Written by Gary
CFNAI super index moving average index shows a modest decline (SPY -0.4%). Airlines slammed by soaring jet fuel prices. Elevated bond yields weigh on tech shares.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are mixed. The IPC is higher by 0.29%, while the Bovespa is leading the S&P 500 lower. They are down 4.37% and 0.40% respectively. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Oil Prices Spike As U.S. Outages Tighten SupplyOil prices rebounded again on Monday, with WTI shooting up more than 3% to over $61 per barrel by noon ET. Oil prices spiked to 13-month highs last week after the Texas Freeze, but prices sagged toward the latter part of the week. But on Monday, a new price rally began, with the price of WTI spiking $1.81 per barrel to $61.05. Brent shot up by $1.73 to $64.64. The price hike comes shortly after Goldman Sachs forecast that oil prices would climb into the $70s over the next few months, and after it became clear that U.S. oil production and refineries |
| Iraq Pauses Massive Prepaid Oil Deal With China As Prices SoarIraq has put on hold an oil supply deal with a Chinese company that featured an advance payment of several billion dollars as higher oil prices make the deal less lucrative than it was a couple of months ago. Iraqs oil minister, Ihsan Abdul Jabbar, said in an interview for BBC Arabic that We had concerns that oil prices would not rise above $40 when we announced this deal for the first time in the history of Iraq, as quoted by Reuters. Yet shrinking global inventories of crude oil and the production and refining disruption |
| Investment In Battery Tech Exploded In 2020Last fall Swedish lithium-ion battery maker Northvolt announced that it had raised $600 million in equity to invest in capacity expansion, research and development, and large-scale recycling. The capital raise included institutional investors Baillie Gifford, Baron Capital Group, Bridford Investments Limited, Norrsken VC & PCS Holding together with private investors Cristina Stenbeck and Daniel Ek. It was joined by current Northvolt shareholders Goldman Sachs, IMAS Foundation, Scania, and Volkswagen AG. The $600 million represented a substantial |
| Brazil President Ousts Petrobras CEOThe President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, ousted Petrobras chief executive Roberto Castello Blanco, replacing him with former Defense Minister Joaquim Silva e Luna. The move follows a spat between Bolsonaro and Castello Blanco regarding diesel prices. Petrobras and its chief executive specifically have been calling for diesel and gasoline price hikes to reflect the oil price situation on international markets. However, price hikes like that tend to spark protests, which is why Bolsonaro instituted a two-month cut in diesel price taxes starting March |
| Airlines Slammed By Soaring Jet Fuel PricesJet fuel prices hit a 13-month high last week as oil prices rose, making airlines already difficult life even more difficult. Despite still depressed demand for air transport, jet fuel follows the price curve of crude oil as costlier oil for refining results in costlier end products, including jet fuel. Last week was a special case, however. The Arctic cold wave that bore down on parts of the U.S. unused to such low temperatures caused massive disruption in oil production and refining due to wellhead freezing and power outages that affected |
| The Texas Cold Blast Was A Warning To Hydrogen InvestorsThe Texas storm has exposed an energy grid ill-prepared for climate change, with electric grid regulators now saying that the United States needs to rapidly develop vast supplies of power storage–including giant batteries and hydrogen storage. So, it might be wise for investors to avoid any fear associated with the wild valuations of hydrogen stocks. Leading hydrogen companies like Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG), Bloom Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:BE) and Ballard Power Systems (NASDAQ:BLDP) could still be prime long-term investment candidates |
| 25 highest-paid hedge fund managers made $32 billion in 2020, a recordThe record payday is likely to draw criticism over hedge fund pay and fairness in financial markets. |
| LVMH buys 50% stake in Jay-Z’s champagne brand Armand de BrignacLVMH bought a 50% stake in rapper Jay-Z’s champagne brand, Armand de Brignac. |
| Kohl’s shares soar as activist investor group looks to add 9 directors to boardA group of activist investors with a combined 9.5% stake in Kohl’s confirmed it has nominated 9 directors to Kohl’s board, looking to turn the business around. |
| Taco Bell enters chicken sandwich wars with its own spin: A taco versionTaco Bell said Monday that it’s testing a taco version of the chicken sandwich in Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina. |
| Dozens of Boeing 777s grounded after United Airlines engine failureUnited says it’s voluntarily taking 24 Boeing 777s out of service after one of the planes suffered an engine failure shortly after takeoff from Denver on Saturday. |
| Dr. Scott Gottlieb says an estimate for ‘herd immunity by April’ too aggressive but directionally rightFormer FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday he expects Covid cases in the U.S. to keep declining into the summer. |
| How traffic sensors and cameras are transforming city streetsFrom England to Australia, innovation and new ideas are changing urban mobility in a number of ways. |
| CDC study shows teachers could play ‘central role’ in Covid spread at schools where masks aren’t wornThe CDC study said educators “can play an important role in in-school transmission” when physical distancing and mask compliance are not optimal. |
| Elon Musk says SpaceX ‘will double’ Starlink satellite internet speeds later this yearSpaceX CEO Elon Musk says its Starlink satellite internet service “will double” speeds to customers “later this year.” |
| Watch live: U.S. health officials join World Health Organization in Covid briefing for the first time since pandemic startedThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine in the coming weeks. |
| Op-Ed: Trust in Covid vaccine needs to be earned for Blacks and Latinos after decades of mistreatmentAfter decades of racist disinvestment and medical mistreatment, Black and Latino communities have every reason to be skeptical of the Covid vaccine. |
| UK’s Boris Johnson reveals plan to exit lockdown restrictions by JuneU.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced his plan for the lifting of lockdown restrictions in England. |
| Porsche CEO warns ‘very serious’ global chip shortage could affect operations for monthsHis comments come after a sudden upsurge in global car sales late last year coincided with a shortfall of essential chip components. |
| Here Are The Stocks WallStreetBets Is Obsessing Over TodayHere Are The Stocks WallStreetBets Is Obsessing Over Today On Friday we revealed to all those scrambling to find a way to aggregate sentiment on Wall Street Bets (and in some cases paying up to $200,000 for the effort) which has emerged as a surprising marginal price maker across so many US stocks, that there is now a convenient – and free (for now) – aggregator of said data: Swaggy Stocks, which pours through the thousands of comments on the popular financial subreddit and summarizes the result in terms of sentiment, comment volume and various other metrics. So without further ado, for those curious what are the most popular stocks on Reddit this morning in terms of comment volume and sentiment (as usual overwhelmingly positive except in the case of Boeing) the answer is as follows: PLTR (the recent WSB darling remains the most discussed name), followed by the venerable GME with TSLA and AAPL in slots 4 and 5…
.. … |
| Rocket Attack Targets US Embassy In Baghdad A Week After Deadly Erbil AssaultRocket Attack Targets US Embassy In Baghdad A Week After Deadly Erbil Assault Regional Mideast news sources are reporting a fresh rocket attack on Baghdad’s Green Zone on Monday. Explosions near the US Embassy have been reported “At least 3 Rockets target US Embassy area in Baghdad,” according to initial reporting by the AFP. It comes at a sensitive moment that the Biden administration is investigating a major rocket attack on a US base in Erbil, in northern Iraqi Kurdistan one week ago. That prior attack injured multiple US military service members and killed at least one non-American international contractor. Crucially Monday’s rocket volley, which so far according to early reports doesn’t appear to have caused damage to the embassy, marks the third attack on Western military, diplomatic, or commercial installations in a week. |
| Coca Cola Confirms Training Employees To “Try To Be Less White”Coca Cola Confirms Training Employees To “Try To Be Less White” Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk, Is Coca Cola sponsoring racism? That’s the claim. You be the judge.
‘Try To Be Less White’ When I first saw this story I was highly skeptical. However, the training course is available online and Coca Cola is doing its best to try to back down from the course.
|
| Boris Johnson Outlines UK ‘Roadmap’ To End LockdownsBoris Johnson Outlines UK ‘Roadmap’ To End Lockdowns PM Boris Johnson laid out his process for reopening the British economy on Monday morning, releasing a detailed plan that had been in part leaked over the weekend. In the UK, vaccines appear to be working well and infection levels have fallen by 5x since the start of the year. BoJo started by proclaiming that it’s inevitable that lifting lockdown will lead to more cases.
And so the government is being extremely cautious, and the plan unveiled by Johnson wouldn’t allow shops to fully reopen until April, while the economy will be set to “fully restart” beginning June 21. Johnson set out four key steps to move forward with reopening Monday during a statement to Parliament.
Government guidance is asking people to work from home where possible for another four months, and the request will be examined as part of a review of social distancing measures. The relaxation of England’s third national lockdown will be … |
| Covid-19: Boris Johnson plans to reopen shops and gyms in England on 12 AprilBoris Johnson hopes all legal limits on social contact could be lifted in England from 21 June. |
| Jay-Z sells stake in champagne brand to luxury giant LVMHLVMH said it was interested in the brand for its appeal to a ‘global and diverse’ customer. |
| John Lewis considers closing more storesThe department store giant may close another eight stores in a further blow for the High Street. |
| Why this stock is a better pick to play the short-term copper rallyShares have rallied 72% in the last one month and 166% in the last three months to close at Rs 98.35 on Monday. The stock is expected to rally another 25% in the next few weeks, said technical analysts. |
| Hindalco announces capital allocation framework, amends dividend distribution policyThe company has decided to allocate around 50% of the cash generated to growth Capex, around 30% towards debt reduction, 8-10% towards shareholder returns and the rest to be retained in treasury. |
| Robots on Wall Street wrestle with confusing world of RedditAfter the retail stock frenzy last month caused unprecedented havoc, hedge funds trawling the platform with algorithms have a renewed sense of purpose in their mission to figure out the next market craze. |
| January 2021 CFNAI Super Index Moving Average Index Shows Modest DeclineWritten by Steven Hansen The economy’s rate of growth again marginally improved based on the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) 3 month moving (3MA) average – but the economy remains below the historical trend rate of growth.
|
| The Tell: Oil prices will rally ‘sooner and higher.’ Expect $75 Brent crude this year, says Goldman SachsLots of demand, not enough supply and global economies recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic are all recipes for booming oil prices, says Goldman Sachs. |
| : Even one dose of Pfizer vaccine reduces coronavirus-infection risk, Public Health England saysAn initial dose of the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech cuts the risk of coronavirus infection, Public Health England announced on Monday as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed plans to relax lockdown rules. |
| Capitol Report: Attorney general nominee Garland says he will ‘vigorously’ enforce antitrust lawPresident Joe Biden’s nominee for attorney general will face a host of pressing issues if confirmed to the job, but Judge Merrick Garland’s views on the topic of antitrust could end up being the most important for investors to understand. |
US Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone, via Reuters …
Earnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
Current Commodity Prices
Commodities are powered by Investing.com
Current Currency Crosses
The Forex Quotes are powered by Investing.com.
To contact me with questions, comments or constructive criticism is always encouraged and appreciated:
