Written by Gary
Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. auto sales tumbled 17.4% (SPY -0.3%). Covid variant found in South Africa is worrying experts.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are mixed today. The FTSE 100 is up 2.97% while the DAX gains 0.96%. The CAC 40 is off 0.44%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | U.S. Oil Executives Cautiously Optimistic About 2021The worst seems like its over for the U.S. oil industry. Yet executives are entering the new year with cautious optimism, the latest Dallas Fed survey of the industry suggests. Despite an improved outlook for oil and gas in the final quarter of 2020, the biggest portion of respondents in the quarterly survey said they only expected a slight increase in capital spending this year after a disastrous 2020 that saw hefty budget cuts. The cautiously optimistic executives, however, represented a bit over a third of the total, with 14 percent expecting |
| How To Play The Oil Price Rebound In 2021The oil industry took a tumble in 2020, but the tides are beginning to turn. Oil prices are currently wading cautiously in the $50 range as a new wave of lockdowns has brought the Western world to another standstill. Despite this, however, demand for oil in Asia is returning to pre-pandemic levels and the market is loving it. In addition to crude prices slowly recovering, oil companies are also feeling the bump.Supermajors like Exxon and Shell are up over X% since the start of the trading yearAnd this rally is just getting started.The biggest |
| Aspiring Oil Tycoons Brace For DisappointmentSince years before the unexpected blow of the novel coronavirus pandemic, U.S. shale has been in a state of serious decline. Diminishing returns from aging wells turned the gush of the shale revolution into a trickling death march for the struggling sector. And then came the coup de grace: Black April. After the spread of COVID-19 swept the rug out from underneath global oil demand, the leading OPEC+ members of Saudi Arabia and Russia got into a spat over how to respond to the problem which developed into an all-out oil price war. The ensuing global |
| Will Asia Actually Fuel A Comeback In Coal?As 2020 meant a slowdown in coal production and use, experts and governments were confident that the industry would pick up again as pandemic restrictions eased. However, going into 2021, it seems coal is not set to make a comeback. Pre-2020, South and Southeast Asia looked to become the biggest coal-demand region in the world, with several countries investing heavily in extraction and coal plants. But as the implications of Covid-19 took a toll on the industry around the world, the anticipated bright future of coal in Asia is looking increasingly |
| Oil Rally Unaffected By Major Product BuildsThe American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a draw in crude oil inventories of 1.663 million barrels for the week ending January 1. Analysts had predicted an inventory draw of 1.271 million barrels for the week. In the previous week, the API reported a draw in oil inventories of 4.785-million barrels, after analysts had predicted a draw of 2.100 million barrels. Both Brent and WTI were up on Tuesday afternoon before the data release after the Ministerial Meeting for OPEC+ dished out a production decrease of nearly a million barrels |
| Iraq Aims To Increase Oil Exports To Asia With South Korea DealIn line with Iraqs currently perilous finances and with its future target of increasing crude oil production to 7 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027 at the latest, Baghdad last week announced plans to boost southern crude oil export capacity by 72 percent within the next three years. In this vein it signed a US$2.625 billion deal with South Koreas Daewoo Engineering & Construction (Daewoo E&C) to build out the Al-Fao main export depot to the south of Basra. In broad terms, Iraqs Undersecretary for Extraction Affairs |
| European regulator approves Moderna Covid vaccine for use in the EUModerna’s vaccine is the second to be greenlit by European regulators. |
| Covid variant found in South Africa is worrying experts: Here’s what we know so farA new strain of the coronavirus that has emerged in South Africa is causing concern around the globe. |
| Impossible Foods cuts prices for food-service distributors, moving closer to parity with meatImpossible Foods is drawing closer to achieving price parity with the meats its products mimic with another round of wholesale price cuts. |
| What people might not be allowed to do if they don’t get vaccinatedSome have speculated that vaccine refusers could be banned from flying, as well as entering restaurants, shops, and other venues. |
| Neil Young sells 50% of publishing rights to his entire song catalog to UK investment fundLegendary folk rocker Neil Young has sold 50% of his song catalog to the Hipgnosis Songs Fund. |
| South African Covid variant appears to ‘obviate’ antibody drugs, Dr. Scott Gottlieb saysDr. Scott Gottlieb explains why vaccinating Americans against Covid is critical, especially as the South Africa variant appears to inhibit antibody drugs. |
| 5 things to know before the stock market opens WednesdayDow futures rose but Nasdaq futures fell Wednesday, with control of the Senate looking like it’s down to one of Tuesday’s two runoff elections in Georgia. |
| CVS says it expects to finish first round of Covid vaccines in nursing homes by Jan. 25CVS added that it’s in talks with several states “to make a limited number of doses available in the coming weeks in advance of the broader rollout.” |
| AMC still seeking $550 million lifeline as stock price closes at record lowOn Tuesday, AMC shares fell to a 52-week intraday low of $1.91 per share and closed at a record low of $1.98 per share. |
| Israel to enter third national lockdown despite successful Covid vaccination campaignIsrael braces for a third national lockdown even with the nation seeing success in the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. |
| 2021 Grammy Awards postponed as coronavirus cases surge in California, reports sayThe 2021 Grammy Awards have been postponed, according to multiple media reports Tuesday. |
| Fiat Chrysler’s U.S. auto sales tumbled 17.4% in Covid-ravaged 2020The automaker on Tuesday reported sales were down 17.4% last year compared with 2019, including a 7.9% slide in the fourth quarter. |
| Macy’s is shuttering 45 more locations this year, as part of its 3-year store closure planMacy’s has notified the employees at about 45 of its department stores that they will close by the middle of this year, CNBC has learned. |
| Ossoff Declares Victory In Georgia Senate Runoff As Democrats Poised To Control CongressOssoff Declares Victory In Georgia Senate Runoff As Democrats Poised To Control Congress Democrats are poised to control the US Senate after Georgia runoff candidate Jon Ossoff declared victory over Republican David Perdue Wednesday morning, as he enjoyed a lead of around 16,000 votes in a race that many news organizations held off on calling due it being too close.
At this point, the outstanding votes in Ossoff’s race that are yet to be counted are from heavily Democratic precincts. Yet, with 17,000 military and overseas ballots that can be coujnted as late as Friday, the narrow results will almost certainly spark legal challenges according to Bloomberg. |
| ADP Prints Big Surprise Drop In Employment In DecemberADP Prints Big Surprise Drop In Employment In December After a few weeks of re-rising jobless claims (with Pandemic Emergency claims substituted for normal ongoing claims) and over 20 million Americans still on unemployment rolls, analysts expected a weak +75k rise in employment from ADP in December. Instead it was much worse, with ADP reporting a 123k drop in employment – the worst since April…
Source: Bloomberg Both large and small businesses saw losses in jobs while medium-sized businesses saw a rise… |
| Treasury Yields, Bitcoin And Small Caps Soar; Tech And Dollar Tumble On Possible Georgia Blue SweepTreasury Yields, Bitcoin And Small Caps Soar; Tech And Dollar Tumble On Possible Georgia Blue Sweep Bond yields, bitcoin and small cap stocks surged while tech stocks and the dollar tumbled on Wednesday on the prospect of more stimulus and tougher tech regulation if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate following a run-off election in Georgia. Stocks in Europe rose and those in Asia were mixed as traders digested what’s next for global politics. Despite all the turmoil, S&P futures were surprisingly flat, trading down just -0.2% at last check.
The real action however was below the surface with Nasdaq futures sinking 1.5% with Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Cisco all falling up to 2% or more in U.S. pre-market trading as investors priced in the prospect of a Democrat-controlled Senate that could lead to tighter regulations on technology mega-caps… |
| Trump Slams “Fake News” NYT Report That Pence Said He ‘Lacks Authority’ To Change Election ResultTrump Slams “Fake News” NYT Report That Pence Said He ‘Lacks Authority’ To Change Election Result President Trump claimed in a Tuesday night statement that he and Vice President Mike Pence are in “total agreement” on Pence’s authority to alter the outcome of the 2020 election, refuting an anonymously sourced report in the New York Times claiming that Pence told Trump he didn’t believe he had the power to do so.
“The New York Times report regarding comments Vice President Pence supposedly made to me today is fake news. He never said that. The Vice President and I are in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act.” Trump continued, claiming that the November election was “corrupt in contested states, and in particular it was not in accordance with the Const … |
| Shoppers told not to buy more than normalStores seek to reassure shoppers that there is no need to bulk-buy in new lockdown. |
| Greggs faces first loss for 36 years as lockdown bitesThe bakery chain says it does not expect profits to return to pre-Covid levels until 2022 at the earliest. |
| UK new car registrations in 2020 sink to 30-year lowNew 2020 car registrations sink to a 30-year low and see biggest one-year drop since the Second World War |
| ITC tanks on new cigarette policy; analysts say long-term story intactMajor policy changes proposed in the draft bill include increasing the minimum smoking age from 18 to 21 years, a complete ban on public smoking and a ban on sale of loose cigarettes. |
| Market Movers: Cement, metals surge; IT stocks see profit bookingOn the technical front, analysts said that while the market did manage to pare some of the losses it is still possible that it may see more volatility in the coming days. |
| Looking to diversify your portfolio? ETFs can be solid, low-risk optionsPortfolio diversification requires one to allocate the investments in the portfolio across multiple asset classes so that a sharp negative movement in any one asset class does not have a big impact on portfolio returns. |
| : Electric-car sales jump to record 54% market share in Norway in 2020 but Tesla loses top spotElectric-car sales jumped to a record 54% of all new vehicle sales in Norway last year, but Tesla’s Model 3 lost its place as the country’s bestselling vehicle despite a late surge. |
| Economic Report: Private sector lost 123,000 jobs in December, first decline in 8 monthsThe private sector lost 123,000 jobs in December, the first decline since April, according to ADP data released Wednesday. |
| The Wall Street Journal: Hundreds of CEOs urge Congress to uphold principles of democracy and certify Biden’s winThe U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 3 million businesses of various industries, sizes and regions, also urged Congress on Monday to certify Mr. Biden’s victory and for the Trump administration to facilitate an orderly transition |
Earnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
Current Commodity Prices
Commodities are powered by Investing.com
Current Currency Crosses
The Forex Quotes are powered by Investing.com.
To contact me with questions, comments or constructive criticism is always encouraged and appreciated:
