Written by Gary
Big oil’s exploration cuts exacerbate supply deficit (SPY -1.2%). Biggest premarket movers: Boeing, AT&T, VF Corp., Starbucks.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
European markets are mixed. The CAC 40 is higher by 0.93%, while the DAX is leading the FTSE 100 lower. They are down 1.83% and 1.33% respectively. |
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Big Oil’s Exploration Cuts Exacerbate Supply DeficitThe idea that crude oil could ever again hit three-digit price levels may sound ridiculous at a time when slack demand amid a pandemic has oil stuck in the $50s. Yet one thing any market is not is static, and many expect vaccines to boost demand before this years end. In fact, some are warning about a looming oil deficit. And Big Oil is slashing exploration activities. Reuters reported this week, citing data from Rystad Energy, that new onshore and offshore lease acquisitions by the worlds top five oil companies fell to the lowest | |
Underinvestment In Oil And Gas May Cause Major ProblemsFollowing an unpredictable and shocking 2020, stability and sustainability are set to be the two major themes in the oil and gas industry this year. Companies in the sector will continue prioritizing financial resilience to boosting upstream investments, as global oil demand, although higher than in 2020, will still be below the pre-crisis levels. In addition, more and more oil and gas firms will include sustainability, the energy transition, and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) considerations in their strategic and investment | |
Which Chinese EV Stocks Are Worth Betting On?After a bright start earlier in the month, the oil price rally appears to have once again run out of steam thanks to an old nemesis threatening to overrun China once again–Covid-19. Oil prices have remained range-bound in the low 50s despite several analysts viewing drilling restrictions imposed by the Biden administration as being bullish for the sector. The EV sector, though, has remained largely indifferent to the growing Covid threats. After posting one of its best years in a decade, the EV sector is looking unstoppable and on track for yet | |
Egypt And Israel Look To Capitalize On Natural Gas ResourcesThe Eastern Mediterranean in a decade went from an ’empty sea’ towards one of the most promising new frontiers of the global oil and gas industry. The Levant basin contains several impressive hydrocarbon reserves that have brought economic cooperation and peace between political rivals in an unstable region. Chevron in cooperation with Israeli partners is about to invest another $235 million in pipelines to increase production and export to Egypt that will cement ties even further. The ‘rise’ of the Eastern Mediterranean is not only determined | |
Oil Prices Rebound On Larger Than Expected Crude DrawThe American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday a draw in crude oil inventories of 5.272 million barrels for the week ending January 22. Analysts had predicted an inventory smaller draw of 430,000 barrels for the week. In the previous week, the API reported a build in oil inventories of 2.562-million barrels, after analysts had predicted a draw of 1.167 million barrels. Oil prices were trading down on Tuesday ahead of the data release. China lockdowns, the IEA’s grim outlook on oil demand, a slow global rollout of the coronavirus | |
IMF Sees Oil Prices Averaging $50 In 2021Oil prices are set to average $50 per barrel for 2021, rising by 20 percent from the average last year, but still well below the average for 2019, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its World Economic Outlook Update on Tuesday. In the October update, the IMF had expected oil priceswhich it calculates at the simple average of the prices of Brent, Dubai Fateh, and West Texas Intermediate crudeto average $46.70 a barrel in 2021. The average price of oil was $41.29 per barrel in 2020, while the IMF sees the average | |
Walgreens taps Starbucks operating chief Roz Brewer as its next CEOStarbucks Chief Operating Officer Rosalind Brewer will replace Stefano Pessina as CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, the drugstore chain confirmed Tuesday. | |
America’s top-tier malls were resilient, but values are now crumbling, down 45% from 2016 levels, Green Street saysThe real estate analytics firm Green Street estimates the values of so-called A-rated malls have tumbled about 45% from 2016 levels. | |
Starbucks tops earnings estimates even as U.S. recovery hurt by Covid resurgenceShares of Starbucks have risen 13% over the last year, giving the company a market value of $123 billion. | |
Target teams up with Levi’s for exclusive collection of home goods and moreThe big-box retailer has long used limited-time collections with beloved brands to drive sales and create buzz. | |
Department store chain Belk to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, private equity firm Sycamore to retain controlThe department store chain Belk announced it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, marking the latest mall-based retailer to do so during the Covid pandemic. | |
Americans won’t be rushing to retail stores to shop after getting Covid vaccine, survey finds40% of consumers say they plan to shop for apparel in stores either the same amount or less after being vaccinated, according to a study by First Insight. | |
5 things to know before the stock market opens WednesdayDow futures fell about 300 points Wednesday, with earnings once again a main focus on Wall Street. | |
Boeing’s 2020 net loss hits record $11.9 billion, pushes out 777X debut to late 2023Boeing is scheduled to detail its losses during a brutal 2020 and provide guidance on its recovery prospects as the pandemic continues to hurt travel demand. | |
AstraZeneca defends slow supplies to the EU, but says it ordered 3 months later than the UKAstraZeneca has defended its delayed rollout of the coronavirus vaccine to the EU, but said the bloc had ordered later than others. | |
Walmart bets bigger on online grocery as it ramps up automated fulfillment at storesThe big-box retailer has seen online grocery orders spike during the pandemic and it’s trying to fend off competitors while keeping costs low. | |
Economy could open up by late spring if enough people get vaccinated, says Dr. Ashish JhaDr. Ashish Jha explains why he thinks that U.S. states could start making decisions about opening up businesses and economies earlier than predicted. | |
3M CEO expects Covid demand for the company’s N95 masks to be strong throughout 2021“We see the demand, the need, from front-line health care workers and first responders. That’s still our priority,” 3M Chairman and CEO Mike Roman told CNBC. | |
Tilman Fertitta optimistic on U.S. economy post-Covid: ‘This is going to be the Roaring Twenties’“The consumer is coming back. I’m telling you, where we can do business, we are doing business,” Tilman Fertitta told CNBC. | |
Blain: The Market’s Madness Will Continue, “We’re In A New World”Blain: The Market’s Madness Will Continue, “We’re In A New World” Authored by Bill Blain via MorningPorridge.com, œFuture’s made of virtual insanity now ¦ for useless, twisting, our new technology Apologies for the lack of commentary on Tuesday ” yet again it was due to business getting in the way of the story (and a bit too much Whisky and Haggis on Monday). However, it did give me time to develop a theme: What’s the big investment secret of this modern age? It’s simple: having the strength of will to remain Rationally Irrational when all around fear the return of common sense. There are an increasing number of shillyshallying waverers muttering about the dangers of insane P/E multiples, the explosion of SPACs looking to buy everything and anything at any price, worrying wobbles in the bond market, chronic illiquidity, the speculative retail explosion of | |
Euro Slides After ECB Signals Potential For Currency WarsEuro Slides After ECB Signals Potential For Currency Wars As the Biden administration shows no signs of slowing the money-printing (in fact quiet the opposite), it would appear, as we noted previously, that the rest of the world is not enjoying the concomitant dollar depreciation and is starting to fight back (with words for now). With the euro recently soaring back near 6 year highs, ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot told Bloomberg this morning that the Central Bank has the necessary tools, including interest-rate cuts, to prevent any further strengthening of the euro undermining inflation.
And in what sounds like fighting talk, The ECB has agreed to look deeper into whether the euro’s gain versus the dollar since the start of the pandemic is driven by differences in stimulus policies compared with the U.S. Federal Reserve, according to officials familiar with the matter.
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Futures Tumble Ahead Of The Fed Amid Growing Hedge Fund Forced Liquidation FearsFutures Tumble Ahead Of The Fed Amid Growing Hedge Fund Forced Liquidation Fears US equity futures tumbled and European share indexes fell on Wednesday as investors once again turned “cautious” about COVID-19 and bubble valuations, with the Fed meeting and tech giants’ earnings also due later. At the same time, some of the most widely held hedge fund stocks were hammered amid growing concerns that hedge funds short the soaring “most-shorted” will have to dump their longs in forced liquidations to provide interim capital as described earlier. S&P 500 contracts sank 1%, with the deepest losses in the small-cap futures. Nasdaq 100 Index futures outperformed following a strong sales report from Microsoft while other giga- tech companies including Apple, Facebook and Tesla are all due to report after the close today. Meanwhile, GameStop continued its meteoric rise after Elon Musk tweeted about the company, and even following reports that | |
AstraZeneca Shares Slide On EU Delivery DelaysAstraZeneca Shares Slide On EU Delivery Delays AstraZeneca shares dropped to their lowest levels of the session in Europe on Wednesday, falling as much as 1.8%, after the company pulled out of a call with European regulators intended to resolve a delay in vaccine deliveries. EU regulators are pressuring AZ to reconsider its decision to withhold these details because the company wants more information on what’s happening to the planned deliveries of shots, one of the officials told Bloomberg. AZ refused to share any additional details. The discussions we … | |
Boeing 737 Max cleared to fly in Europe after crashesRegulators say the plane is safe to fly again after two fatal crashes led to its grounding. | |
‘Failing’ firm trebles in value as amateurs buy stockShares in a games company have soared 276% – the result of a fight between private and professional investors. | |
Contactless limit could rise to £100The financial regulator will consult “shortly” on a rise from the current limit of £45. | |
After 5% fall in 4 days, will Nifty stage a sharp rebound before Budget?œThis decline of Nifty of around 800 points from the top ought to be seen as a healthy correction and an interim consolidation phase before the markets begin the next leg of movement, said Pankaj Pandey, head of research at ICICI Direct. | |
How to raise resources for Budget without tax hike or fiscal slippageIn the first half of FY 21, government spending came down marginally over previous year due to a shortfall in revenue. We don’t have the luxury of raising tax rates. | |
Bonds in India head for losses with near-record debt sales seenThe relentless supply of sovereign debt has been the biggest hurdle for Indian bonds this fiscal year, as pandemic relief efforts took precedence. | |
: Financial markets are complacent and exuberant ” a formula that raises risk of correction, IMF warnsA sense of complacency appears to be permeating financial markets and that raises risk of a correction, the IMF warned on Wednesday. | |
: Boris Johnson ‘deeply sorry for every life lost’ as U.K. passes 100,000 COVID-19 deathsThe U.K. death toll from COVID-19 has passed 100,000, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was œdeeply sorry for every life lost and took œfull responsibility for the government’s handling of the pandemic. | |
: Sanofi teams up with BioNTech and Pfizer to help fix Europe’s vaccine shortageUnusual collaboration will see Sanofi supply more than 125 million doses of Pfizer “BioNTech COVID shot from the summer. |
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