Written by Gary
Wholesale Sales Improved and Inventories Marginally Up (SPY -0.04 flat). Bacanora lithium starts work at flagship project in Mexico.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Oil Major Total Sees 10 Million Bpd Supply Gap In 2025France’s supermajor Total is warning that the world could find itself with a shortfall of supply of 10 million barrels per day (bpd) between now and 2025, due to continued underinvestment in the industry, the OPEC+ pact, and cracks in the U.S. shale business model. “There is a risk of supply crunch in the mid-term,” Helle Kristoffersen, President, Strategy and Innovation at Total, said on the company’s Q4 earnings call this week. “We have seen in 2020 how OPEC managed to bring back market discipline. We’ve seen the cracks in the US shale model, |
| Rosneft Stake Becomes Headache For Oil Major BPWhile BP was unveiling its strategy to reinvent itself from an international oil company to an integrated energy company in London last year, thousands of miles away Russian giant Rosneftin which the UK supermajor holds 20 percentwas preparing to launch an ambitious multi-billion-dollar onshore oil project in Russias Arctic. BPs target to become a net-zero business by 2050 or sooner includes reduction of oil and gas production by 40 percent by 2030. Within a decade, the company aims to have boosted |
| Bacanora Lithium Starts Work At Flagship Project In MexicoExploration and development company Bacanora Lithium (LON:BCN)said on Wednesdayit had begun initial site activities at its flagship Sonora lithium project in Mexico.The company is developing the mine with strategic partnerGanfeng Lithium, which recently increased its stake in the Mexican projectfrom 22.5% to 50%, injecting $65 million into Bacanoras coffers.Production of battery grade lithium, the company said, is scheduled for 2023, with output estimated at 35,000 tonnes of lithium per year. Bacanora said the construction |
| Underground Hydropower Could Be Britains Ultimate Renewable Power SourceThe U.K.s hilly landscape could provide the perfect storage solution for hydropower generated underground. Instead of using mountains and dams to store hydropower energy, hundreds or even thousands of hills across Britain could offer an alternative storage solution. The new high-intensity hydro project, created by RheEnergise, pumps mineral-rich fluid R-19 up 200 metres into a hill when electricity usage is low, to be stored in an underground space as big as an Olympic-size pool. The liquid, which is two and a half times as dense as |
| This Texas Oil Company Just Became The Latest Meme StockA small crude oil company based in Texas is seeing a surge in out-of-the-money call options in what could be a sign of another burst of retail trader action, Bloomberg reports, citing Reddit discussion threads mentioning the company. Ring Energy, which pumped a mere 9,500 barrels of oil daily as of the third quarter of 2020, may become the second oil meme stock, after it saw its share price double over the last two weeks. Last week, media reported the case of New Concept Energy, another Texan company even smaller than Ring Energy, |
| The Oil Price Slump Crippled Colombias Economic RecoveryColombia is not a country usually associated with crude oil. Low proven petroleum reserves and falling production see Colombia rank well behind many of the global oil heavyweights, yet petroleum has emerged as a crucial economic driver and is responsible for a significant portion of export earnings and fiscal revenues. At the peak of the last oil boom when Brent was trading at over $100 per barrel, Colombia was pumping just over one million barrels daily, giving the economy a notable boost. By 2013, crude oil was responsible for 55% of exports, |
| Walmart’s use of TikTok will likely continue, even if deal with Oracle falls apartThe big-box retailer has used the viral video app to follow trends, create shoppable content and strengthen its brand among teens and twenty-somethings. |
| Double masking, better mask fit can reduce Covid exposure, CDC study findsWhen both of the artificial heads in the experiment wore two masks, more than 95% of the particles were blocked, the researchers found. |
| Biden administration to build two mass Covid vaccination sites in New York City, Gov. Cuomo saysEach site will be able to administer 3,000 shots a day, making them New York’s largest vaccination sites to date, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. |
| Under Armour pursues plans to break ties with some retailers in push for more profitable salesUnder Armour is forging ahead with a turnaround strategy to pull products out of struggling middlemen and instead pour investments into its stores and website. |
| GM has no interest in following Tesla and investing in bitcoinGM CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday said the automaker will monitor customer demand about accepting the cryptocurrency for payment of its services and vehicles. |
| New York Gov. Cuomo says Barclays Center, other large arenas in the state, can reopen starting Feb. 23“Any large stadium or arena ” hockey, basketball, football, soccer, baseball, music shows, performances ” any large arena can open on Feb. 23,” Gov. Cuomo said. |
| Biden’s next fight: Anti-vaxxers jeopardize plans to protect U.S. against CovidThe U.S. needs to vaccinate between 70% and 85% of the population quickly ” before new mutations take hold and reduce the effectiveness of current vaccines. |
| NBA requires teams to play national anthem after Dallas Mavericks halt ritualThe league announcement comes after news that the Dallas Mavericks ceased playing the national anthem prior to home games this season. |
| Biden administration partners with Texas to build three new mass Covid vaccine centers in the stateThe Biden administration will partner with Texas officials to build three new community vaccination centers, in Dallas, Arlington and Houston. |
| NFL wants to finalize new TV deals before setting 2021 salary cap in MarchThe NFL wants to finalize new TV rights agreements with partners before setting its 2021 salary cap. A deal could reach $100 billion. |
| When will you be able to get vaccinated at work? Experts weigh inOnce supply catches up with demand, companies should be able to offer on-site vaccinations for coronavirus. |
| Nursing homes with more minority residents had 3 times as many Covid deaths as those with more Whites, study findsNon-White residents of nursing home are more likely to live in large facilities that are for-profit and “have deficiencies in care,” the researchers said. |
| NJ governor explains why smokers under 65 qualify for Covid vaccine before teachersGov. Phil Murphy told CNBC he hopes teachers will be eligible for the Covid vaccine soon, but stressed New Jersey is seeing supply constraints. |
| Reddit Riches Beget A New “Social Media Sentiment” ETFReddit Riches Beget A New “Social Media Sentiment” ETF Whenever Wall Street discovers a new pathway to making money, it’s fun to watch the ensuing weeks and months as new products and services, tailored to whatever fad is popular that week, pop up like weeds. Such has been the case with WallStreetBets over the last several weeks. As the subreddit has been launched into the spotlight, movie deals and new financial products have been dutifully popping up left and right. The latest of these derivatives has been VanEck’s new “Social Media Sentiment” ETF, which will invest in stocks that are “being talked up on social media”, according to the Financial Times. The ETF is a revival of a former fund, the Sprott Buzz Social Media Insights ETF, which “fell out of orbit” in 2019, according to FT. It had averaged just $9 million in assets during its lifetime. That ETF drew from the Buzz NextGen AI US Sentiment Leaders Index, which the new VanEck product will also draw from. Despite this, the Buzz index outperformed the S&P 500 by about 10%. Jamie Wise, chief executive of Periscope Capital that created the index said he is “excited about it being back”. Periscope œdidn’t have the infrastructure for marketing [so] it didn’t organically attract assets,” he said. œThere is much more acceptance of the idea that there is a broad investment community out there and they do have interesting things to say. We were perhaps too early. |
| Mavericks Forced To Reverse Ban After NBA Orders Teams To Play National AnthemMavericks Forced To Reverse Ban After NBA Orders Teams To Play National Anthem Update (1535ET): The NBA has ordered all teams to play the national anthem at games after Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban decided to skip it this season. “With NBA teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the national anthem in keeping with longstanding league policy,” wrote NBA Chief Communications Officer Mike Bass in a terse letter. Cuban told the Athletic recently that he decided to ditch the anthem at games – though told the outlet in a follow-up statement that they would resume playing the anthem starting with Wednesday’s game, according to Bloomberg. “The hope is that those who feel passionate about the anthem being played will be just as passionate in listening to those who do not feel it represents them,” said Cuban.
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| Corn Tumbles From 7-1/2 Year High As USDA Projects Supply WoesÂCorn Tumbles From 7-1/2 Year High As USDA Projects Supply Woes Chicago Board of Trade corn futures have faded 7-1/2 year highs after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected supplies of the grain would be well above market expectations.Â
“Corn led the sell-off as the USDA only minimally trimmed its U.S. end-of-season stocks outlook and raised its export forecast by less than many traders had anticipated following record-large sales to China,” according to Reuters. “The surprise in the report is that the government only took (U.S. corn) exports up 50 million bushels despite the fact that we had huge Chinese buying,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities. USDA projected corn ending stocks for 2020/21 were around 1.502 billion bushels. Analysts surveyed by Reuters estimated corn ending stocks of 1.392 billion. Corn futures have risen 87% from August to $5.74-1/4 per bushel on strong Chin … |
| The Latest Short Interest Data Was Just Released: Here Are The New “Most Shorted Stocks”The Latest Short Interest Data Was Just Released: Here Are The New “Most Shorted Stocks” The latest short interest data was released this afternoon and while it shows that short interest as a share of market cap for the typical stock remains extremely low, as the following Goldman chart reveals…
… there are some notable exceptions. So using an analysis we first conducted three weeks ago as a reference – when we laid out the most shorted Russell 3000 names – Goldman’s David Kostin has assembled the Russell 3000 stocks with the largest outstanding short interest as a share of float as of Jan 29, as well as the largest recent changes in short interest as a share of float. The results are below: |
| KPMG boss steps aside after ‘stop moaning’ commentsBill Michael will step back as the audit giant investigates alleged comments that offended staff. |
| Travel chief scorns ‘puerile’ holiday plan warningTransport Secretary Grant Shapps’ call for people to pause summer holiday plans gets a rough reception. |
| Sainsbury’s takes on Aldi in supermarket price warThe UK’s second-largest supermarket joins Tesco in promising to price-match German discounter Aldi. |
| Bitcoin declines in the wake of Tesla-inspired euphoriaThe world’s largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 7.5% Wednesday to $43,764 after surging past $48,000 earlier this week. Alt coins including Ether and Litecoin also declined. |
| Down 10% in 2 days, this tyre stock may remain under pressue amid capex plansThe tyre capacity expansion, which will be completed by the second half of FY23 is aimed at catering higher demand and has an estimated payback period of four years at the profit before tax level. |
| Sebi plans to introduce framework to compensate investors for technical glitchesFurther, to improve the efficacy of liquidity enhancement measures such as market making, Liquidity Enhancement Scheme (LES) and call auction mechanism for illiquid securities, Sebi would review the existing framework. |
| December 2020 Headline Wholesale Sales Improved and Inventories Marginally UpWritten by Steven Hansen The headlines say wholesale sales were up month-over-month with inventory levels marginally growing. Our analysis shows improvement in the rate of growth for the rolling averages.
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| : House panel adds Citadel, Melvin Capital executives to ‘meme stock’ hearing – report |
| Key Words: Don’t fall for the bitcoin bubble, even the Flintstones had a better system, warns economist Nouriel RoubiniEconomics professor Nouriel Roubini has a warning for bitcoin enthusiasts. |
| The Margin: This double-masking method can block up to 95% of viral particles, CDC saysNew research suggests this is the best way to wear two masks to protect against COVID-19 |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
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