05Mar2021 Midday Update: Wall Street Retreats From Openinghs To A Mixed Market, DOW Up 155 Points, Nasdaq Down -0.6%, WTI Crude Gains Fractionally To 65.88, Bitcoin Stable At 47800

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed today. The Bovespa is up 3.44% while the IPC gains 0.33%. The S&P 500 is off 0.19%.

India: OPEC+ Decision Could Derail Oil Demand Recovery

The world’s third-largest oil importer, India, is concerned that Thursday’s OPEC+ decision not to lift oil production in April could hurt the consumption-led recovery in oil demand, Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told Reuters on Friday. As one of the largest crude-consuming countries, India is concerned that such actions by producing countries have the potential to undermine consumption-led recovery and more so hurt consumers, especially in our price-sensitive market, Pradhan told Reuters. On Thursday, the

U.S. Refiners Hit With Lower Fuel Demand From Key Markets

The pandemic may be receding in some parts of the world, but it is still ravaging Mexico and Brazil, presenting another challenge to U.S. refiners as the two countries are among their key export markets. Bloomberg reports that Gasoline consumption in Mexico slumped to the lowest in eight months in January this year, and diesel sales in Brazil dropped to the lowest since May last year. Normally, Mexico accounts for two-thirds of U.S. gasoline exports, but with consumption dropping amid the pandemic, this is going to change. Demand for U.S. fuels

Oil Rally Continues As OPEC+ Leaves Production Levels Unchanged

Oil prices extended Thursday’s 5-percent gain into Friday, with both benchmarks rallying by another 3 percent on Friday morning in the wake of the OPEC+ decision to leave production levels unchanged through April. As of 9:38 a.m. ET on Friday, WTI Crude had jumped above the $65 a barrel mark with prices up by 3.04% at $65.78. Brent Crude was approaching $69 per barrel, with prices up 3.24% on the day at $68.90. Oil prices continued to rally on Friday, following the 5-percent surge from Thursday as a reaction to the unexpected decision

China To Cut Energy Intensity By 3% This Year

China will reduce the amount of energy it uses to expand its economy by 3 percent this year as part of efforts to hit emission reduction targets set earlier, Reuters reports, citing a statement by Premier Li Keqiang. China is the world’s biggest single emitter, accounting for 28.8 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions in 2019. It is also one of the fastest-growing economies globally, consuming a lot of energy in the processwhat’s called energy intensity. Last year, because of the pandemic, emissions fell, but only temporarily. To assure

Oil Market Even Tighter As 500,000 Bpd Come Offline In Canada

Maintenance at three oil sands upgraders in Canada will take off some 500,000 bpd in production offline, helping tighten supply amid a price rally, Bloomberg reports. Canadian Natural Resources, Suncor Energy, and Syncrude will all idle an upgrader each, taking off 250,000 bpd, 130,000 bpd, and 70,000 bpd, respectively, from total oil sands production. The maintenance coincides with OPEC+s decision to leave its production level almost unchanged, save for a concession of 130,000 bpd for Russia and 20,000 bpd for Kazakhstan. Saudi Arabia,

U.S. Energy Storage Installations Up 183% In Q4 2020

U.S. energy storage boomed in the last quarter of 2020, with record 2,156 megawatt-hours (MWh) of new energy storage systems brought online, up by a massive? 182 percent compared to the third quarter, Wood Mackenzie and the U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) said in their latest US Energy Storage Monitor report. Front-of-meter (FTM) storage is booming in the United States, thanks to falling prices and falling barriers to storage deployment, according to the report. Four out of every five megawatts (MW) installed in the fourth quarter of

So long, sweatpants. Americans show signs they’re ready to get dressed up again

As retailers like Urban Outfitters, Gap, and Nordstrom prepare for customers to refresh their wardrobes, they continue to face congested ports.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb says Covid mask mandates should be the last virus mitigation measures lifted

Dr. Scott Gottlieb said governors are right to begin easing Covid measures on businesses as long as mask policies remain in effect.

New, energy-efficient trains are coming to the world’s oldest metro system

The Piccadilly Line trains will replace rolling stock from the 1970s.

Retailers pay more to fly everything from bikes to hot tubs from China as backup at U.S. ports delays deliveries

Hot tubs, vacuum cleaners, and Peloton bikes are being shipped by air which can take a couple of days from China instead of two to three months by ocean.

Saks Fifth Avenue owner spins e-commerce site into a separate business

HBC, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, said it will split the luxury department store’s website into a separate business after raising $500 million.

Europe facing ‘uphill battle’ with Covid vaccines as Italy blocks AstraZeneca shipment

Europe’s coronavirus vaccine rollout has been thrust into the spotlight again after Italy blocked a shipment of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to Australia.

Activist investor group says Kohl’s earnings show ‘best of worst’ in retail, urges change

The group of activists looking to seize control of Kohl’s board published a letter saying the retailer’s latest quarterly financial results were lackluster.

VW expects half of U.S. sales to be electric vehicles by 2030

Volkswagen is accelerating plans to increase sales of all-electric vehicles globally in the U.S., Europe and China.

The NBA will play a key role in Snap’s quest for 50% revenue growth

Snapchat said its NBA content is up 25% as the league prepares for its 2021 All-Star Game. The parties renewed their revenue-share agreement in June.

Watch live: Biden Covid team holds briefing as more states lift pandemic restrictions

President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 response team is holding a news briefing Friday on the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Seuss books shoot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list

Books by Dr. Seuss have flooded Amazon’s U.S. bestseller list after it was announced six of the author’s publications were being pulled over racist imagery.Â

‘Vaccine passports’ will help you travel abroad this year. But they won’t be without their challenges

As vaccination rollouts gather pace around the world, attention is now turning to vaccines of another kind: vaccine passports.

Airlines are changing their flight destinations after the devastating shock of Covid

Airlines in Europe are looking at sunshine and beaches as their route to making money again.

John McAfee Indicted Over Alleged Cryptocurrency Fraud

John McAfee Indicted Over Alleged Cryptocurrency Fraud

John McAfee, an unapologetic outlaw who may or may not have murdered his neighbor in Belize for poisoning his dogs, has been indicted by US authorities on several charges – including conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, and money laundering conspiracy offenses.

The charges, according to Bloomberg, stem from two schemes ‘relating to the fraudulent promotion to investors of cryptocurrencies qualifying under federal law as commodities or securities.’

USA Strauss: As alleged, “McAfee and Watson exploited Twitter and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception, raking in more than $13 million from investors they victimized

” US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) March 5, 2021

Is “Temporary Inflation” A Real Thing?

Is “Temporary Inflation” A Real Thing?

Authored by John Rubino via DollarCollapse.com,

Fed Chair Jerome Powell spooked the markets this week by predicting that inflation will jump when the economy reopens ” but don’t worry, it’s just temporary. Here’s the real-time CNBC account:

Fed’s Powell says reopening could cause inflation to pick up temporarily

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday that he expects some inflationary pressures in the time ahead but they likely won’t be enough to spur the central bank to hike interest rates.

œWe expect that as the economy reopens and hopefully picks up, we will see inflation move up through base effects, Powell said during a Wall Street Journal conference. œThat could create some upward pressure on prices.

The Fed likes inflation to run around 2%, a rate it believes signals a healthy economy and provides some room to cut interest rates during times of crisis. However, the rate has run below that for most of the past decade and inflation has been particularly weak during the pandemic.

With the economy increasingly back on its feet, some price pressures are likely to emerge, said Powell, but he said they likely will be transitory and look higher because of œbase effects, or the difference measures against last year’s deeply depressed levels just as the Covid-19 crisis began.

Now, this comes as the fede …

“How Long Can This Last?” JPM Slams Powell’s Catastrophic Conference

“How Long Can This Last?” JPM Slams Powell’s Catastrophic Conference

Some very snarky slamming of Powell’s disastrous appearance yesterday by none other than the largest US bank:

As US bond yields dominate all global markets/asset classes, we have been asked whether this is normal and how long can it last? To answer the first, we can see from the chart below that yields rise as you exit a recession. This rise in yields appears to be driven by inflation expectations (second chart below). Then we see yields come off as inflation expectations run ahead of actual inflation.

How long can this last? Look toward the Fed’s Mar 17 meeting where we may see Powell use his words a bit more judiciously. That said, unless he sees funding markets start to seize or the housing market stall, it seems unlikely that the Fed will change its behavior.

It wasn’t just JPM. Here is BofA too:

FDIC Chair Says No Need For SLR Relief

FDIC Chair Says No Need For SLR Relief

It’s almost as if the Biden administration and some of the most progressive Democrats out there, want the market to crash.

As a reminder to readers, the biggest reason why yields surged yesterday during Powell’s pow-wow is because the Fed chair refused to address the topic everyone has been obsessing over, namely what will be the fate of the SLR exemption which expires at the end of the month and which, unless renewed, will lead to dramatic balance sheet shrinkage across US banks leading to a violent deleveraging as banks are forced to dump bonds accelerating what is already a violent selloff in rates (read our full discussion on the SLR in “Why The SLR Is All That Matters For Markets Right Now”).

So, adding even more fuel to the fire, overnight Politico reported that the FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams said it doesn’t seem like banking agencies need to extend an emergency move that made it cheaper for insured depository institutions to hold cash and U.S. government bonds on their balance sheets. The most important question rests with the Federal Reserve, she said.

œThat’s because capital requirements for the parent holding company, which is regulated by the Fed, are more important for determining how expensive it is for those banks to hold Treasuries, she said.

As a further reminder, late last week, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown urged U.S. regulators to rejec …

Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley warns of possible shop closures

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group says new business rate measures are “near-worthless” for large retailers.

English travelers face fines and losing flights without a new permit

Anyone traveling overseas from England from Monday will have to prove they are allowed to travel.

US sees jobs surge as hope for rebound rises

US employers added 379,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department said in its monthly jobs report.

Jerome Powell can roil markets now with just a word

Powell was right to point to the rising likelihood of a pickup in inflation, which, based on technical factors and current economic conditions, is more likely to be a one-off phenomenon than the start of a serious inflationary process.

After a week of wild flip-flops, how will the market pan out now?

This was the first positive week for Nifty and Sesnex after two straight weeks of losses, but analysts believe there are more reasons for the market to fall than rising at least in the near term.

The Indian IPO that saw tepid bids 4 months ago is spinning money now

While many analysts believe the stock is priced to perfection, some others project it to rise up to Rs 3,000, which would mean a 100 per cent return on the issue price.

January 2021 Trade Data Continues To Show Recovery

Written by Steven Hansen

Trade data headlines show the trade balance continues to worsen with imports growing faster than exports.

Cryptos: Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks acceptance of dogecoin sparks crypto debate: What’s a joke coin?

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban announced on Thursday that dogecoin can be used to pay for tickets and merchandise online for the NBA team that he owns, the Dallas Mavericks, but not everyone is a fan of the move.

NewsWatch: U.S. economy adds 379,000 jobs in February as hiring speeds up

The U.S. created 379,000 new jobs in February — the biggest gain in four months — in what’s likely to be a preview of a surge in hiring in the months ahead as most people get vaccinated and the economy fully reopens. The unemployment rate slipped to 6.2% from 6.3%.

Economic Report: Hiring at restaurants and other hospitality providers surge in February, but millions of jobs still missing

Restaurants, hotels, casinos, amusement parks, and the like created 355,000 new jobs in February, but they still have a long way to go to get back to normal after being devastated by the coronavirus.