Written by Gary
Wall Street climbs in late-day rebound led by stocks benefiting from reopening (SPY +0.6%). Oil prices drop on third wave of COVID-19 lock-downs.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | China Emerges As The Leader In The Clean Energy BoomThe trade war with China isnt over yet. While the Trump administration is now a thing of the past, tensions between the United States and China are still going strong. Erica Poon Werkun, head of Asia Pacific securities research at global financial giant Credit Suisse Group AG, noted the possibility of an outburst or retaliation in the short term as U.S.-Chinese relations begin to thaw, but remain tense. Speaking on the sidelines of the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference with Sophie Kamaruddin on “Bloomberg Daybreak: |
| Oil Prices Drop On Third Wave Of Coronavirus LockdownsThe unfortunate tanker mishap in the Suez Canal that continues to block tanker traffic is being overshadowed by another wave of coronavirus-inspired lockdowns, sending oil prices once again downward. Oil prices slipped roughly 4% on Thursday afternoon, with WTI crude trading down $2.80 per barrel at $58.88down 4.58% on the day. Brent crude was trading down $2.48 per barrel at $61.93a slide of 3.85% on the day. Weighing heavily on oil prices are the third wave of coronavirus lockdowns in Europe. Experts suggest that Poland is in the |
| Ex-Glencore Oil Trader Pleads Guilty To Price ManipulationFormer Glencore oil trader Emilio Jose Heredia Collado has pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate an oil-price benchmark to influence global oil prices. Heredia now faces up to five years in prison. According to prosecutors, the 49-year-old trader attempted to manipulate prices through an S&P Global Platts-managed process between 2012 and 2016, the WSJ reported. More specifically, prosecutors alleged that Heredia directed buy and sell orders that would manipulate fuel oil prices and allow the companies he worked for to |
| Bitcoins Energy Problem Isnt Going Away Anytime SoonSince its debut 12 years ago, bitcoin has frequently been lambasted for its energy-intensive mining process. About 2.5 years ago, Nature Climate Change, a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Publishing Group, warned that bitcoin mining alone could push global warming over the 2C catastrophic threshold in just 14 years if adoption rates matched those by other broadly used technologies. The bitcoin mining rate has increased 500% since the publication. On the opposite side of the spectrum, crypto buffs, investors, |
| China Overtakes U.S. As Worlds Largest RefinerAs the shift in oil demand from Covid-19 turned the tables of regional levels of fuel production and exports, China succeeded in overtaking the USA as the worlds biggest oil refiner in 2020. As China began to ramp up its refining capacity throughout the pandemic, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) published data showing that China processed more crude oil than the U.S. for much of 2020. While the USA suffered from a drop in demand throughout 2020, leading to a decrease in all oil-related activities, China benefited |
| Canada Oil Industry to Shed 7,300 Jobs This YearCanada’s oil industry could see another 7,300 jobs lost this year, said the Petroleum Labour Market Informationdivision of Energy Safety Canada, as quoted by Global News. The job loss will be the result of industry consolidation, PetroLMI said, as companies merge to reduce their cost burden. This year, the body sees total direct employment in Canada’s oil patch at 160,700, down from 188,800 in 2019. By 2023, this year’s number will rise to some 176,000, PetroLMI also said. “Since 2014, we are down almost 59,000 jobs, about 26 per cent of |
| Suez Canal blockage is delaying an estimated $400 million an hour in goodsLloyd’s List values the Suez Canal’s westbound traffic at roughly $5.1 billion a day, and eastbound traffic at around $4.5 billion a day. |
| Congress wants answers from NCAA after weight room disparity at women’s basketball tournamentMembers of Congress are seeking answers for last week’s NCAA weight room disparity in San Antonio, the site of the women’s basketball tournament. |
| Rutgers University to require Covid vaccine for students returning to campus in the fallRutgers University is one of the first U.S. colleges to require students returning to campus this fall to prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid. |
| OneWeb CEO: Here’s why our product is different than Elon Musk’s SpaceX StarlinkSatellite internet company OneWeb launched another 36 satellites successfully on Thursday, moving it closer to beginning initial service. |
| Pfizer begins Covid vaccine trial on infants and young kidsThe U.S. is unlikely to achieve herd immunity until children can get vaccinated, public health officials and infectious disease experts say. |
| American Petroleum Institute endorses carbon pricing as oil and gas industry faces pressure on emissionsThe oil and gas industry’s largest trade group Thursday endorsed a price on carbon emissions, a major shift after it long resisted climate change regulation. |
| More than half of individual investors think the stock market is rigged against them, survey findsA survey taken in late February shows 56% of individual investors think the market is not set up to favor retail customers. |
| Broadway could open in September, as New York lays out plans to vaccinate theater workersNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to vaccinate theater workers in order to get Broadway up and running in September. |
| TheScore, valued at $1 billion, is playing underdog in U.S. sports gambling and public marketsThe Canada-based gaming and media company is worth $1 billion and wants to gain market share in U.S. online sports betting. |
| JetBlue wants travelers to book hotels, vacation homes and theme park tickets with the airlineJetBlue Airways is launching an online travel site where travelers can add hotels, car rentals and vacation homes after booking flights. |
| Rocket builder ABL raises $170 million from T. Rowe, Fidelity to become the latest space unicornRocket builder ABL Space closed a $170 million round of funding from new investors T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Management at a valuation of $1.3 billion. |
| Ex-HP CEO Meg Whitman and NBA COO Mark Tatum join General Motors boardThe elections come at a pivotal time for the automaker, which plans to transition to exclusively offering electric vehicles by 2035. |
| Trump’s former Covid vaccine chief Moncef Slaoui leaves more companies after sexual harassment claimCentessa Pharmaceuticals and vaccine developer Vaxcyte announced that Moncef Slaoui has stepped down from his roles with their companies. |
| Stocks Dump’n’Pump; Dollar Gains Amid Bitcoin, Bond PainStocks Dump’n’Pump; Dollar Gains Amid Bitcoin, Bond Pain Thanks to yet another big short-squeeze that began shortly ahead of the EU close. This was the biggest short-squeeze since late January.
Source: Bloomberg Small Caps went from down over 1.5% ahead of the EU close to up over 2.5%. Nasdaq ended lower as late day selling pressure hit…
Before today, the last six days have seen the market has dropped in the last hour. S&P and D … |
| JPMorgan Finds No Bounce In Retail Trades Despite New $1,400 Stimmy ChecksJPMorgan Finds No Bounce In Retail Trades Despite New $1,400 Stimmy Checks Earlier this week, we reported on a surprising finding from JPMorgan: in analyzing trends in retail and daytrading activity, quants at the largest US commercial bank found that retail investor no longer YOLOed into calls of meme stocks, but were instead hedging their (quite impressive) recent gains by buying puts in QQQs, to wit:
Perhaps as a result of this increasingly cautious position among the daytrading crowd, in a follow up report from JPM’s Peng Cheng, the quant finds that “over the past week, despite the beginning of the $1,400 stimulus check disbursement, we have yet to observe a meaningful pick-up in retail trades as a % of total orders.” This makes intuitive sense perhaps as a result of the recent fizzle in outright euphoria on Wall Street Bets where the increase in negative sentiment in such former darling meme names as Gamestop and AMC is notable, when one compares the following sentiment report (via Swaggy Stocks) from Feb 25… |
| Scientist Says Plastic Pollution Is Shrinking Penises, Will Make Most Men Infertile by 2045Scientist Says Plastic Pollution Is Shrinking Penises, Will Make Most Men Infertile by 2045 Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News, An environmental scientist has warned that plastic pollution is shrinking penises and making men infertile, meaning most of them won’t be able to produce sperm by 2045.
In a new book called Count Down, Dr Shanna Swan writes that humanity is facing an œexistential crisis due to phthalates, a chemical used in the plastic manufacturing process which disrupts the endocrine system. A growing number of babies are being born with small penises as a result of phthalate syndrome, something that has been observed in rats when they are exposed to the chemical in tests. Human babies are being exposed to the chemical in the womb, causing a shorter anogenital distance which correlates to penis size.
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| US COVID Cases Rising At Fastest Pace Since January As “Third Wave” Goes GlobalUS COVID Cases Rising At Fastest Pace Since January As “Third Wave” Goes Global The COVID “third wave” that first drew attention in Europe has moved beyond the Continent’s borders, and is officially afflicting India, South America and many fear that soon it will come for the US. And it’s not just new cases (which some have pointed out might be due to overly sensitive PCR testing picking up bits of viral RNA from the vaccine); deaths are rising, too. Earlier this week, the WHO warned that newly confirmed deaths are climbing for the first time after six weeks of decline.
The news came as the UN health agency’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus blasted the œgrotesque growing gap between the number of coronavirus vaccines administered in rich and poor countries, branding the inequity a global œmoral outrage.” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on Covid-19, said the increase in deaths followed a fifth straight week of confirmed cases increasing worldwide. She said the number of reported cases went up in four of the WHO’s six regions, though there were significant variations within each region. … |
| High Streets: ‘Catastrophic blow’ as business rates appeals deniedExperts have said the legal change on appeals would badly affect many firms affected by the property tax. |
| Ford says farewell to ‘Mondeo man’ as car to be phased outThe car, which became synonymous with a certain type of British motorist, will be phased out next year. |
| Liberty Steel: Government looking at ‘all options’Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tells MPs he hopes to support the steelmaker “in its entirety”. |
| SAIL best stock to play higher steel prices, say analystsAccording to analysts, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is the best play as the company is backward integrated with captive iron ore and has a higher financial leverage. |
| Newly-listed stocks challenging FMCG biggies on Dalal StreetThe listing of the biscuits-maker Mrs Bectors Foods Specialties provided a suitable peer to Britannia Industries, albeit smaller in scale. |
| Indian companies raise record $3 bn via ESG overseas bondsIn the first quarter of this year, six local companies sold a record $3 billion worth of global ESG bonds, compared with $1.27 billion in the whole of last year, show data from Bloomberg. |
| : Secretary of State Blinken warns Europe against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipelineU.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the Biden administration’s hostility to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline currently being built between Russia and Germany. |
| : Big investors shun Amazon-backed Deliveroo’s $12 billion IPO over workers’ rights concernsTwo of the U.K.’s largest investors have voiced serious concerns around workers’ rights at Deliveroo this week. |
| The Escape Home: Real-estate agents are rethinking decades of advice on poolsThe top keyword search on Zillow last year was ¦ pool. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
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