 – 11:42

It’s not ‘coronabonds’ yet, but on a day like this it doesn’t matter.

Reuters headlines from France’s Macron and Germany’s Merkel have sparked a panic bid for EURUSD, European stocks (and US stocks), and European peripheral debt.

The two core European leaders agreed to back a plan for a 500 billion-euro ($543 million) recovery fund to help the European Union weather the worst recession on record.

Merkel said the fund will be within the framework of the bloc’s budget, which will have authority to borrow money.

EUR spiked…

Swaminathan Aiyar on why India’s stimulus may not save economy

Swaminathan Aiyar on why India’s stimulus may not save economyWe are facing an economic collapse and GDP is likely to fall 3% to 5%, Aiyar said.

Why India must forget budget gap this year

Why India must forget budget gap this year œFixing any fiscal deficit target is not possible this year because there are so many unknowns, NITI VC said.

Gold loans regain some glitter amid crisis

Gold loans regain some glitter amid crisisBig banks to small players all have started exploring the gold loans’ market deeper amid Covid uncertainty.

J.C. Penney will have to close at least 25% of its stores, Cowen analysts say

J.C. Penney says it will close stores as part of the bankruptcy restructuring it filed on Friday.

Futures Movers: U.S. oil prices top $30 a barrel as output cuts and hope for demand pickup boost value

Oil futures rally on Monday, with U.S. benchmark prices looking to settle at their highest in more than two months, supported in large part by efforts to rebalance a supply-demand dynamic that has been blown out of whack due to the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tell: Today’s stock market looks like March 2009, before the longest bull run in history, says Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson

Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson argues that the current stock market looks uncannily like March of 2009, when the U.S. economy was beginning to emerge from the financial crisis and the S&P 500 index was beginning its longest bull-market run in history.