Written by Gary
Global oil consumption crashed by 9% in 2020, oil prices under fire as rig count continues to rise (SPY -2.0%). Crypto jumps as hedgies suffer the greatest stock short-squeeze in history.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | EIA: Global Oil Consumption Crashed By 9% In 2020Due to the coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns, global consumption of petroleum and other liquid fuels crashed by 9 percent to 92.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Friday, nothing this was the largest drop in EIAs series dating back to 1980. The world will return to more normal consumer behavior this year, and a continued recovery in economies is set to contribute to rising oil consumption in 2021 as the year progresses. EIA expects in its January Short-Term Energy Outlook |
| New Vaccine Hopes Boost Oil PricesNew vaccines from both Johnson & Johnson and Novavax have added to bullish sentiment in oil markets as hopes of a return to normal grow.With 2021 shaping up to be one of the most important years for the energy sector in modern history, there is no better time to become an Oilprice.com premium member. Sign up today to get breaking news, expert analysis, and trading tips.Friday, January 29th, 2021Oil prices appear set to close out the week mostly flat, but on Friday prices are up from a day earlier. Hopeful news surrounding the two new vaccines |
| OPEC’s Oil Production Rises In January As Cartel Eases Output CutsOPECs crude oil production has increased by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January as the OPEC+ alliance is easing the output cuts in the first month of 2021, the monthly Reuters survey found on Friday. OPECs production is estimated to average 25.75 million bpd in January, up by 160,000 bpd from December, and the seventh month in a row in which the cartel has boosted its production, according to the survey of OPEC sources, sources at oil firms, and tanker-tracking data. While most of the previous monthly gains |
| Dutch Court Holds Shell Liable For Oil Spill In NigeriaThe Hague Court of Appeal ordered Shell on Friday to compensate Nigerian farmers for two oil spills in the country 13 years ago, in the first lawsuit in which a company has been held liable in the Netherlands for its actions abroad. The ruling of the Dutch court is setting a precedent for future lawsuits brought against oil firms in the countries where they are based, instead of the countries where oil spills or oil pollution has allegedly taken place. After 13 years, justice! Friends of the Earth Europe tweeted after the Hague |
| Oil Prices Under Fire As Rig Count Continues To RiseBaker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of oil and gas rigs in the United States rose by 6 to 384. The oil and gas rig count has risen for ten weeks in a row for a total gain of 74. The oil rig count increased by 6 this week, while the number of gas rigs remained unchanged. The number of miscellaneous rigs also remained unchanged. Total oil and gas rigs in the United States are now 406 less than this time last year. The EIAs estimate for oil production in the United States fell for the first time in six weeks for the ending January |
| Occidental Delivers World First Carbon-Neutral OilA unit of U.S. Occidental said this week it had delivered the worlds first shipment of carbon-neutral oil, or oil where emissions associated with the entire crude lifecyclewell head through the combustion of end productshave been offset. Occidentals division Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV) delivered the cargo of two million barrels of carbon-neutral oil to Reliance Industries in India in a transaction arranged together with Macquarie Groups Commodities and Global Markets group. The delivery of the oil, produced |
| As new Covid vaccines near U.S. debut, here’s what you need to know about the shotsThe potential debut of J&J’s vaccine could help ramp up supply in the U.S. and could happen as soon as next month |
| United Airlines warns thousands of employees that their jobs are at risk “againUnited Airlines is warning thousands of employees that their jobs are at risk as a Covid-19 recovery remains remote. |
| New York City restaurants could reopen indoor dining starting on Valentine’s Day, Cuomo saysNew York City restaurants will be allowed to reopen their indoor dining sections at 25% capacity beginning Feb. 14 if Covid cases continue to stabilize. |
| Disciplinary actions against doctors have plunged during the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean they are behavingComplaints against doctors logged in a national database have plunged during the pandemic, but experts worry that the numbers mask a huge and growing problem. |
| Airlines push back on potential Covid testing for domestic flightsThe CDC said it’s “actively looking” at mandating Covid tests for domestic flights. |
| AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid vaccine approved for use by European regulatorThe vaccine is already in use in the U.K., having been approved at the end of December, and now makes up the bulk of jabs being administered in the country. |
| American Airlines plans another $1 billion stock sale after big rallyAmerican Airlines has authorized the sale of an additional $1 billion in stock. |
| Toys R Us’ last two stores in the U.S. are closed for goodToys R Us has closed the only two stores it had left open for business. |
| Google CMO: Focus on consumer is best way to fight big tech antitrust scrutinyAs Alphabet’s Google faces government antitrust scrutiny, its chief marketing officer says delivering to consumers on service and security is the best response. |
| Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ will debut March 18 on HBO MaxThe long-awaited “Snyder Cut” of “Justice League” will arrive on HBO Max on March 18. |
| J&J says its Covid vaccine is 66% effective, but the single shot may fall short against variantsThe Covid vaccine was well tolerated, with no significant safety concerns reported, including anaphylaxis, J&J said. |
| National drug shortage crisis hits Covid vaccine rolloutThe pandemic has worsened recurring shortages of essential drugs hospitals need to treat Covid patients and other chronic conditions. |
| New coronavirus variants are fueling a ‘second wave’ in Africa, WHO warnsNew and more contagious variants of Covid-19 are spreading across Africa, causing a spike in infections and deaths, according to the World Health Organization. |
| Crypto Jumps In January As Hedgies ‘Suffer’ Greatest Stock Short-Squeeze In HistoryCrypto Jumps In January As Hedgies ‘Suffer’ Greatest Stock Short-Squeeze In History The USDollar managed to end higher for the month of January while stocks, bonds, and gold all ended lower…
Source: Bloomberg Cryptos, however, had a big month, led by Ethereum (and helped the last few days by a migration of WSB’rs and Elon Musk)…
Source: Bloomberg Of course, the really big news was the ‘Reddit Rebellion’ that routed shorts late in the month, pushing “Most Shorted” … |
| Texas AG Issues CIDs To Robinhood, Citadel, Others Over “Shocking Coordination” Between Hedge Funds, Trading Platforms To Halt TradingTexas AG Issues CIDs To Robinhood, Citadel, Others Over “Shocking Coordination” Between Hedge Funds, Trading Platforms To Halt Trading The probes and lawsuits are coming. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent out a Civil Investigative Demand to 13 entities, including Robinhood and Citadel, regarding the “suspension of stock trading and investing” requiring higher margin reserves for trading certain companies and suspending chat platform activity. Other names which were also issued CIDs include Discord, Robinhood Markets, Robinhood Securities, Interactive Brokers, TD Ameritrade, TD Bank, E-Trade, WeBull Financial, Public Holdings, M1 Holdings, Citadel Financial, and Apex Clearing. œWall Street corporations cannot limit public access to the free market, nor should they censor discussion surrounding it, particularly for their own benefit. This apparent coordination between hedge funds, trading platforms, and web servers to shut down threats to their market dominance is shockingly unprecedented and wrong. It stinks of corruption, said Attorney General Paxton. œI’m hopeful that these companies will step up and cooperate with these CIDs in order to clear any confusion over why stock purchases were forcibly closed and why even conversation around these stocks was silenced. In addition to public statements and internal documents, the CIDs request copies of all terms of service, policies related to content control and moderation, and communications between platforms and moderators of chat servers, including decisions to limit, control, or prevent access to the Discord r/WallStreetBets server. Read copies of |
| Facebook Bans “Robinhood Stock Traders Group” With 157,000 MembersFacebook Bans “Robinhood Stock Traders Group” With 157,000 Members Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News, Facebook has banned a group called ‘Robinhood stock traders’ that had 157,000 members, with its founder suggesting the group had been targeted by œmajor institutions.
The group has no formal affiliation with the stock trading app of the name same that froze stock purchases for GameStop yesterday, prompting widespread complaints from its users. The group’s 23-year-old founder Alan Tran told Reuters that the social media giant removed the page citing œadult sexual exploitation, but provided no further reasoning for the ban. According to Tran, who also heads up his own investment group, HaiKhuu Trading, bots may have flagged the page because of the use of the term œgain porn, which is a phrase relating to stock purchases and has no actual sexual connotation. Earlier this month, … |
| Dear WallStreetBets: Hedge Funds Are Very, Very Short BitcoinDear WallStreetBets: Hedge Funds Are Very, Very Short Bitcoin With the country following with bated breath every new development in the war between WallStreetBets and Wall Street, and specifically how an army of angry teenagers which targeted a handful of bearish hedge funds and steamrolled them into submission with trillions in excess liquidity, some are wondering what’s next: after all there is only so much you can do with a handful of very shorted stocks (while even Wall Street is now trying to muscle in on the less shorted stocks with recos to buy these) after you have ramped them up and down and then back up again. What’s the endgame. Indeed, there is a sense that this trend is starting to get a little tired, and the most shorted names themselves are trading near session lows (although the latest round of Robinhood restrictions which laughably permits just 2 shares of bitcoin be purchased certainly has something to do with this). So what next? Here we respectfully bring to the attention of r/wallstreetbets something they may have missed in their search for shortable equities: move to futures, where on asset stands out. According to the CFTC’s latest Traders in Financial Futures report, the net short position in bitcoin futures is now the biggest it has ever been. |
| GameStop: Global watchdogs sound alarm as shares frenzy growsFinancial regulators in the US and UK say they are monitoring share trading and potential market abuse. |
| Covid: EU-AstraZeneca disputed vaccine contract made publicThe European Commission argues the drug-maker is failing to fulfil its promises on the Covid jab. |
| Brexit: EU introduces controls on vaccines to NINorthern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster describes the move as “an incredible act of hostility”. |
| India’s record foreign exchange reserves likely to squeeze RBI’s earningsThe returns for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are likely to be squeezed with investments in low yielding US dollar assets, and also due to payment of interest to banks in reverse repo. |
| Govt likely to introduce bill to create official digital currency, regulate cryptocurrencies in Budget sessionThe bill named ‘Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021’ will be introduced in the Parliament for consideration and passing by the government. |
| GameStop pares rally to double digits as retail traders pile inThe stock, face of the retail craze that’s gripped Wall Street and drawn scrutiny from Washington, trimmed intraday gains of as much as 114% to 60% at 10:30 a.m. in New York. The stock plunged a record 44% in Thursday’s US cash session. |
| December 2020 Headline Pending Home Sales Decline AgainWritten by Steven Hansen The National Association of Realtors (NAR) seasonally adjusted pending home sales index declined. Our analysis shows improvement this month. The quote of the day from this NAR release:
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| : EU’s drug regulator authorizes AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for all ages over 18European Medicines Agency decision comes despite Germany saying it will not recommend jabs for over-65s. |
| Dispatches from a Pandemic: The Novavax vaccine is effective. Now I’m seriously hoping that’s what I was injected withThe U.S. biotech has produced an interim assessment of its Phase-3 trial in the U.K., for which I volunteered last year. And it shows the vaccine is 89% effective against the disease. |
| Medill News Service: Student-loan payment freeze gives badly needed relief to struggling borrowersPresident Biden’s move to extend the freeze on student-loan payments until October has given borrowers a badly financial cushion and the chance to spend the extra cash on other basic necessities. |
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