Written by Gary
US supply of Covid vaccine to substantially increase next month (SPY +0.4%). Dow erases 360-point loss to eke out positive finish after Powell testimony.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Why Is Mexico Returning To Coal?As the world transitions away from fossil fuels and weens itself off emissions-heavy energy sources, one country is running against the current and right back into the arms of coal. Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador has bucked all convention as he tries to make good on his campaign trail promise to establish a norm of energy sovereignty for his country. Bringing down the worlds greenhouse gas emissions and curbing the extraction and combustion of dirty fuels – particularly coal – is paramount to the increasingly |
| Nevada Overtakes Australia To Become Worlds Top Mining DestinationThe US state of Nevada is the new most attractive region for mining investors, replacing iron ore-rich Western Australia in the 2020 survey of resource and exploration companies released Tuesday by the Fraser Institute. The new version of the think-tanks popular ranking is based on answers from 276 participants, which provided sufficient data to evaluate the overall investment attractiveness of 77 jurisdictions. The result is a combination of two indexes Best Practices Mineral Potential, which rates regions based on their geologic |
| Oil Holds Gains Above $60Investor Alert! Oilfield service giants are looking like an increasingly good investment as oil prices rebound. Read our latest Global Energy Alert investment column to get the full breakdown of what to watch…Chart of the Week- The Texas blackouts came from a steep drop in generation from gas, coal, wind and nuclear power.- Natural gas typically can supply 40 GW of capacity at peak periods, but frozen gas lines, wellheads, and other damage to infrastructure led to widespread outages.- |
| Bank Of America Sees $70 Oil By SummerBrent Crude prices could hit $70 a barrel in the second quarter of 2021, while they are set to average $60 this year, Bank of America said this week, raising its average price outlook by $10 a barrel from its previous projection. Easy monetary policy in major economies, as well as tighter oil supply due to the OPEC+ production cuts and the Texas Freeze, are the key drivers of Bank of America Global Researchs increased price forecasts for both benchmarks this year. While Brent Crude is seen averaging $60 throughout this year, the U.S. benchmark, |
| Saudi Arabias Longest-Serving Oil Minister Dies At 90The driving force of the 1973 oil embargo, Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, has died at age 90. Yamani served as Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister from 1962 until 1986, when he was dismissed by Saudi King Fahd over differing opinions on the Kingdom’s oil policies. He is Saudi Arabia’s longest-serving oil minister. The simple explanation of the disagreement between the King and Yamani was that when it came to oil policy and delicate OPEC negotiations, Fahd wanted oil prices to be 25% higher and expected Yamani’s OPEC negotiations to deliver that result. But |
| Luxury Tesla Competitor Ready To Go Public Following $11 Billion DealLucid Motors, an EV maker targeting the luxury segment, will merge with a special-purpose acquisition company to go public in a deal worth $11.75 billion, valuing the company at $24 billion. Reuters reported that the deal involves an investment of $2.1 billion from the SPAC, Churchill Capital IV Corp, and a private investment in public equity worth $2.5 billion from a number of investors. Reports that Lucid Motors was planning to go public first emerged in January, with the Los Angeles Times recalling how the Saudi government had saved the company |
| Best Buy gives pandemic-related bonuses to employees amid company layoffsThe consumer electronics retailer has not said how many store employees will lose their jobs as part of a reorganization. |
| Former Tesla exec inks new recycling deal as battery costs soarÂThe booming EV plans may mean the industry has to look at recycling batteries as a new source for key minerals. |
| Hillary Clinton is co-writing a thriller novel that reckons with a post-Trump worldHillary Clinton is teaming up with award-winning author Louise Penny to pen her first non-fiction book. |
| From escape mutations to wild strains: Here’s everything you need to know about Covid variantsHere’s why the coronavirus mutates, why some variants are more problematic than others and what that means for life-saving vaccines. |
| ‘Sun, sea, sand and Soberana 02’: Cuba open to inoculating tourists with homegrown Covid vaccineCuba aims to be one of the first countries in the world to vaccinate its entire population in 2021. |
| Macy’s holiday sales top estimates, lifting company to its first profitable quarter in a yearMacy’s reported its first quarterly profit in a year, as its efforts to slash inventories during the holiday quarter and rely less on deep discounting paid off. |
| Home Depot tops estimates as sales surge 25%, but shares fall on worries pandemic gains won’t lastThe home improvement retailer said it does not know how long the pandemic will last and what that will mean for consumer spending. |
| U.S. supply of Covid vaccine to substantially increase next month, manufacturers tell CongressThe remarks indicate that the U.S. is on track to have received 240 million doses of vaccine by the end of March, enough to vaccinate about 130 million people. |
| Here’s what investors should know about rocket builder Astra as it prepares to go publicRocket builder Astra is preparing to go public via a SPAC in the second quarter, with CEO Chris Kemp telling CNBC how the company plans to scale its business. |
| Tiger Woods in surgery after suffering leg injuries in major rollover car crashGolf superstar Tiger Woods was injured Tuesday in Los Angeles when his car crashed and rolled over, authorities said. |
| Kia unveils 2022 Carnival as new SUV-inspired minivan with VIP lounge seatingKia Motors is replacing its Sedona minivan with a new SUV-inspired model called the Carnival beginning in the second quarter of this year. |
| President Biden to visit Texas on Friday following deadly winter stormPresident Biden said he will travel to Houston, Texas on Friday. He will be joined by first lady Jill Biden. |
| Lucid Motors ‘humbly’ embarks on the difficult task of mass producing its electric cars, CEO saysIn a CNBC interview, Lucid Motors CEOÂ Peter Rawlinson acknowledged the company must get its luxury sedan into production to “truly drive” shareholder value. |
| Momo Dumps, Powell Pumps, Crypto SlumpsMomo Dumps, Powell Pumps, Crypto Slumps A bad day for people with the word “wood” in their name (too soon?).
Tiger tumbled his car and Cathie’s ARKK Invest crashed even harder…
Cryptos were crushed. Bitcoin back below $50k… |
| What Janet Yellen Gets Wrong About BitcoinWhat Janet Yellen Gets Wrong About Bitcoin Authored by Jeff Benson via Decrypt.co, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen made negative comments about Bitcoin using too much energy and being primarily used for illicit transactions. Critics say her energy consumption critique relies on a faulty comparison to legacy payment systems. There’s little evidence that Bitcoin is a main channel for illicit activity. Janet Yellen has again blasted Bitcoin, but critics say several of her assumptions about the cryptocurrency are inaccurate.
At the New York Times’ DealBook DC Policy Project today, the US Treasury secretary reiterated to journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin that she’s no big fan of Bitcoin, this time taking aim at its energy consumption and potential use for illicit financing.
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| Workhorse Implodes, Halted Five Times After Oshkosh Wins USPS ContractWorkhorse Implodes, Halted Five Times After Oshkosh Wins USPS Contract Update 1546EST: The stock has been halted higher, making a fifth halt on the session. Update 1537EST: The stock has been halted lower a fourth time. Good thing there’s only 23 minutes left in the cash session.
— Shares of Workhorse imploded on Tuesday afternoon after news broke that the United States Postal Service awarded a 10-year contract to manufacture a new generation of U.S.-built postal delivery vehicles to Oshkosh. Workhorse was rumored (and widely expected judging by the price reaction) to be in the running for the contract, which was a frequently touted piece of the bull case by investors. On the news, Workhorse shares plunged by over 50% and have been halted three times. |
| Public App Takes Aim At Robinhood With Already-Viral Michael Bolton AdPublic App Takes Aim At Robinhood With Already-Viral Michael Bolton Ad On the same day that it hit the wires that Robinhood’s CEO said it was “necessary” for the company’s business operations to sell its order flow (as we have been detailing at painstaking length here on Zero Hedge for years before it became a mainstream media story)…
…competing small brokerage app Public may have just hit the viral ad jackpot. Public is offering to pay defectors of other brokerage apps (obviously targeting Robinhood users) to take their holdings and ACAT them into a new account, should clients want to make the switch. And the company decided there was no better way to get that point across than to have Michael Bolton sing a love song about it. Which he did – and which is going viral. |
| Holiday bookings surge after lockdown exit plansTravel firms serving the UK and overseas report a huge jump in bookings and website traffic since Monday. |
| Facebook and Google ‘too powerful’ says watchdog bossThe boss of the UK’s competition watchdog says tech giants have too much share of the online ad market. |
| Bitcoin: Elon Musk loses world’s richest title as Tesla faltersThe Tesla chief’s wealth has taken a hit as investors sour on Bitcoin and the electric carmaker. |
| RBI may raise rates only in FY23: BofA Securities“We expect the RBI MPC to remain on hold in FY’22, with oil prices rising, and hike rates by 100bps in FY’23” said Indranil Sengupta, chief India economist, BofA Securities. |
| Jerome Powell signals Fed to keep buying bonds even as outlook improvesThe economy is a long way from our employment and inflation goals, and it is likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved. |
| India continues to attract FPIs amidst global sell-offIndia received portfolio flows worth $6 billion since the beginning of the calendar, and ETIG compilation of Bloomberg data showed. |
| Cryptos: Should I buy bitcoin? Why the cryptocurrency is on the verge of a bear marketBitcoin is on the brink of entering a bear market in recent trade as the volatile crypto asset is experiencing a double-digit plunge over the past 24-hour period. |
| : Facebook befriends Australia again, after striking a deal with Canberra government on new lawFacebook said that it would restore Australian news on its platform, after striking a deal with the Canberra government on a new law that will force big technology companies to pay for news. |
| The Ratings Game: CVS says it will reach millions of new customers as it administers COVID vaccineCVS Health Inc. is looking forward to the chance to meet tons of new shoppers in the coming months as it administers the COVID-19 vaccine, offering the pharmacy retailer a unique business opportunity. |
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