13Aug2020 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Futures Trade Cautiously After Jobless Claims, DOW Up 23 Points, WTI Steady 42.70, Silver Up 26.24

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

Coach owner Tapestry shares jump as retailer posts narrower-than-expected loss, speeds up turnaround

Along with having slower sales during the pandemic, Tapestry’s CEO resigned in mid-July.

Departure of GM CFO Dhivya Suryadevara highlights ongoing ‘brain drain’ problem for auto industry

As the automotive and tech sectors have collided in the past decade with the rise of connected, electric and autonomous vehicles, the competitive landscape for top talent has increasingly become more challenging.

With test delays across country, Kroger and CVS Health say they can help businesses, college campuses

Kroger and CVS Health are both pitching Covid-19 testing programs to employers to help them reopen and operate safely as the pandemic continues.

China says chicken imported from Brazil tests positive for coronavirus; relief talks at a standstill

The coronavirus has infected more than 20.4 million people around the world as of Thursday, killing at least 745,923 people.

Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines will ‘inevitably’ take longer to recover, analyst says

Both carriers are based in markets that have no domestic demand in a time where international travel is still very limited, said Joanna Lu of Cirium.

5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday

The S&P 500 will attempt to reclaim its record high hit before the coronavirus pandemic.

Sweden avoided a coronavirus lockdown; now its critics urge more caution to avoid a second wave

Critics of Sweden’s controversial coronavirus strategy have called on the country’s health officials to put measures in place to prepare for, and prevent, a potential second wave of the virus in the fall.

Coronavirus live updates: U.S. records over 1,500 new deaths, for the deadliest day since May

The coronavirus has infected more than 20.6 million people around the world as of Thursday, killing at least 749,700 people.

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Tapestry, 3M, Apple

These are the stocks posting the largest moves before the bell.

Kamala Harris blames Trump for severity of U.S. coronavirus outbreak: He failed to take it ‘seriously from the start’

Democratic vice presidential pick Sen. Kamala Harris blamed President Donald Trump for the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

United bets on sun-seekers with new Florida flights

United is adding more routes to Florida cities from the northern U.S. to capitalize on vacationers with business travel still weak because of the pandemic.

Accuracy of U.S. coronavirus data thrown into question as decline in testing skews drop in new cases

In Texas, new Covid-19 cases have fallen by 10% to an average of 7,381 a day from 8,203 two weeks ago, but testing is down by 53% over the same time.

Most expensive car ever sold online could fetch more than $4 million

Demand for classic cars ” especially vintage Ferraris ” has held up well throughout the pandemic. The sales prove wealthy collectors are willing to buy seven-figure cars without inspecting or driving them, which could shift more sales online even after the virus.

How The Real World Is Just Like A James Bond Film? Rabobank Explains

How The Real World Is Just Like A James Bond Film? Rabobank Explains Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2020 – 08:43

By Michael Every of Rabobank

What’s Your Favourite Bond Theme?

We live in a world where all can agree on very little ” but one thing that should be clear is that it’s all very James Bond. Charismatic billionaires; Cold War; secret agents; skulduggery; poisonings; spy apps in innocuous devices; military build-ups and warnings of hot war; police crack-downs; and, of course, a killer virus. Ironically, Bond himself is absent because the latest movie iteration, œNo Time To Die , has been delayed because of Covid-19: when it eventually comes out, is it going to be a wilder ride than what we already see in real life? And could Hollywood ever tell a story that contains any elements of real life developments given how it is now financed? That’s what US Republicans are asking anyway. (Personally, I feel Bond lost his mojo with the internet. Who wants to see a man licensed to double-click to save the day?)

Anyway, a British poll of ‘Who was the best Bond?’, the kind of thing Brits ask themselves all the time for some reason, unsurprisingly had Sean Connery as the top 007, but with Timothy Dalton as #2, followed by Pierce Brosnan, then Roger Moore, current Bond Daniel Craig, and finally and naturally, G …

After “Big Jobs Numbers”, Initial Jobless Claims Fall Below 1 Million For First Time In 21 Weeks

After “Big Jobs Numbers”, Initial Jobless Claims Fall Below 1 Million For First Time In 21 Weeks Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2020 – 08:35

For the first time in 21 weeks, Initial Jobless Claims for the last week was less than 1 million, printing at 963k (vs 1.1mm exp)

Soros Reveals How He’s Invested Amid “Fed Liquidity Bubble”; Says Trump “Very Dangerous”

Soros Reveals How He’s Invested Amid “Fed Liquidity Bubble”; Says Trump “Very Dangerous” Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2020 – 08:25

Billionaire financier and political puppeteer George Soros says he’s no longer invested in financial markets – admitting to Italy’s La Repubblica that we’re caught in a bubble fueled by Fed liquidity, and that ever since he shared his methodology in his book, “Alchemy of Finance,” he no longer has an advantage.

Blain Blasts Bloated Bureaucracy (Not BoJo) For Britain’s “Full-Blown Apocalypse”

Blain Blasts Bloated Bureaucracy (Not BoJo) For Britain’s “Full-Blown Apocalypse” Tyler Durden Thu, 08/13/2020 – 08:10

Authored by Bill Blain via MorningPorridge.com,

Who To Blame?

œJust doing my job sir ¦

I feel a bit of rant coming on ¦ Yesterday’s dismal UK numbers were not a surprise ” unless you expected them to be even worse. Â A 20% quarter on quarter Q2 decline in GDP, deeper than anywhere else (except possibly Spain), and the deepest and fastest recession on record. Germany was down 12%, while US GDP was down a mere 10.5%. Sweden ” which didn’t lockdown, was down 8.6%. Unemployment is going through the roof. Companies are planning redundancies, and no one is going to get Christmas holidays again. Ever. Â We have become addicted to government support – the papers say we face a house price collapse next year when stamp-tax holiday ends, and it’s a stark choice of putting everyone on permanent furlough or redundancy.Â

Why is the UK so shockingly bad?

There are probably good reasons for our miserable performance in terms of the detail of how our retail and services sector works, the density and he …

National Express to use jobs bonus to cut bus fares

The government’s job retention bonus scheme will be used to cut fares in the West Midlands and Dundee.

Michael Jordan: Rare trainers to fetch at least $500,000 at auction

Christies is selling 11 pairs of the basketball legend’s shoes, including the “rarest of the rare”.

Coronavirus: Price cap plan for funerals shelved by CMA

A long-running investigation finds the sector is not working well for grieving families.

Rajasthan row: Pilot meets CM Ashok Gehlot

Rajasthan row: Pilot meets CM Ashok Gehlot Congress leader Sachin Pilot meets CM Ashok Gehlot at his residence. Congress Legislature Party meeting to take place here, ahead of the special session of the Rajasthan Assembly tomorrow.

Here’s what won’t be a part of faceless assessment

Here’s what won’t be a part of faceless assessmentThe CBDT, which administers personal and corporate income tax, directed that “all assessment orders shall hereafter be passed by National e-assessment Centre through the Faceless Assessment Scheme, 2019”, except those related to central charges and international tax cases.

View: Clean up GST, to increase I-T collections

View: Clean up GST, to increase I-T collectionsA direct tax is a tax that is borne by the entity on which the tax is levied, such as income tax and capital gains tax. An indirect tax is a tax that the entity on which the tax is levied can shift to someone else, so that the burden of the tax is borne by that someone else.

July 2020 Import Year-over-Year Inflation Now -3.3%

Written by Steven Hansen

Year-over-year import price indices inflation remained in contraction and moved from -3.9 % to -3.3 %.

Market Snapshot: Stock-index futures pare losses as jobless claims fall below 1 million

Stock-index futures erase a small decline, edging higher after a drop in first-time jobless claims below 1 million last week.

Why it could be more expensive for Scotch whisky drinkers in the U.S. but good news for gin and beer lovers

It is worth remembering in this never-ending EU-U.S. dispute that tariffs are first and foremost paid by the consumers of the importing country ” which sets a ceiling on how high they can go.

Economic Report: Jobless claims fall below 1 million for first time since start of coronavirus pandemic

Initial jobless claims fell below 1 million in August for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began almost five months ago, signaling a steady if slow revival in a battered U.S. labor market.