26Mar2021 Market Close: U.S. Oil Rig Count Climbs Higher On Suez Outage, WTI Steady At 60.80. DOW Closes Up 453 Points, Nasdaq At +1.2%, Bitcoin Rises Fractionally To 54200

Written by Gary

Used car prices soar 3% in just the last 2 weeks (SPY +1.6%). Oil jumps 4% on fears Suez Canal blockage may last weeks.

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Mexican President Uses Texas Freeze To Push For Energy Independence Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador is using the Texas Freeze to cut the countrys dependence on U.S. gas imports and to garner support for rolling back the energy sectors reforms that his predecessor passed. Mexicos dependence on U.S. natural gas imports became painfully evident last month when plummeting natural gas exports from the United States to Mexico amid the Arctic cold spell. The resulting gas demand surge caused blackouts in northern Mexico, leaving some 4.77 million households and businesses
	Oil Rebounds On Suez Outage The Suez Canal traffic jam, caused by a cargo ship that ran aground on Tuesday, has driven oil prices higher as supply fears grow. In this week’s Global Energy Alert, our trading team delves into how an inflationary environment will impact oil stocks. Sign up today to get breaking news, expert analysis, and trading tips. Friday, March 26th, 2021Oil has bounced around with significant volatility this week, dragged down by slow vaccinations, lockdowns, and speculative outflows, but pushed back up on Suez Canal bottlenecks. Analyst sentiment is also
	Oil Majors Look To Exit Tunisia European oil majors Shell, Eni, and OMV are looking to sell their oil and gas assets in North African country Tunisia, sources in the industry told Reuters on Friday. Tunisia has been struggling to provide a stable regulatory environment for foreign firms over the past ten years since the Arab Spring of 2011. At the same time, Europes oil firms are now more aggressively looking to divest non-core assets to cut debt and open more investment opportunities in low-carbon energy sources as they plan to drastically cut emissions and become net-zero
	World’s Largest Oil Companies Saw Revenues Slide 35.4% In 2020 The biggest oil companies in the world, including Big Oil, Saudi Aramco, Russia’s top oil producers, and the top oilfield services providers, saw their combined revenues fall by 35.4 percent to US$1.3 trillion in 2020 from US$2.02 trillion in 2019, data compiled by Anadolu Agency shows. The agency analyzed the financial statements of the 14 biggest firms ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Shell, BP, Total, Eni, Equinor, Lukoil, Rosneft, and Saudi Aramco. Shell’s revenues dropped the most by
	U.S. Oil Rig Count Climbs Higher As Crude Prices Rise Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of oil and gas rigs in the United States increased by 6 this week, after an increase of 9 last week. The total number of active oil and gas rigs in the U.S. is now at 417, which is 311 fewer than this time last year. The oil rig count has increased by nearly 30 rigs over the last two months. The oil rig count increased by 6 this week to 324, and the number of gas rigs stayed the same at 92. The number of miscellaneous rigs also remained unchanged at 1. The EIAs estimate for oil production in
	Buffett Proposes 10 GW In New Gas Plants For Texas Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway has proposed a plan for boosting Texas’ energy security: building 10 GW in new natural gas-fired generation capacity. Bloomberg reports that the proposal involves setting up a company that would build the plants and add emergency gas storage to the offer in a bid to help prevent a repeat of this year’s energy crisis caused by the unusually cold weather in late January and early February. “We really want to make sure that this never happens again. So we’re really wanting to partner with the
	Biden invites Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to climate summit amid rising global tensions President Biden said that Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China are invited to the global leaders’ climate summit in April.
	How Texas’ tough winter exposed U.S. power grid problems Texas’ power outage is not just a wake-up call for the state. It also points to the vulnerabilities of the U.S. power grid.
	WHO warns against sales of counterfeit Covid vaccines on the dark web “We urge the secure disposal or destruction of used and empty vaccine vials to prevent them from being reused by criminal groups,” WHO chief Tedros said.
	Covid masks and hand sanitizer can get you a tax break, IRS says The IRS is allowing taxpayers to write off costs for personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
	ThredUp stock jumps as shares begin trading ThredUp shares began trading on Friday under the ticker TDUP in the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
	Satellite imagery shows work underway to free ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal Satellite images captured on Friday give a unique vantage point of the stuck ship Ever Given, as crews work to move it after four days blocking the Suez Canal.
	Godzilla vs. Kong heads for monster box office opening weekend in China Early estimates for “Godzilla vs. Kong” show the film has already secured around $21.5 million during its opening day in China.
	Do you need to wear masks after Covid vaccine? New NIH-backed study hopes to answer that A new study backed by the NIH aims figure out what people can and cannot do after they get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
	CDC director warns of possible Covid surge as U.S. cases increase by 7% The nation is recording a seven-day average of about 57,000 new Covid-19 cases per day, a 7% jump over the last week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
	WeWork CEO expects strong rebound for shared office space in post-Covid return to work “We’re starting to see, even in New York now, new activity, so we’re pretty optimistic,” WeWork CEOÂ Sandeep Mathrani told CNBC.
	GlaxoSmithKline requests emergency authorization from FDA for Covid antibody drug The request cites an interim analysis of a phase three trial that evaluated the drug for early treatment of Covid in adults at high risk of hospitalization.
	A wave energy project in Britain is using the animal kingdom for inspiration Â Funding will come from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
	JC Penney’s interim CEO sees green shoots emerging as department store chain plots post-bankruptcy turnaround Just a few months into serving as interim CEO of J.C. Penney, Stanley Shashoua said he sees signs of growth in the business.
	Media & Momo Meltdown, Small Caps & SPACs Slammed As Bonds & The Buck Bounce Media & Momo Meltdown, Small Caps & SPACs Slammed As Bonds & The Buck Bounce Small Caps were clubbed like a baby seal this week, but thanks to last hour total meltup… …the rest of the US majors ended the week green… But under the surface, something violent is happening…
	National Labor Relations Board Says Tesla Violated Labor Laws National Labor Relations Board Says Tesla Violated Labor Laws In keeping with Elon Musk’s flawless track record ofÂ upstanding business practices, theÂ National Labor Relations Board found this week that Tesla violated labor laws when it fired a union activist in 2018. Shortly thereafter, in 2018, Musk wrote on Twitter:Â œNothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing? The comments were viewed as “threatening” at the time.Â Cut to 2021. TheÂ National Labor Relations Board has now asked Musk to delete his Tweet (sound familiar?) and offer a job back to Richard Ortiz, the fired employee. The company also has to compensate Ortiz “for loss of earnings, benefits and adverse tax consequences that resulted from his firing,” CNBC reported Thursday. Tesla will also be revising its confidentiality agreement it makes employees sign. Previously, employees were told th …
	Here It Comes: Used Car Prices Soar 3% In Just The Last 2 Weeks Here It Comes: Used Car Prices Soar 3% In Just The Last 2 Weeks Submitted by Nicholas Colas of Datatrek Research US used car/truck prices are still increasing at an amazing rate. The current semiconductor shortage at automotive assembly plants and very light dealer inventories, especially in pickup trucks, is driving marginal demand here. All this is a good reminder of just how awkwardly automotive design and assembly fits into the modern global tech ecosystem. EVs/AVs can change that relationship, but it will take time. Here’s a chart to kick off the conversation. It is the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index through mid-March 2021. This shows US used car/truck values are up a staggering 24 percent from March 2020 and up 3 percent in just the last 2 weeks to a new all-time high. The data here comes from real-world auction transactions between dealers for late-model used cars, so it’s solid. What’s going on? Two things. < …
	Chinese Bombers Make “Largest Ever” Incursion Into Taiwan’s Air Space In Dramatic ‘Message To West’ Chinese Bombers Make “Largest Ever” Incursion Into Taiwan’s Air Space In Dramatic ‘Message To West’ InÂ what’s clearly a well-timed and glaring “message” not only aimed at Taiwan but especially at its Western backers amid this week’s continuing sanctions tit-for-tat with Beijing, Taiwan’s military is reporting on Friday the “largest-ever” incursion by China’s air force.Â While in the past months the PLA aerial patrols have grown bigger and more frequent – sometimes coming every week and oftenÂ involving eight or a dozen or possibly even fifteen combined Chinese fighters and bombers – Friday’s incursion involved a record-setting twenty PLA military aircraft. This is by far the largest ever recorded, sinceÂ Taipei began publicly releasing data on the incursions. “Twenty Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Friday, in the largest incursion yet reported by the island’s defence ministry and marking a dramatic escalation of tension across the Taiwan Strait,” Reuters reports.
	Liberty Steel boss asks government for Â£170m bailout Concerns over Liberty Steel’s future have grown after its key backer Greensill Capital went bust.
	Liberty Steel: ‘If we lose the plant it will decimate Rotherham’ As Liberty Steel scrambles to re-finance the business, steelworkers fear for their future.
	Camera retailer Jessops files to appoint administrators Jessops has hired advisers to help it restructure the pandemic-hit High Street business.
	Global bond rout is not over. Brace for another sell-off mid-year 34 of 45 strategists in response to an additional question said another sell-off in bond markets in the next three months was likely, including four who said it was very likely.
	Bulls may outnumber bears next week as focus shifts to earnings The sustainability of any gain in the market next week will largely depend on how the US dollar behaves.
	Oil jumps 4% on fears Suez Canal blockage may last weeks Brent crude rose $2.37, or 3.8%, to $64.32 a barrel at 10:57 a.m. EDT (1457 GMT), after dropping 3.8% on Thursday.
	19 March 2021 ECRI’s WLI Growth Rate Improvement Continues Written by Steven Hansen ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward modestly improved and continues well into expansion. ECRI released their coincident and lagging indicators this week.
	Final March 2021 Michigan Consumer Sentiment Improves Written by Steven Hansen The Final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment for March came in at 83.0, up from the preliminary of 83.0, up from February’s 76.8, and up from January’s 79.0.
	: Vaccine shortages and spreading pandemic exacerbate tensions in Europe EU leaders gave lukewarm support to a plan to better control the exports of COVID-19 shots to the rest of the world, as new restrictions are looming to avoid a third wave of the pandemic.
	: Private-jet sales rose as airlines filed for bankruptcy through the pandemic In the U.S. alone, sales of preowned private jets climbed nearly 10% in 2020 from 2019 levels, with 1,637 jets sold in the country, according to analysis from broker Colibri Aircraft.
	: Third COVID-19 wave could be the worst yet, Germany warns German health officials have warned that the country’s third wave of coronavirus disease could be the worst yet, placing the country’s hospitals under severe strain, if left unchecked.