09Feb2021 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Stock Rally Reverses Amid Overheating Concerns As Bitcoin Tops $48,000 For The First Time, DOW At -68, Nasdaq At -0.2%, Bitcoin At 45400

Written by Gary

Stock futures dip as Wall Street’s rally to records is set to take a breather (SPY -0.2%). The biggest premarket movers: Coty, Take-Two Interactive, Chegg.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are mixed. The CAC 40 is higher by 0.47%, while the DAX is leading the FTSE 100 lower. They are down 0.42% and 0.03% respectively.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	The Oil Deal That Could Destroy Iraq From Within The new Biden Administration has largely been focused on fulfilling its election promises in its first month in power. After reversing an extensive list of Trump policies via executive orders, Biden is now focusing on the Middle East. In stark contrast to his predecessor, Joe Bidens administration is taking a reserved and diplomatic approach towards the ongoing crisis in the Middle East region. While the new administration is yet to fully address Iranian Sanctions or the JCPOA-agreement, it has stepped up the pressure on some Arab countries
	Is Clean Gas Worth The Premium? When a company called Jonah Energy last year reported that it had become the first to be awarded a low-methane standard by the IES, it didnt exactly steal the headlines. Yet the report was an early sign of a transformational trend looming over gas markets: methane certification. The Independent Energy Standards Corporation said last year it was expanding its TrustWell Responsible Gas program to include methane certification just as the gas – an indivisible part of natural gas production – started garnering more attention from media, environmentalists,
	Tesla’s Strategic Investment Could Make Indonesia A Battery Hub In December 2020,reports emerged that Tesla would send delegationsto Indonesia in January to discuss potential investment in a supply chain for its electric vehicles. On February 4, theJakarta Globe reportedthat Tesla would submit a proposal to the Indonesian government for the establishment of a battery production facility in the country. This is on the back of the automaker strive to secure nickel supplies for its larger 4680 cells that is planned to be used in future Tesla vehicles such as the Cybertruck and the Semi
	Amazon Moves On Its Largest Renewable Project Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has reached a deal for its largest renewable energy project yetone that will allow it to purchase 380 MW of wind energy. Hollandse Kust Noorda wind farm in the Netherlands currently being developed by The Crosswindwill supply the power through a project known as the Amazon-Shell HKN Offshore Wind Project. The CrossWind is a consortium made up of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi subsidiary Eneco. The project is still under development and is not expected to be complete until 2023. It will have
	Oil May Not Be Chevrons Largest Business In 20 Years While oil and gas will certainly be needed for decades to come, the oil and gas division may not be Chevrons top business in 20 years, although it will still be a very big part of the U.S. supermajors operations, chief executive Michael Wirth told CNN Business in an interview published on Monday. Big Oil, especially the European majors, have rushed to announce increased investments in renewable energy, and some even plan to reduce their overall oil and gas production. BP, for example, said last year that it would boost its investment
	How Biden’s Posturing In The Middle East Could Hurt America The new Biden Administration has largely been focused on fulfilling its election promises in its first month in power. After reversing an extensive list of Trump policies via executive orders, Biden is now focusing on the Middle East. In stark contrast to his predecessor, Joe Bidens administration is taking a reserved and diplomatic approach towards the ongoing crisis in the Middle East region. While the new administration is yet to fully address Iranian Sanctions or the JCPOA-agreement, it has stepped up the pressure on some Arab countries
	WHO says Covid ‘most likely’ originated in animals and spread to humans, dismisses lab leak theory Scientists have been working in the Chinese city of Wuhan for the past four weeks as part of their search for clues to the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
	Burger King tests loyalty program as part of digital push Burger King is testing a loyalty program in five U.S. markets.
	CEO of America’s biggest mall owner says some retailers are excited for growth opportunities in 2021 Simon Property Group, the biggest U.S. mall owner, is expecting this year to be better than last, as some retailers start to think about opening new stores.
	Fauci’s approach to the two-dose vaccine is the right one, says former CDC acting director Richard Besser Richard Besser, who served as the acting director of the CDC under President Obama, agrees with Dr. Fauci on prioritizing two-dose vaccines.
	London’s iconic Oxford Street is rethinking retail as it deals with Covid-fueled closures Main street is experiencing significant change as retailers close stores, customers move online and leisure activities take up more of our time.
	Op-ed: The financial lessons that 2020 has taught us Although 2020 was a year many would like to forget, there were still important takeaways we’d be wise to hold on to.
	5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday U.S. stock futures fell Tuesday, taking a pause one day after the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged multisession winning streaks.
	Veru reports cancer drug has high potential to reduce Covid-19 deaths Dr. Mitchell Steiner, chief executive of drugmaker Veru, said a Phase 2 trial of VERU-111 showed an 82% relative reduction in Covid-19 patient mortality versus placebo.
	Tesla’s China sales more than doubled in 2020 The electric car company has been ramping up production at its factory in Shanghai and selling China-made vehicles to the local market.
	European warehouse demand surges as e-commerce giants like Amazon and Alibaba snap up space Big investors are pouring money into warehouses in Europe as online shopping for goods ” some all the way from China ” takes off in the wake of the pandemic.
	Jeff Bezos would owe $2 billion a year in state taxes if Washington passes wealth tax Critics warn that since none of Washington’s top billionaires have any day-to-day corporate roles, they could simply move to another state to avoid the tax
	CDC director warns Covid variants could reverse the recent drop in cases and hospitalizations New variants are a “threat” to the U.S. and could reverse the recent declines in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
	Sports gambling sites crash during Super Bowl amid surging demand It was supposed to be one of the biggest nights of the year for gambling sites. Instead, they couldn’t handle the traffic.
	‘It Looks Like Mars’ – SaharanÂ Dust-pocalypse Blankets Europe ‘It Looks Like Mars’ – SaharanÂ Dust-pocalypse Blankets Europe A significant intrusion of Saharan-desert dust has blanketed parts of Europe this week, with tremendous impacts on the environment, health, and power generation, according to Bloomberg.Â The sand and dust storm began on Feb. 5 in northern Algeria. Dust particles were whipped up into the atmosphere and eventually transported to southeast Spain and southern and central Europe. Already,Â snow-covered mountains on the Pyrenees and Alps mountains have been coated with dust,Â buildings and cars have been covered in dust, and the skies in some parts of Europe have been transformed into a yellowish-orange tint. “We saw air quality values in the affected regions drop significantly,” said Mark Parrington, a scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). “The impact of the Saharan dust clouds is clearly visible for affected cities, such as, for example, Barcelona or Marseille.”
	Lilly’s CFO Resigns After Allegations Of “Inappropriate Personal Relationship” Lilly’s CFO Resigns After Allegations Of “Inappropriate Personal Relationship” Yet another executive bites the dust after a consensualÂ relationship among employees turns up.Â On Tuesday, Eli Lilly announced the appointment ofÂ Anat Ashkenazi as Senior Vice President and CFO.Â The change at the top comes after former Chief Financial Officer, Josh Smiley, resigned after “the company was made aware of allegations of an inappropriate personal relationship,” according to Bloomberg. The company said it hired external counsel to conduct a “thorough, independent investigation” of the relationship. That investigation revealed “consensual though inappropriate personal communications between Smiley and certain Lilly employees”. As a result of the findings, the company’s Board determined that Smiley exhibited poor judgement and he later resigned. He may also be available to assist in the transition of his role, the report said. The company said the findings had nothing to do with the company’s financial controls or any other business matters. That continues to beg the question of what c …
	Stock Rally Reverses Amid “Overheating” Concerns As Bitcoin Powers Toward $50,000 Stock Rally Reverses Amid “Overheating” Concerns As Bitcoin Powers Toward $50,000 The roaring stock rally of the past six days week took a breather on Tuesday, with futures dipping from a record high of 3,913 as investors sifted through earnings and weighed the impact of soaring inflation expectations which saw 10Y Breakeven rates hit 7 year highs amid signs the Biden administration is committed to passing a sizable aid bill.. The MSCI All-Country World Index edged up 0.1% to its own record high, although early moves in Europe’s top indexes suggested further gains may be tougher to find, with Britain’s FTSE 100 flat on the day even as a record high close for Wall Street overnight gave Asian stocks the confidence to push on further, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.3%, led by Chinese blue chips, up 2.2%. European equities turned red after a choppy start even as bitcoin powered on, rising above $48,000 overnight following widespread speculation that more companies will follow Tesla in purchasing the cryptocurrency outright. Oil re …
	WHO Concludes That Coronavirus “Came From Animal,” Not Wuhan Lab WHO Concludes That Coronavirus “Came From Animal,” Not Wuhan Lab Just two days after WaPo said it was “plausible” and “must be investigated”, and less than week after finally getting access to Wuhan’s high security virus lab (for the first time in over a year), WHO investigators have reported preliminary “independent” findings that the COVID virus came from animals, confirming China’s heavily promoted narrative and dismissing the likelihood of any leak from the lab in close proximity (a lab that is coincidentally designed to examine the world’s most dangerous pathogens and is led by virologist Shi Zhengli, known as China’s “Batwoman,” for her extensive work on bat-borne coronaviruses). In what we estimate is the fastest “investigation” and findings report of any global organization ever,Â
	Bitcoin sets fresh records after Elon Musk investment Bitcoin sees further strong gains after Elon Musk’s Tesla bought $1.5bn of the cryptocurrency.
	Grocery shopping has changed for good, says Ocado The online supermarket says the Covid pandemic has permanently changed the grocery landscape worldwide.
	Holiday giant Tui bets on summer bounce back The travel firm expects holiday bookings to be 80% of usual levels thanks to the vaccine programme.
	Up 22% in 2 days, this PSU stock in no mood to slow down The fact that Gujarat Gas recorded a double-digit volume growth despite raising prices shows that it has started commanding pricing power among industrial clients.
	Stock markets received Budget with positivity: Nirmala Sitharaman She said the Budget, which was presented in Parliament on February 1, has set the tone for greater play of the private sector, gave space for entrepreneurship, has come clean on the spending intent and unveiled a policy highlighting areas the government wants to stay away from.
	LIC policyholders to be eligible for reservation in IPO “In the Finance Bill 2021-22, it has been proposed to have a reservation on a competitive basis, to an extent of up to 10 per cent of the issue size, in favour of life insurance policyholders of LIC,” Thakur said in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha.
	Market Snapshot: Dow futures pull back after another round of records Stock-index futures fall slightly Tuesday, signaling a modest pullback after major benchmarks score another round of all-time highs on optimism over the potential for another large round of aid spending.
	: ‘It’s not going to solve the problem’: Biden unveils ambitious child-care tax credit, but critics say it won’t be enough Democrats unveiled an expansion of the Child Tax Credit this week.
	Futures Movers: Oil hovers near unchanged after Brent tops $60 a barrel Oil futures trade flat to slightly higher Tuesday, a day after Brent crude, the global benchmark, traded above $60 a barrel for the first time in more than a year.