Written by Gary
U.S. COVID cases rising again as restrictions ease despite benefits from increased vaccinations (SPY -0.3%). Small Caps are puking and Gold prices poised to settle at lowest in 3 weeks.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Bovespa gained 1.21%, while the IPC led the S&P 500 lower. They fell 1.14% and 0.06% respectively. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Venezuela Looks To Pay With Oil For COVID VaccinesVenezuela could pay with oil for COVID-19 vaccines, Nicolas Maduro, the President of the struggling South American nation that is home to the worlds biggest oil reserves, said on Sunday. Venezuela was struggling with the collapse of its economy and oil production even before the pandemic. COVID-19, however, exacerbated the crisis as oil prices plunged in 2020 while Venezuela continued to struggle with reversing the decline in its oil production. Crude oil exports have also significantly dropped since the United States imposed |
| Russia Aims To Raise Production, Backs OPEC+ Cut RolloverRussia, the leader of the non-OPEC group in OPEC+, favors a rollover of the alliance’s oil production cuts while seeking a slight increase for itself to meet higher seasonal demand, a source with knowledge of Moscow’s plans told Reuters on Monday. Russia has sought and obtained small increases for its oil production every month since the start of the year, while all other members of the OPEC+ pactexcept for Kazakhstanwere set to keep their production flat after January. Saudi Arabia is also cutting an extra 1 million barrels per day |
| UAE Launches Own Oil Futures ContractThe UAE potentially made history today when it sounded the starting pistol for its Murban crude oil futures, to be traded on the brand new ICE Futures Abu Dhabi exchange. The price for what the UAE hopes to become a regional benchmark stood at $63.93 a little after midnight GMT, Reuters reports, adding that 2,132 lots of 1,000 barrels each were traded by that time, according to an ICE tweet. The launch of the Murban futures is part of the UAEs attempt to revolutionize trade in Middle Eastern oil. Per a Bloomberg report, the introduction |
| Suez Containership Crisis Prompts LNG, Oil Tankers To Change CourseTankers and containerships, including a Cheniere LNG carrier and a Shell oil tanker, are changing course as the Suez Canal remains plugged by the Ever Given containership. CNBV reported on Saturday, citing data from MarineTraffic and ClipperData, that at least ten tankers and containerships had been diverted from the blocked Canal, with a MarineTraffic spokesman telling the network there would be more. According to MarineTraffic, there are well over 200 vessels stuck waiting in the Suez Canal. The incident that many are already calling a Suez Crisis |
| Can Silicon Valley Beat China In Clean Energy Tech?Many investors are already aware of the fact that China is the world’s most dominant player in the solar and clean energy sector. 8 out of 10 biggest manufacturers of solar equipment are Chinese with First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) and SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR) the only American representatives among the elite. It’s not for lack of trying, thoughSilicon Valley pumped tens of billions of dollars in clean energy ventures during the first wave of the renewable energy transition that started halfway through the first decade of the new millennium. |
| Global Petroplastic Markets Set To Explode This YearIn a sharp reversal of fortunes, oil markets have gone into another tailspin with prices dipping by the biggest margin since the historic April crash. WTI and Brent crude recorded earlier this month the biggest drop in absolute terms since April 2020, when oil prices entered negative territory for the first time in history. Volatility continued during the last trading sessions of the week, with prices stabilizing on Friday. Opinions on the oil trajectory remain deeply divided, with the bulls saying the oil markets are simply taking a breather after |
| ‘I just can’t take it’ ” Covid piles more stress and financial strain on already-burdened family caregiversMore than 50% of caregivers have increased their hours spent on caring for family during Covid, and 30% are experiencing more stress, a survey found. |
| Old golf courses and office buildings are turning into retail warehouses as demand for industrial space keeps climbingTransactions for industrial, big-box facilities hit a record in North America last year, according to commercial real estate services firm CBRE. |
| One dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines was 80% effective in preventing Covid in CDC study of health workersA single dose of Pfizer or Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines was 80% effective in preventing infections, according to a new CDC study. |
| Supreme Court to decide whether Kentucky’s GOP attorney general can defend restrictive abortion lawThe Supreme Court will hear a plea from the Republican attorney general of Kentucky to allow him to defend a state abortion law, HB 454. |
| This biotech start-up is working overtime to develop a second-wave, mutation-resistant Covid-19 vaccineHannu Rajaniemi, the co-founder and CEO of Helix Nanotechnologies, has spent the last year racing to come up with a mutation-resistant Covid-19 vaccine. |
| Dr. Scott Gottlieb: U.S. Covid vaccinations at ‘tipping point’ of helping turn the tide in pandemicDr. Scott Gottlieb believes the U.S. can avoid “a fourth wave” of coronavirus cases, but told CNBC it’s a “little touch and go over the next two weeks.” |
| Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest launches a space exploration ETF, to begin trading TuesdayArk Invest, Cathie Wood’s firm with multiple actively managed exchanged-traded funds, will debut its latest offering on Tuesday. |
| Bed Bath & Beyond poaches Wayfair, Walmart execs to help it grow onlineBed Bath & Beyond announced two key hires for its $3 billion e-commerce business. |
| U.S. Covid cases rising again as restrictions ease despite benefits from increased vaccinationsAs Covid-19 cases rise once again in the United States, the country is also administering vaccinations at a faster pace than ever. |
| Sports tech company Hyperice strikes multiyear sponsorship deal with New York YankeesHyperice will make its products available to Yankees players and have in-stadium signage rights at Yankee Stadium. |
| Europe looks to contain spiraling Covid crisis, but it’s ‘Happy Monday’ in the UKThe public health situation is deteriorating further in France and Germany, while the U.K. is easing lockdown on Monday. |
| “Right Now I’m Scared” – CDC Director Chokes Back Tears As She Fearmongers “Impending Doom”“Right Now I’m Scared” – CDC Director Chokes Back Tears As She Fearmongers “Impending Doom” In a stunningly emotional outburst during this morning’s COVID-19 Response press conference, new CDC Director Rochelle Walensky went “off-script” (though if one watches here eyes it appears she is very much reading a script) to warn the public about her “impending doom” following a rise in COVID cases.
“Right now, I’m scared,” she exclaimed.
Here is what Walensky is freaking … |
| Democrats Cannot Erase The History Or Hypocrisy Of The Filibuster: TurleyDemocrats Cannot Erase The History Or Hypocrisy Of The Filibuster: Turley
Authored by Jonathan Turley via johnathanturley.org (emphasis ours) Below is my column on the ongoing Democratic effort to get rid of the Senate filibuster. There are good-faith arguments against filibusters but there is a new campaign to declare the rule as racist. Once again, many in the media are ignoring both the history and hypocrisy surrounding the filibuster, including in the press conference last week with President Joe Biden. Biden was not asked in multiple questions on the filibuster about his defense of a rule that he now dismisses as a racist relic. In 2005 he stated:
|
| Small Caps Are Puking, Erase Friday’s Panic-Buying RampSmall Caps Are Puking, Erase Friday’s Panic-Buying Ramp Friday’s ridiculous last hour ramp in Russell 2000 has been erased as weakness across US equities has been focused in the Small Caps… All the indices have been dumped since the cash open…
But Small Caps appear to have stalled again at key resistance…
Which just happens to be the 50-day moving-average… |
| Rabo: Everything In Markets Has Become PoliticalRabo: Everything In Markets Has Become Political By Michael Every of Rabobank As we stumble towards the end of Q1, markets continue to ask themselves which is the fairest of them all –stocks, bonds, commodities, and/or gold/bitcoin– with the answer depending on one’s view of what is going on. And when I say what is going on, I mean *structurally*. Today is likely to be whippy due to the forced sale of some stocks by Archegos Capital Management fund ” but that’s a one-off. It’s no guide to who is the fairest of them all. One can forget about following cyclical data too. Consider Australia. Large parts of that economy are red hot: there are no yachts, or property with views of yachts, or fancy cars to drive you to your property with a view of yachts to be had; house prices are up around 20-30% y/y, anecdotally; tradies are minting it like US day-traders when stonks are up that much. Unemployment data are back around where they were pre-Covid ” the end of the government’s JobKeeper scheme yesterday aside. I don’t pay attention to those jobs data because they are silly; but it seems the RBA don’t either. Local gossip is that rather than tightening monetary policy, the RBA is likely to extend its QE bond buying even further, maybe doubling it from AUD50bn to AUD100bn. So what’s the point in tracking data? Central banks don’t seem to care. Arguably, the better guide is now structural – which one needs to ‘be political’ to understand. Who is able to stimulate? That’s political. Who is willing to stimulate? That’s political. Within each economy, where will stimulus flow? That’s very political. What will t … |
| Biden administration threatens tariffs on UK goods in ‘tech tax’ rowCeramics, make-up and furniture could be hit amid a row over a new UK tax on tech firms. |
| EY drops appeal against $10.8m whistleblower paymentThe professional services giant was appealing against a judge’s order to pay a whistleblower $10.8m. |
| Royal Mail offers free parcel pick-up as delivery war loomsThe company offers free pick-ups from home for the next few weeks as it tries to boost its delivery business. |
| Will the latest fundraising help this midcap microfinance lender find its mojo back?The return of its loan disbursement growth to pre-COVID levels and last week’s fund-raising are likely to improve the company’s performance in the coming quarters. |
| Bond investors already betting on return to normal life amid vaccine optimism‹Bonds of EasyJet Plc and U.K. property manager Hammerson Plc are among the best performers in Europe this year. |
| Your coffee could get dearer due to Suez Canal blockageReports said ships of Robusta coffee — used by Nescafe — have got caught up in the blockage. |
| Metals Stocks: Gold prices poised to settle at lowest in 3 weeksGold futures trade lower on Monday, as investors sell the precious metal to generate cash to cover margin calls on the back of a decline in the U.S. stock market. |
| : Used-car retailer Cazoo to go public in New York via $7 billion blank-check dealU.K-based Cazoo will list through a merger with billionaire hedge-fund investor Dan Och’s special-purpose acquisition company. |
| Europe Markets: Banks tumble after U.S. fund wiltsShares of Europe’s largest banks dropped on Monday after extending credit to a major client that couldn’t meet its obligations. |
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:
