20Nov2020 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Expected To Open Moderately Lower, DOW Futures Down And Flat, Early Christmas Shopping Helps Boost Retail Sales

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are mixed today. The FTSE 100 is up 0.46% while the DAX gains 0.34%. The CAC 40 is off 0.67%.

Oil Majors Are Paying The Price For Investing In Renewables

Big Oil has been frequently lambasted for trying to burnish its green credentials through half-hearted investments in renewables. That might have been true for much of the past decade, but it appears to be changing as the oil and gas majors have started putting down big money into clean energy. For instance, European oil majors including BP Plc. (NYSE:BP), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A), Eni SpA (NYSE:E), Total SA (NYSE:TOT), and Norwegian national oil company Equinor ASA (NYSE:EQNR) have already invested billions of dollars in renewable energy

UAE Clarifies Stance On OPEC Membership

Anonymous UAE officials claimed earlier in the week that the country was considering breaking away from OPEC, citing the difficulties it is facing due to the stringent production cuts it must adhere to. Now, the UAEs Energy Minister has officially responded to the allegations. As a reliable and longstanding member of OPEC, we have always been open and transparent in all our decisions and strategies in support of OPEC. UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei told Reuters on Thursday, adding that it had demonstrated this

Middle East Oil Producers Are Drowning In Debt

Arab Gulf oil producers are losing billions of U.S. dollars from oil revenues this year due to the pandemic that crippled oil demand and oil prices. Because of predominantly oil-dependent government incomes, budget deficits across the region are soaring. Middle Easts oil exporters rushed to raise taxes and cut spending earlier this year, but these measures were insufficient to contain the damage. The major oil producers in the Gulf then rushed to raise debt via sovereign and corporate debt issuance. Bond issues in the region

Tesla Slammed In Consumer Reliability Report

Despite the rise in electric vehicle (EV) sales and the growing number of their devoted fans, electric carmakers continue to experience growing pains, and their cars didnt score very well in the latest reliability survey of Consumer Reports. The massive survey showed that CR members, who shared their experience with 329,000 vehicles, found problems with Tesla Model Y, Audi E-Tron, and the Kia Niro EV. Consumer Reports thus dropped the Audi E-Tron and the Kia Niro from recommended cars, while Model Y did not earn CRs

Asian Crude Demand Gives Oil Markets Hope

While oil demand in Europe and the United States continues to disappoint, refiners in Asia are racing to procure crude from around the world, giving the oil market some hope that at least in one region, demand is strengthening in the fourth quarter. Lower term supplies from major OPEC producers due to the OPEC+ cuts, new import quotas for independent refiners in China, and strengthening fuel demand in India have all combined to create a bidding war for crude grades from all around the world going to Asia at the beginning of 2021, traders have told

UK Renewable Giant Suffers Despite Green Energy Push

Energy giant SSE today said that profit before tax had fallen a quarter in the first half of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The FTSE 100 company said that the pandemic had cost it 115m over the last six months, with full-year costs between 150m and 250m forecast. Adjusted profit before tax fell 26 percent to 193.9m over the period, SSE said, while earnings per share fell 34 percent to 11.9p. At the beginning of the year, the firm sold its household energy business to challenger brand Ovo in order to focus

Under pressure from Wall Street, General Motors has no interest in spinning off EV business

GM President Mark Reuss said the Detroit automaker analyzed the potential of a spinoff but determined it would not be the right thing for its business.

Trump International Hotel Washington DC sale put on indefinite hold

The Trump Organization hired Jones Lang LaSalle to shop the hotel to potential buyers last fall hoping for a price of about $500 million.

HHS launches pilot program in five states using rapid Covid test deployed by NBA

A molecular point-of-care test will help offset concerns of false diagnoses with antigen screenings, Cue Health founder Ayub Khattak said.

CDC urges Americans against traveling for Thanksgiving as coronavirus outbreak worsens

The U.S. reported more than 170,100 new cases of the virus on Wednesday, the second-highest one-day spike reported to date, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Consumer Reports is no longer recommending Tesla’s Model S and is panning the reliability of the new Model Y

The latest Consumer Reports’ annual Auto Reliability Survey also dropped a Toyota brand from No. 1 for the first time in 15 years.

Covid testing faces delays ” again ” as demand spikes ahead of the holidays

“The surge in demand for testing will mean that some members could reach or exceed their current testing capacities in the coming days,” the American Clinical Laboratory Association said.

GM ups spending on EVs and autonomous cars by 35% to $27 billion

GM will spend $27 billion on all-electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025 to support the release of 30 new EVs globally by 2025.

Macy’s may temporarily close more stores as Covid cases climb and threaten crucial holiday shopping season, CEO says

“Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said Covid is surging again, “and that continues to impede our recovery.”

Op-ed: Will audiences return to the movies? They already have, IMAX CEO says

Where the coronavirus was handled with real public health discipline, movie audiences are safely and enthusiastically returning to theaters.

5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday

U.S. stock futures pointed to a mixed open Friday, in an investor sentiment tug-of-war between more encouraging Covid vaccine news and skyrocketing infections.

Covid reinfection ‘highly unlikely’ for at least six months, Oxford study says

Researchers say the findings are “exciting” because they represent an important step in understanding how Covid-19 immunity may work.

Pfizer and BioNTech to request emergency authorization from FDA for Covid vaccine

The FDA process is expected to take a few weeks, and an advisory committee meeting to review the vaccine has been tentatively scheduled for early December.

EU chief urges gradual lifting of coronavirus lockdowns, warns of a third wave

EU’s von der Leyen said European governments should lift coronavirus lockdowns and other social restrictions gradually to avoid a third wave.

Ethereum Soars Above $500 For First Time Since 2018

Ethereum Soars Above $500 For First Time Since 2018 Tyler Durden Fri, 11/20/2020 – 08:25

While Bitcoin has been making all the headlines recently, surging above $18,000, it is Ethereum that is suddenly bid overnight, breaking above $500…

South Australia Revokes Draconian Lockdown After Revelation One Person Lied To Contact-Tracers

South Australia Revokes Draconian Lockdown After Revelation One Person Lied To Contact-Tracers Tyler Durden Fri, 11/20/2020 – 08:10

Update (0810ET): South Australia has revoked its draconian lockdown, which banned people from even walking their dogs, after it was revealed that just one person lied to contact tracers.

Futures Recover All Losses From “Fed-Treasury Split” Scare

Futures Recover All Losses From “Fed-Treasury Split” Scare Tyler Durden Fri, 11/20/2020 – 08:04

After futures dropped sharply, sliding as much as 1% during the Asian session after Steven Mnuchin announced that the Treasury would seek to recover nearly $500bn in cash from the Fed as it sought to end eight emergency credit facilities on Dec 31, sparking fears that helicopter money – which as a reminder is a coordination between the Fed and Treasury – would expire by year end, markets have managed to recover all overnight losses with the S&P last trading flat perhaps and just shy of all time highs, as traders realized that whether under Mnuchin or Brainard, the Treasury will promptly restore all emergency facilities in 2021 – it simply has no choice. Furthermore, Mnuchin said he is merely carrying out the law prescribed by the Cares Act, and his actions were not an indication of disagreement between the top two U.S. economic policymakers.

The mood was boosted by the now daily dose of positive vaccine news, which came shortly before 7am when Pfizer and BioNTech said they would submit EUA for their vaccine today (as expected), noting that the vaccines would be ready for distribution within hours of receiving approval. This could potentially enable use of the vaccine in high-risk populations in the U.S. by the middle to end of December 2020, dramatically sh …

Pfizer Asks FDA To Approve COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use

Pfizer Asks FDA To Approve COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use Tyler Durden Fri, 11/20/2020 – 08:03

A few hours after one of China’s top state-backed vaccine makers claimed that roughly one million Chinese have already received a COVID-19 vaccine under extremely broad emergency-use criteria, Pfizer has confirmed that it will be applying for emergency-use approval from the FDA on Friday, as was widely expected.

Once the FDA has approved the vaccine – a meeting for review has been scheduled for Dec. 8, 9 and 10 – Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says the first doses of the vaccine could be shipped out within hours of the EUA approval.

During an interview on CNBC Friday morning, reporter Meg Tirrell explained that the FDA needs nearly two weeks to prepare all documents and data for review, which is why the committee tasked with approving the vaccine won’t meet until Dec. 8. It’s believed that both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines could receive EUAs during the meeting (Moderna says it expects to apply for its EUA in a week or so).

The first #covid19 vaccine is headed to …

Sunak mulls public sector pay freeze for millions

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is trying to bolster public finances after huge spending to fight coronavirus.

British Gas faces strikes over pay and conditions row

The GMB union ballots members over a worsening dispute about new “fire and rehire” contracts.

Early Christmas shopping helps boost retail sales

Sales rose for the sixth consecutive month in October, official statistics show.

Market Movers: Vodafone Idea, Bharti Infratel gain up to 18%; Gland Pharma makes strong debut

About 28 stocks on NSE crossed above the signal line of MACD indicator, flashing ‘buy’ signals.

Warren Buffett’s firm buying big into drug stocks. Should you too?

While there are concerns as to whether pharma stocks are fully pricing in a Covid windfall, analysts suggest Indian pharma isn’t just a Covid theme, but beyond that.

2020 witnessed once in a century swings in markets: Morgan Stanley

Global equities and economies saw a drastic fall this year as Covid pandemic and lockdowns implemented in many large economies including India.

Rail Week Ending 14 November 2020 – Rolling Averages Continue To Improve

Written by Steven Hansen

Week 46 of 2020 shows same week total rail traffic (from the same week one year ago) improved according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. Total rail traffic has been mostly in contraction for over one year – and now is slowly recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

Need to Know: What’s next for markets after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pulls the $455 billion plug

Analysts react to the surprise decision by the U.S. Treasury not to extend the Federal Reserve’s backstop of corporate debt markets.

Futures Movers: Oil prices on track for weekly gain on COVID vaccine hopes

Oil futures rise Friday, adding to weekly gains fueled by optimism over COVID-19 vaccines even as the number of new cases continues to rise, posing a renewed threat to demand.

Market Snapshot: Stock-index futures trade mixed as COVID restrictions threaten recovery

Stock-index futures were mixed Friday as rising COVID-19 cases raise doubts about the prospects for the economic recovery, offset partly by optimism over prospects for vaccines.