08Jan2021 Market Close: Wall Street Closes At Record Highs, Posting Weekly Gain To Start 2021, DOW Up 57 Points, Nasdaq Up +1.0%, WTI Rises To 52.65, Bitcoin Slips 39,428

Written by Gary

Wholesale Sales Improved and Inventories Unchanged (SPY +0.6%). ECRI’s WLI Growth Rate Continues To Improve. Oil, Gas Rigs Increase For Seventh Straight Week.

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Norways Oil Lobby Criticizes Government Plan To Triple Carbon Tax The Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, the powerful oil lobby in Western Europes largest oil producer, criticized on Friday the Governments plan to more than triple carbon taxes, saying such a steep increase would raise the costs of oil production and reduce Norways competitiveness. The Norwegian Government unveiled on Friday a comprehensive climate action plan for emission reductions by 2030. For the first time, a government is putting forward a compelling, comprehensive plan for cutting emissions in every sector.
	Apple’s EV Partner Still Unknown Despite Hyundai Partnership Rumors After Hyundai shares rose nearly 19% overseas on the heels of news that the automaker had reportedly been in talks with Apple about producing a self-driving vehicle, the company issued a statement backing away from the earlier report and saying it had been contacted by “a number of potential partners” for EV development on Friday morning. Hyundai had previously mentioned Apple’s name and confirmed talks before backing away. Hyundai instead said Friday morning “it received requests for potential cooperation from a number of companies,” according
	Oil Bulls Are Back The surprise cuts by Saudi Arabia following the OPEC+ meeting have provided oil bulls with a major boost, sending Brent above $55.For Global Energy Alert members there are now two new free reports available in your dashboard. The first of these reports is on how to interpret stock charts and the second outlines the three biggest mistakes made by traders today. Make sure you become a member to read these reports and many more.Friday, January 8th, 2021Brent topped $55 per barrel at the end of the week, as the pledge from Saudi Arabia to cut deeper
	Asian Buyers Rush To Secure North Sea Oil After Saudi Surprise Cut Saudi Arabias surprise announcement that it would cut 1 million barrels per day (bpd) beyond its share of OPEC+ cuts in February and March has refiners in Asia scrambling to secure supplies from Europe, with record purchases of North Sea cargoes in one day. Saudi Arabia caught the market by surprise earlier this week when it said after the end of the OPEC+ ministerial meeting that it would unilaterally cut 1 million bpd off its crude oil production for the next two months. While the Saudi move has been supporting oil prices
	Oil, Gas Rigs Increase For Seventh Straight Week Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of oil and gas rigs in the United States rose by 9 to 360. The oil and gas rig count has risen for seven weeks in a row for a total gain of 50. The oil rig count increased by 8 this week, while the number of gas rigs increased by 1. The number of miscellaneous rigs was also unchanged. Total oil and gas rigs in the United States are now down by 421 compared to this time last year. The EIAs estimate for oil production in the United States stayed the same during the week ending January 1, at 11.0
	New Lockdowns Dash Hopes Of A Rapid Oil Demand Recovery In Europe Extended lockdowns in response to the continuing surge in Covid-19 infections in Europe has quashed hopes that fuel demand on the continent could rebound in the first half of the year, Reuters has warned. Citing data from the Oxford stringency index, which tracks school and office closures and travel restrictions, the report notes that most of Europe is in the grips of the most severe movement restrictions, which is affecting fuel demand negatively. Traffic data supports the warning, as Germany and Italy extend lockdowns that were already in place
	White House Covid task force warns of possible new ‘USA variant’ driving spread The White House coronavirus task force said there could be a new variant of the virus that evolved in the U.S. and is driving spread, a document obtained by NBC News said.
	WHO warns countries are helping Covid thrive through inequitable vaccine distribution “There is a clear problem that low and most middle-income countries are not receiving the vaccine yet,” the head of the World Health Organization said.
	General Motors redesigns corporate logo as it focuses on electric vehicles It is only the fifth time the Detroit automaker has conducted a major redesign of its logo since being founded in 1908, according to GM CMO Deborah Wahl.
	Biden plans to release more Covid vaccine doses in break from Trump administration policy The initial rollout of the vaccines has been slower than expected, with the U.S. failing to hit the goal of vaccinating 20 million Americans in December.
	Main Street looks ahead to PPP relaunch as Covid outbreak grows more severe Lending advocates are hopeful the funding will help to bridge the gap for small companies and minority-owned businesses that may have missed out last year.
	FDA chief encourages states to open Covid vaccines to older Americans, other groups The head of the FDA is urging states to begin vaccinating lower-priority groups against Covid-19 as officials try to pick up the pace of the vaccine rollout.
	Retail rents tumble to historic lows in New York City amid bankruptcies and store vacancies Rents for retail space in New York City have skid to historic lows, dropping as much as 25% from 2019 levels, according to a new report.
	U.S. reports more than 4,000 Covid deaths for first time as outbreak grows worse than ever The U.S. administered more than 600,000 Covid vaccine shots in one day, the CDC reported Thursday, the most yet in a 24-hour period.
	Global semiconductor shortage causes Ford and Nissan to cut vehicle production The production disruptions highlight a growing concern for the global automotive industry in 2021.
	DraftKings now lets you bet on drone races The Drone Racing League announced an exclusive deal that gives DraftKings the title of official betting partner and access to DRL’s “tech-setters” fan base.
	Bud Light to launch hard seltzer lemonade as new rivals enter market Bud Light is releasing a line of hard seltzer lemonades as it looks to stake a firm claim on the increasingly competitive category.
	Dr. Gottlieb sees 30% of people in U.S. getting Covid and 10% vaccinated as of end of January “You’re starting to get to levels of prior exposure in the population where the virus isn’t going to spread as readily,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC.
	Vaccination crisis: The National Guard is being mobilized to come to the rescue National Guard units are being called up to help with Covid vaccinations, but success may be out of reach.
	Stocks, Bond Yields, & Crypto Soar Amid Payrolls Plunge & “Damaged” Democracy Stocks, Bond Yields, & Crypto Soar Amid Payrolls Plunge & “Damaged” Democracy So, the first week of the year brought us – the worst first day for stocks in two decades, the “darkest day in American democracy”, a dismal jobs print (far worse than expected), ISM beats that were almost entirely predicated on model misattribution of global supply chain disruptions, a blue-sweep of government (fiscal-palooza), and the highest levels of COVID “cases” and deaths. What really mattered? The Fed said “no taper” anytime soon, and promises of more $2000 checks and more and more – both of which sparked ‘reflation’ trades everywhere with cryptos soaring, bond yields spiking and Small-Caps surging relative to Big-Tech. After the S&P 500’s worst start to a year since the Dot-com mania, markets took off with Small Caps by far the week’s biggest gainers… < …
	NHTSA Says No Defects Found In Tesla Probe Of Sudden Unintended Acceleration NHTSA Says No Defects Found In Tesla Probe Of Sudden Unintended Acceleration Despite what feels like countless examples over the last few years of Teslas experiencing what owners called “unintended acceleration” (like this), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday that it would “not grant a petition seeking a formal review of 662,000 Tesla vehicles for claims of sudden unintended acceleration,” according to Reuters. The regulator said that the review of a December 2019 petition, which we previously reported on here, found out that the incidents in questionÂ œwere caused by pedal misapplication. NHTSA found no evidence of fault in the accelerator pedal assemblies, motor control systems, or brake systems that contributed to the cited incidents. The petition included 232 complaints to the NHTSA about unintended acceleration. Of these, there were 203 crashes.Â
	DC National Guard May Carry Firearms Ahead Of Inauguration: Report DC National Guard May Carry Firearms Ahead Of Inauguration: Report The military may allow the National Guard in Washington D.C. to carry firearms and batons ahead of the inauguration, according to a report from the Associated Press, citing the Secretary of the Army. Restrictions on the use of force are currently under review by Defense leaders, as they brace for more protests surrounding the January 20 inaugural. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The AP Friday that any changes will be determined by the intelligence gathered in the coming days about potential threats. But he said they are looking at allowing troops to carry their M-4 rifles or 9 mm Berettas, and he will know more in a day or two. The review reflects concerns about the safety of the Guard troops in the wake of the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, and would also consider the legal restrictions that prohibit the use of the milita …
	Emily Ratajkowski Says Facebook Banning Trump Gives Zuckerberg Too Much Power Emily Ratajkowski Says Facebook Banning Trump Gives Zuckerberg Too Much Power Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News, Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski has asserted that Mark Zuckerberg handing himself the power to silence President Trump via an œindefinite Facebook ban is handing the Big Tech oligarch too much power. Zuckerberg announced in a blog post earlier today that the social media giant was suspending Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for at least two weeks until Joe Biden is inaugurated. This followed Twitter deleting several of Trump’s tweets last night and suspending him for at least 12 hours in response to his supporters storming the Capitol building. This prompted a pushback from Ratajkowski, who has 1.5 million Twitter followers. Anyone else feel like proper amount of capital police being abs …
	Marks & Spencer Percy Pig sweets hit by Brexit red tape Criticism of new Brexit trade rules is growing as firms warn of more bureaucracy, higher costs and delays.
	US hit as jobs fall for first time since April The US economy lost 140,000 jobs in December, as rising coronavirus cases took a toll.
	Lockdown fashion: ‘People are back in their pyjamas’ Marks & Spencer’s clothes sales overall fall nearly a quarter, but pyjamas are back in fashion.
	After strong Q3 numbers, can TCS stock sustain its momentum in near term? The stock has gained 11% in a month and nearly 9% of that is over the past week in anticipation of a strong report card.
	RBI to conduct variable reverse repo auction for Rs 2 lakh cr It would conduct an auction on Jan. 15 to take from banks the excess cash that has pushed the overnight rates way below the reverse repo rate, which banks get for parking excess cash with the banker of last resort.
	Piramal rebuts Oaktree’s claims, alleges violation of rules After opening of the bids on Dec 23rd, on recognizing that their bid falls severely short, Oaktree sent an email on 24th Dec (2 days after deadline), offering an additional Rs. 1,700 crore, it alleged.
	01 January 2021 ECRI’s WLI Growth Rate Continues To Improve Written by Steven Hansen ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward improved and remains in expansion.
	November 2020 Headline Wholesale Sales Improved and Inventories Unchanged Written by Steven Hansen The headlines say wholesale sales were up month-over-month with inventory levels remaining elevated. Our analysis shows improvement in the rate of growth for the rolling averages.
	: It’s no longer illegal to sell a 12-ounce can of wine in the U.S. The federal agency that regulates the alcohol industry just released new bottle and can sizes for wine, cider and spirits
	Capitol Report: Democrats likely to get Senate control on Jan. 20, though it may take until Jan. 22 Democrats are due to take control of the U.S. Senate this month after their wins in Georgia’s runoff elections, but the exact date for their ascension isn’t guaranteed.
	: Google’s new advertising technology is under investigation over competition concerns from U.K. regulator The U.K.’s competition regulator will investigate Google’s new digital advertising tool, assessing whether it will harm competition by causing advertising spending to become even more concentrated on the tech giant’s ecosystem.