02Feb2021 Midday Update: Wall Street Moves Higher On COVID-19 Relief Efforts, DOW Up 620 Points At 12:30 ET, US Dollar Climbs 91.22, Silver 25.59, Gold 1838

Written by Gary

Boeing cuts its 777X backlog by more than a third after pushing back deliveries until 2023 (SPY +1.8%). GameStop below $100 and Silver prices tumble 9% and gold skids below trend lines.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Mexico leading the region. The IPC is up 2.95% while U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 1.78% and Brazil’s Bovespa is up 0.52%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	WTI Breaks $55 For The First Time Since January 2020 Did the ‘Reddit-Raiders’ suddenly shift their crosshairs onto the energy complex? The last few days have seen WTI Crude surge over 6%……topping $55 this morning for the first time since Jan 2020. Source: Bloomberg The catalysts for the move is uncertain amid mixed data from OPEC – on the bullish side,compliance with planned cuts was extremely high; on the bearish side, thecartel cuts its oil demand growth outlookto 5.6mm b/d (down from previous 5.9mm b/d), but back on the bullish side, theSaudis and their friends see
	US Signals Readiness To Discuss Lifting Of Nord Stream 2 Sanctions The new U.S. Administration has signaled for the first time that it could be willing to discuss with Germany the lifting of the American sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project if Germany offers solutions to ensure Europes energy security, German business daily Handelsblatt reports, citing a U.S. official involved in the talks. According to Handelsblatt, the U.S. has signaled readiness to talk about the easing of the sanctions against the controversial pipeline project from Russia to Germany, led by Russias
	Russia Is The Biggest Winner In The OPEC+ Deal OPEC has been the most important actor in global oil markets with the ability to influence prices for decades. The shale revolution in the U.S. has brought much uncertainty for traditional producers due to the vast amounts of oil and gas that are flowing from the American energy heartland in a short period. The looming threat is so big, that erstwhile competitor Russia agreed to align its policies with the cartel’s. Moscow, however, is eager to squeeze all it can from the agreement, leaving little for Saudi Arabia in particular who risks losing
	Elon Musks Cyborg Monkey Plays Video Game With His Mind Neuralink, a startup set up by Teslas CEO Elon Musk, has wired up a monkey to play videogames with its mind, Bloomberg reports, citing an online discussion led by Musk on the Clubhouse app. The progress could have many farther-reaching implications, including in Teslas autosummoning feature, which Musk has promised owners could accomplish by just thinking about it. We have a monkey with a wireless implant in their skull with tiny wires who can play video games with his mind, Musk said. You cant see where
	BP Reports Massive Loss For 2020 The second supermajor to report full-year results, BP, said today it had lost $5.7 billion last year because of the oil price slump and demand destruction caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Weaknesses in the gas market also contributed to the negative net result, BP noted in its filing, which compared with a profit of $10 billion for the previous year.During the last quarter of 2020, the company eked out a profit, but it was below estimates due mostly to weaker downstream demand. The UK-based supermajor is among the most ambitious in the sector
	Aramcos New Stock Offering Looks Doomed From The Start More shares in flagship oil and gas company, Saudi Aramco (Aramco), may be released for sale to the public if conditions are right, said the Governor of Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) last week. This idea was later confirmed by Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS). Given how badly the first initial public offering (IPO) was received by international investors in the run-up to its eventual listing on 11 December 2019 and the draconian lengths that Saudi Arabias
	Pfizer plans to deliver 200 million doses of Covid vaccine to U.S. by May, sooner than expected The company, which developed its vaccine with German drugmaker BioNTech, also said it can potentially deliver 2 billion doses globally by the end of this year.
	BMW will now use aluminum that’s been made with solar power German carmaker is latest firm attempting to integrate renewables into its supply network.
	Dr. Scott Gottlieb rips U.S. Covid testing system, says don’t expect it to be fixed until fall “You don’t have an efficiently run system because no one really built this rationally,” former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb told CNBC.
	Kitchen United and Westfield team up to bring ghost kitchen tech to the mall Westfield Valley Fair will use Kitchen United’s technology to facilitate to-go food orders. The system includes lockers for pickup or delivery.
	Ulta Beauty to double Black-owned brands in its stores, feature more Black women in ads The retailer plans to invest $25 million in the initiative, which will celebrate and highlight Black women in ads and TV commercials.
	Boeing cuts its 777X backlog by more than a third after pushing back deliveries until 2023 Boeing took more than 100 orders out of its backlog for its newest plane.
	Impossible Foods lowers grocery store prices amid pandemic-fueled retail expansion Impossible Foods is slashing the suggested prices for U.S. grocery stores by 20%, pushing it closer to achieving price parity with meat.
	UPS shares jump on strong fourth-quarter earnings as Covid drives online shopping UPS revenue jumped 21% to $24.9 billion during the fourth quarter. CEO Carol Tome said the results were “strong and considerably better than we expected.”
	Pfizer expects about $15 billion in 2021 sales from Covid vaccine Pfizer also raised its full-year earnings guidance to between $3.10 to $3.20 from $3 to $3.10, citing “additional refinements” of its vaccine revenue forecast.
	GM’s newest car is a V-8 Cadillac sedan that tops 200 mph Cadillac is expected to lead General Motors’ plans for all-electric vehicles, but it still has some surprises in store for traditional gearheads.
	India’s largest airline expects to reach pre-Covid international capacity by end-2021, CEO says Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo’s international operations are struggling, but could make a full recovery by the end of the year, said CEO Ronojoy Dutta.
	5 freelance jobs where you can earn $100,000 or more during the pandemic As more employers shift to remote work here are five freelance jobs where you can earn $100,000 or more annually during the pandemic.
	5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday The Dow is set to rise at Tuesday’s open, looking for a second day of gains after last week’s nearly 3.3% decline.
	Ethereum Spikes To Record High, Tops $1500 Ethereum Spikes To Record High, Tops $1500 Update (1155ET): Cryptos have extended their morning gains with Ethereum leadihg the charge. The DeFi-Boom-centric crypto just broke above $1500… Source: Bloomberg A new record high… Source: Bloomberg Â Â * Cryptos are up significantly this morning, as heavily-shorted stocks and silver take a beating. Bitcoin is back above $35,000 this morning…
	All Eyes On The “Huge Gamma Strike” At 3,800 All Eyes On The “Huge Gamma Strike” At 3,800 Emini futures are pushing higher above 3800, rising above the large gamma strike at this level, with the VIX sliding 4 pts to 26 which has added to the equity tailwind. According to our friends at SpotGamma, call open interest has increased 15k at 3800, and the first resistance level is showing up at 3812 and then 3838 (on the downside, there is little support until 3750). While there is a sense of tone change in positioning, there does remain an ominous gamma œvoid down from 3800 to 3750, with SpotGamma warning that notional gamma levels remain low “which infers higher volatility” while put prices have ticked up vs calls as you can see below. There are two ways to look at this data, according to SpotGamma: Markets are now better hedged, and stock buyers/call buyers can step in off of 3800 and push to the 3900 Call Wall fueled by declining implied volatility (ie vanna) Call buying is fading and markets are structurally weakening/topping
	Andrew Yang Tests Positive For COVID-19 Amid Run For NYC Mayor: Live Updates Andrew Yang Tests Positive For COVID-19 Amid Run For NYC Mayor: Live Updates Summary: Andrew Yang positive for COVID Scotland extends lockdown until end of Feb. US new cases lowest since Nov. England, Wales see second-highest deaths Israeli cases rise despite vaccinations, lockdowns Japan extends state of emergency Merkel promises a dose for every German by September Italy begins unwinding lockdown Moderna proposes filling vials with 15 doses instead of 10 China reports 30 new cases, lowest in a month * * * Update (1125ET): Former Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang is seeing big polling numbers in his push to become the next mayor of NYC (Hizzoner Mayor Bill de Blasio is term-limited from seeking the office again, to the relief of most New Yorkers, we imagine), but unfortunately, it looks like the formerly long-shot presidential contender has been officially diagnosed with COVID-19. Yang, who is presumably out and about campaigning, and who also partic …
	Hunter Biden Hires Criminal Defense Lawyer – Whose Colleague Just Landed Top Spot In Biden DOJ Hunter Biden Hires Criminal Defense Lawyer – Whose Colleague Just Landed Top Spot In Biden DOJ Approximately one month before Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, Hunter Biden hired a new attorney to assist with his federal criminal defense. On Inauguration day, one of that lawyer’s colleagues was appointed as the acting head of the Biden Justice Department’s criminal division, according to Axios – and first reported on Friday by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. New: in December, Hunter Biden hired a new criminal defense lawyer. A month later, on inauguration day, one of his close colleagues was appointed as the acting head of DOJ’s criminal division https://t.co/xv8LHEsaop ” Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) February 2, 2021 In D …
	GameStop: Real Wolf of Wall Street warns ‘you could lose it all’ Jordan Belfort says amateurs should “take their chips off the table” as shares in the retailer tumble.
	British Gas owner ‘was posted excrement’ in pay row The boss of Centrica defends “fire and rehire” plans amid protests from staff.
	Buy now, pay later firms such as Klarna face stricter controls The financial regulator says it would be easy for customers to build up unseen debts of Â£1,000.
	Bankers await clarity on ARC structure, capital allocation Though the government has not allocated any funds for this new company, expectations are that public sector banks which are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of this proposal will also be asked to invest.
	GameStop breaks below $100 as rout erases $28 billion in value The stock tumbled to $75 at 10:49 a.m. in New York, meaning it has now given up nearly 85% of the spectacular gains that were fueled by last month’s attack on short sellers.
	Bharti Airtel Q3 preview: Telecom operator likely to post profit in Q3; sales may hit record high The company had reported a consolidated net loss in the previous quarter largely because of a surge in finance costs and a one-time exceptional loss.
	Outside the Box: Retirement taxes: What happens after your husband or wife dies Your marginal tax rate will probably go up when filing as a single person.
	NewsWatch: Hey, Robinhood traders: These ‘non-bubble’ stocks can also be good bets for you Long-term investing is a better strategy than gambling on stocks that have been sold short.
	Metals Stocks: Silver prices tumble nearly 9% and gold skids below trend lines Futures for gold and silver head sharply lower on Tuesday, with the drop in silver prices following a move by the CME Group to raise margin deposit requirements for trades in the wake of precipitous gains in the precious and industrial metal.