23Nov2020 Midday Update: Retail Trade Group Sees Holiday Sales Up 3.6% To 5.2%, DOW Up 192 Points, SP 500 Up After Dipping Into The Red 0.2%, Bitcoin Is Nearing Its All Time High 18435

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 0.81% while Mexico’s IPC is up 0.64% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.17%.

Australias Ambitious $16 Billion Solar Project Will Be The Worlds Biggest

The worlds most ambitious renewable energy project to date is the proposed AustraliaASEAN Power Link. This project would combine the worlds largest solar farm, the largest battery, and the longest undersea electricity cable. The 10 gigawatt (GW) solar farm would cover 30,000 acres in Australias sunny Northern Territory. That is about the equivalent of 9 million rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. The solar farm would be paired with a 30 gigawatt-hour (GWh) battery storage facility to enable round-the-clock dispatch

Major Metals Producer Pivots To Renewables

Australia-based iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group Ltd plans to start producing renewable energy from wind, solar, hydrogen, and ammonia in 2022 or 2023, with an ultimate goal to have as much as 236 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity, founder and chairman Andrew Forrest told Bloomberg in an interview on Monday. Fortescue Metals Group, set up in 2003, currently exports 175 million tons to 180 million tons of iron ore annually, and, according to Bloomberg, the firm is the worlds fourth-largest exporter of iron ore. Fortescue

Abu Dhabi Adds 2 Billion Barrels To Its Oil Reserves

Abu Dhabi has increased its total oil reserves by 2 billion barrels to 107 billion barrels thanks to new discoveries, the emirates Supreme Petroleum Council said on Sunday. The council also announced Abu Dhabi had 22 billion barrels of unconventional oil reserves to date, again thanks to new discoveries onshore. This amount is larger than the reserves contained in Abu Dhabis fields in development and, according to the Supreme Petroleum Council, could rival the U.S. shale boom. Todays announcement by the SPC of the discovery

Houthis Rebels Attack Saudi Oil Facility

The Houthi rebels in Yemen said today they had fired a missile against a target in the Saudi city of Jeddah and had hit it, Reuters reports, citing their statement. The target was a distribution center property of Saudi Arabias state oil company Aramco. The group also warned that operations will continue, advising foreign companies and residents of Saudi Arabia to be cautious. The report comes a week after Saudi Arabia said it had thwarted a Houthi attack on an oil products terminal near the border between the Kingdom and Yemen.

China Looks To Surpass The U.S. As The Worlds Biggest Oil Refiner

China is about to become the country that possesses the most refining capacity in the world due to closures of refineries in the current number-one refiner, the United States. China is going to put another million barrels a day or more on the table in the next few years, Steve Sawyer, director of refining at energy industry consultancy Facts Global Energy, told Bloomberg in an interview. China will overtake the U.S. probably in the next year or two. Indeed, China has 1.4 million bpd in new refining capacity under construction.

How High Can Oil Prices Go In 2021?

Progress in vaccine development and expectations that OPEC+ will decide in less than two weeks to roll over the current cuts for three months instead of easing them from January 2021 give bulls hopes that the oil market will regain some semblance of a balance next year, pushing prices higher. Currently, the general consensus among analysts and agencies is that oil prices will indeed see an upside in 2021 as above-average inventories will draw down with a global economic and oil demand recovery. Several bullish signals in recent weeks

Retail trade group sees holiday sales up 3.6% to 5.2%, posting ‘strong finish’ to 2020 in spite of pandemic

NRF President and CEO Matt Shay said, “Consumers are very engaged [and] looking for opportunities to celebrate.”

Regeneron will provide 300,000 doses of Covid treatment for U.S. by early January, CEO Schleifer says

Regeneron will provide the U.S. with 300,000 doses of its newly authorized Covid-19 antibody treatment by early January, CEO Dr. Leonard Schleifer said.

AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine might seem less effective than its peers ” but it has some advantages

AstraZeneca’s vaccine appears to have an advantage when it comes to storage, affordability and distribution, Jefferies analysts said.

So long doorbusters! Retailers put deepest discounts online after weeks of deals

Retailers are putting some of their best holiday deals and most popular products online instead of jamming them into one-day store events during the pandemic.

Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine shows an average 70% effectiveness in preventing the virus

One regimen showed an effectiveness of 90% when participants received a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart.

Merck acquires OncoImmune to ramp supply of promising Covid drug

The medicine, CD24Fc, was shown to reduce the risk of respiratory failure or death by more than 50% in patients hospitalized with Covid and requiring oxygen

Black Friday is almost here ” and shoppers are more anxious than ever

Consumers’ anxiety about shopping in stores and enclosed malls during the holidays is only escalating, as Covid cases surge across the country.

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: AstraZeneca, Snap, Tesla, Roku & more

Snap launched its competitor to TikTok and Instagram Reels. Roku gets a big price-target increase.

Watch live: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a press briefing on Covid

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to hold a press briefing on the coronavirus.

Former subprime player claims he can now short the mortgage market for climate and Covid risks

Climate change and Covid are creating huge risks for widespread defaults on home loans.

Relativity Space adds $500 million to ‘war chest’ for scaling production of 3D-printed rockets

Relativity Space wants to use enormous 3D-printers to revolutionize the way rockets are built and now has a “war chest” of capital to do so.

Chinese EV rivals line up to challenge Tesla on their home turf

Tesla hit another milestone in making the S&P 500 Index, but a rush of positive earnings reports from Chinese EV makers shows competition is heating up.

Retailers from Target to Kohl’s make big bets in beauty as department stores reel

Retailers like Target and Kohl’s are betting that lip glosses and eye shadow palettes will drive customers to their stores.

Hershey Revealed As Big Trader That Roiled NY Cocoa FuturesÂ

‹ ‹ ‹ ‹ ‹ ‹ ‹Hershey Revealed As Big Trader That Roiled NY Cocoa Futures Tyler Durden Mon, 11/23/2020 – 12:21

Ivory Coast and Ghana, think of both as cocoa’s OPEC, control about two-thirds of the world’s cocoa trade, are locked in a heated price battle with top commodity traders roiling markets in New York, reported Bloomberg.Â

Ivory Coast and Ghana are placing hefty premiums on cocoa prices, as much as $400 per metric ton, in a move to boost income for farmers.Â

But the premiums aren’t being received well from traders, who are halting shipments from the Ivory Coast, demanding a discount to premiums because of slowing demand for chocolate worldwide.Â

Readers may recall, cocoa futures hit multi-year lows this past summer (see: here & here) as virus-related lockdowns in Asia, Europe, and the U …

Italy’s COVID-19 Deaths Top 50k; Regeneron To Deliver 300k Antibody Doses By January: Live Updates

Italy’s COVID-19 Deaths Top 50k; Regeneron To Deliver 300k Antibody Doses By January: Live Updates Tyler Durden Mon, 11/23/2020 – 12:10

Summary:

Washington DC limits outdoor gatherings to 25, indoor to 10

Italy sees virus deaths top 50k

Regeneron to provide 300k doses to US by early Jan

Oxfam praises AstraZeneca vaccine

BoJo unveils plan to lift 2nd UK lockdown

US’s Midwest remains worst-hit region

Millions of Americans ignore travel advisory

Germany’s Merkel says vaccines must be provided to the poor

Germany to extend covid restrictions

Regeneron antibody cocktail gets EUA

* * *

Update (1200ET): Washington DC and its mayor Muriel Bowser have imposed new limits on private gatherings ahead of the Thankgsiving holiday later this week. The limits include: 10 people for indoor gatherings, and 25 when outdoors.

Since there probably aren’t too many people in DC planning outdoor Thanksgiving gatherings, if you purchased a Turkey for 12 or more in the capital district, you might want to watch your back.

How The Fed Feeds The Boom-Bust Cycle

How The Fed Feeds The Boom-Bust Cycle Tyler Durden Mon, 11/23/2020 – 12:05

Via SchiffGold.com,

The central bankers at the Federal Reserve can be pretty clueless. A report issued by the Fed a few weeks ago serves as a prime example.

The report was full of dire warnings. It expressed concern about œovervalued asset prices. Yes, the Fed actually warned us about the stock market bubble. The report also said we should be worried about the surging levels of debt in the economy. œAs many households continue to struggle, loan defaults may rise, leading to material losses, the Fed report warned. It warned about the rising levels of business debt.

Now, you know what the report didn’t mention? That the very policies the Fed has pursued over the last several decades have created the very problems it is now warning us about.

So, how could these central bankers be so self-unaware? Economist Frank Shostak provides some insight. He argues that the problem with modern-day economics is the tendency to try to evaluate data outside of any theoretical framework …

Solid Demand For Today’s Record Big 2Y Treasury Auction

Solid Demand For Today’s Record Big 2Y Treasury Auction Tyler Durden Mon, 11/23/2020 – 11:46

After last month’s dismal 2Y auction, moments ago the Treasury sold $56 billion in 2-Year paper in yet another record big auction, only this time demand was far stronger compared to recent tailing auctions.

First, the size: at $56 billion the auction was another all time high, up from $54 billion last month, and more than double the average auction size in the period 2014-2017. With US deficits exploding, expect the size of all auctions to continue into the stratosphere.

Covid pub rules ‘killing Christmas not saving it’

England’s hospitality sector warns post-lockdown restrictions risk putting firms out of business.

British Airways’ big sell-off: Champagne flutes and trolleys

The airline is selling thousands of items, including memorabilia from its retired 747 aircraft.

Rishi Sunak says Spending Review will not spell austerity

The chancellor says he will uphold pre-Covid funding pledges on police, nurses and schools.

Bharti Infratel-Indus Towers merger offers limited synergy savings: Analysts

“Given the limited overlap in the operations of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers, synergies from the merger are likely to be limited to savings on administrative overheads,” Jeffries said in a report.

Analysts impressed by Motherson Sumi’s Vision 2025, raise stock’s target price

The company said no country, customer or component will account for more than 10% of the overall revenue and revenue from non-automotive will contribute to 25% of the total revenue.

Earning per share could see a growth of up to 30% in 2021: Morgan Stanley

The strong rebound of EPS for companies would enter into a new cycle the report said. We expect global EPS growth of 25-30% next year as befits the start of a new cycle, the report said.

: U.K. announces cautious Christmas easing of lockdown as France prepares to do the same

U.K. PM Boris Johnson said that the one-month lockdown in England will end as planned, but will be replaced by a new three-tier system in regions and towns. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce similar easing measures for the Christmas season on Tuesday.

: Biden chooses veteran diplomat Antony Blinken as secretary of state. Here’s why Europe should cheer

President-elect Joe Biden will nominate former State Department official Antony Blinken as his future secretary of state, according to several sources.

: What to expect after the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine news

U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Monday that the coronavirus vaccine it is developing with the University of Oxford had shown an average efficacy of 70% in the Phase 3 trials.