15Oct2020 Pre-Market Commentary: 898,000 Americans Filed For First-time Jobless Claims Much Worse Than The 825k Expected, DOW Futures Down 324 Points, Nasdaq Down -1.5%, WTI Slips To 39.55

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are broadly lower today with shares in Germany off the most. The DAX is down 2.89% while London’s FTSE 100 is off 2.16% and France’s CAC 40 is lower by 0.12%.

The Secret Behind Americas Most Valuable Energy Play

America’s energy sector is going through its biggest crisis–as well as its biggest seismic shift–in modern history. Fossil fuel companies have always dominated the U.S. energy space, and no company has been more dominant than Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) thanks mainly to its powerful John Rockefeller pedigree. Exxon has always been the United States’ most valuable energy company since it began as Standard Oil more than a century ago. But something very strange happened over the last week: Suddenly, a company that has become the face of renewable

The Shale Patch Bankruptcy Crisis Isnt Over Yet

Low oil prices, lower credit availability, and piling debt loads forced a few dozen oil and gas firms in North America to file for bankruptcy protection in the third quarter. As many as 44 oil and gas producers, oilfield services companies, and midstream companies sought protection from creditors in bankruptcy courts between July and September, the latest data from law firm Haynes and Boone showed. Those 44 bankruptcies in Q3 could even be a low number compared to the wave of filings expected after the fall borrowing base

5 Major Takeaways From The IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2020

A few years back, the fossil fuel sector was doing just fine while renewable and alternative energy investments were considered a wildcard because the sector was regarded as unchartered territory. But with the shift to clean energy and the war against climate change in full swing while fossil fuels continue to face their biggest existential crisis in history, the momentum has overwhelmingly shifted to lower carbon fuels. Paris-based International Energy Agency, IEA, has just released its flagship publication, the World Energy Outlook 2020, which

Irans Sanction Busting Pipeline Is Just Months From Completion

With sanctions on Iran still in place following the U.S.s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018, Tehran has been relying on the tried-and-tested sanctions-busting measures to continue to export increasing volumes of crude oil, as exclusively revealed by OilPrice.com in August. These measures include the re-labelling of Iranian oil into Iraqi oil on the border and at the shared oil reservoirs of the two allies, the use of international brokers to hide Iranian oil movements under the guise of

Bigger Than Expected Crude Inventory Draw Boosts Oil Prices

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Wednesday a major draw in crude oil inventories of 5.421 million barrels for the week ending October 9. Analysts had predicted an inventory draw of 2.835-million barrels. In the previous week, the API reported a build in crude oil inventories of 951,000 barrels, after analysts had predicted a build of 400,000 barrels. Oil prices were trading up on Tuesday afternoon before the APIs data release, despite industry reports from the IEA and OPEC that suggested oil demand growth could be weaker

EU May Set Binding Standards Methane Emissions

As part of its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become carbon neutral by 2050, the European Union (EU) will consider the creation of a legally-binding framework at the international level for methane emission reduction, including in the energy sector. In its EU strategy to reduce methane emissions published on Wednesday, the European Commission said that the scope of actions for energy-related methane emissions covers the entire oil, natural gas, and coal supply chains, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), gas storage,

Coronavirus clinical trials are pausing over safety concerns – here’s what that means

Pauses to clinical trials are not uncommon, and the delays should reassure the public that the systems in place intended to protect volunteers are working.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon to Congress: Get a stimulus deal done

The big-box retailer’s leader said lawmakers need to help Americans and small businesses who are struggling during the recession.

Airborne transmission of coronavirus has made high-end air filtration systems more popular than ‘toilet paper in April’ as HVAC systems sell out

“You’ll hear, and it’s incorrect, ‘oh, these viruses are too small to be filtered,’ but that’s not true. They’re perfect. They’re very easily filtered out,” Kimberly Prather, an atmospheric chemist at the University of California at San Diego, said.

Full lockdowns should be a ‘very, very last resort’ and can be avoided, WHO’s Europe chief says

As Europe introduces more and more restrictive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, full-scale lockdowns should be a “very, very last resort.”

United Airlines posts $1.8 billion net loss in pandemic slump, cuts cash burn

The coronavirus pandemic pushed United Airlines to a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss but the carrier was able to trim cash burn.

Alphabet is trialing solar-paneled, robotic buggies to inspect farm crops

The vehicles can collect a large amount of data for analysis.

British government announces tougher coronavirus restrictions for London; indoor gatherings banned

The U.K.’s capital city will move to a so-called “high” alert level from midnight on Friday, up from the current “medium” alert level.

Dr. Fauci says his kids aren’t coming home for Thanksgiving as Americans ‘sacrifice’ holiday gatherings to stay safe from coronavirus

The U.S. reported more than 52,400 new cases on Tuesday, pushing the seven-day average to more than 51,000 new cases per day, up more than 16% compared with a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

After Mardi Gras scheduling conflict, NFL bumps New Orleans Super Bowl from 2024 to 2025

The NFL voted to move its Super Bowl LVIII event in 2024 to Las Vegas after the agreement with New Orleans conflicted with Mardi Gras due to the league’s new regular-season schedule.

South Korean boy band BTS’s label makes a strong debut in ‘really hot’ IPO market

Shares of Big Hit Entertainment, the music label of K-pop superstars BTS, ended their first trading day in South Korea more than 90% higher than

Beyond Amazon Prime Day: 4 ways e-commerce has shaken up the retail industry over the past 5 years

Amazon held its first-ever e-commerce holiday, Prime Day, in July 2015. And ever since then, the online shopping event has helped to reshape the entire retail industry.

Healthy young people might not be able to get the coronavirus vaccine until 2022, WHO says

“People tend to think that on the first of January or the first of April, I’m going to get the vaccine, and then things will be back to normal,” Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s chief scientist, said. “It’s not going to work like that.”

Almost 900,000 Americans Filed For First-Time Jobless Benefits Last Week But California Chaos Continues

Almost 900,000 Americans Filed For First-Time Jobless Benefits Last Week But California Chaos Continues Tyler Durden Thu, 10/15/2020 – 08:34

898,000 Americans filed for first-time jobless claims last week, well above the previous week’s 845k (and much worse than the 825k expected). This is the biggest rise in claims in 8 weeks…

Morgan Stanley Sales And Trading Smash Expectations; Stock Drops

Morgan Stanley Sales And Trading Smash Expectations; Stock Drops Tyler Durden Thu, 10/15/2020 – 08:23

Concluding a rather quick earnings season for financials which has seen mixed results from money-center banks, whose sharp revenue declines and tepid outlook on loss provisions – and outright misses in the case of Wells and BofA – sent their stocks lower, offset by strong performance by pure-play “hedge funds” such as Goldman, moments ago Morgan Stanley reported Q3 earnings which smashed expectations thanks to another quarter of stellar revenue from both equity and FICC sales and trading.

Morgan Stanley reported Q3 net revenues of $11.7 billion, up 16% from $10.0 billion a year ago, and solidly beating expectations of $10.6BN. Net income was $2.7 billion, or $1.66 per diluted share, up 25% from $2.2 billion, or $1.27 per share, a year ago, while adjusted EPS also jumped from $1.21 to $1.59, beating expectations of $1.28 (EPS was adjusted by tax benefits of $113 million which had an impact of $0.07 per diluted share; as a result, the effective tax rate was 21.1% vs. 18.2% y/y, below the expected 23.5%). As Bloomberg observes, it is “fascinating that some of these firms, including Morgan Stanley, were able to pull off better results than a year ago despite being in the middle of a pandemic.”

Blain: “The Chinese Must Be Laughing Their Heads Off…”

Blain: “The Chinese Must Be Laughing Their Heads Off…” Tyler Durden Thu, 10/15/2020 – 08:14

Authored Bill Blain via MorningPorridge.com,

œTheir aim is not to destroy us, but simply to author us and profit from that authorship.

The new head of the UK’s security services, M15 said y’day: œYou might think in terms of the Russian intelligence services providing bursts of bad weather, while China is changing the climate. Â

The US election, Coronavirus economic instability and the growing threat of populism are likely to set the background for the next few years. But they won’t be the main story ” that’s going to be defined by China’s continued rise and challenge to US and Western economic dominance.  The Chinese must be laughing their heads off at the way the West has been pole-axed economically by the Coronavirus, and is now increasing riven by political polarisation. The West’s growing instability is playing right into China’s game plan. Sun Tzu would be delighted ¦Â

S&P Futures Fall, Naz Tumbles On Goldman Tech Downgrade, “Stimulus Pessimism”

S&P Futures Fall, Naz Tumbles On Goldman Tech Downgrade, “Stimulus Pessimism” Tyler Durden Thu, 10/15/2020 – 07:47

Just as “stimulus (and covid vaccine) optimism” was the go to “explanation” for the market’s ramp in the past few weeks, so “stimulus (and covid vaccine) pessimism” is being trotted out to “explain” when stocks unexpectedly don’t melt-up overnight. And sure enough, one day after stocks sank when Steven Mnuchin told the Milken Institute Global Conference yesterday that “getting something done” on stimulus before the election “would be difficult”, the selling accelerated overnight in S&P futures which dropped over 1%, as Europe’s biggest cities clamped down to curb the virus and hopes wilted for new stimulus from Washington.

Hopes for a U.S. package to boost the coronavirus-hit economy before the presidential election next month have also fizzled out after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said such a deal would be difficult.

Marston’s to cut up to 2,150 furloughed pub jobs

The pub and brewing group is set to make redundancies as the current wage subsidy scheme nears its end.

Franco Manca owner Fulham Shore lambasts ailing rivals

Fulham Shore says too many restaurants thought they could “swim like Mark Spitz” but were barely afloat.

Heineken fined for forcing pubs to stock too many of its beers

The firm’s pubs division is fined £2m for breaching rules, but it says it is considering an appeal.

India may not mandate secondary listings for firms joining overseas markets

India is close to drawing up rules for companies to float overseas without having to first list shares at home, as a way to help startups attain higher valuations and access capital more easily.

Smart Beta Funds: How they marry 2 investment styles to cut risks & increase returns

Smart Beta Funds have a low-cost model, quite similar to passive funds, and aims to deliver better returns with lower risk.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala bought stake in this automaker in September quarter

Jhunjhunwala who is also a key investor in other Tata Group firms such as Titan, Indian Hotels and Rallis India, held 4,00,00,000 shares in Tata Motors at the end of the September quarter.

: Walmart will spread Black Friday deals over multiple days as retailers try new ways to drive holiday traffic

Retailers are announcing promotional events that span throughout the month of November rather than focusing on Thanksgiving weekend

Bond Report: U.S. Treasury yields extend weekly slide ahead of data deluge

U.S. Treasury yields fall in early Thursday trade as investors await a rush of economic data amid a souring of sentiment over the uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 in Europe.

Metals Stocks: Gold prices slip below $1,900 level as coronavirus lockdowns gain steam

Gold futures resumed a slump for the week early Thursday as the U.S. dollar rose in the wake of new lockdowns in Europe to combat rising coronavirus cases, while equities worldwide slipped on fears of slowing economic growth.