Written by Gary
U.S. unemployment rate drops to 6% from 6.2%. U.S. economy adds 916,000 jobs in March — above economists’ forecast.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Is Russia About To Invade Ukraine?While the world is focused on OPEC news and Easter preparations, the Ukrainian crisis is heating up and there is a real threat of a military confrontation involving Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. Currently, the Ukrainian military is fighting Moscow-backed separatists in the Donbas region. At the same time, heavy clashes with Russian-backed forces in and around Shymy have been reported. International pressure has been building on Russia to force a direct ceasefire, but no moves have been made. In recent weeks, analysts warned of a possible full-scale | |
Oil Demand Boosted By Highest Number Of Flights Since COVID StartedThe number of commercial flights looks to have hit a post-pandemic high in the past days, outstripping the previous high from Christmas travel and potentially boding well for jet fuel demand going forward. According to global flight tracking service Flightradar24, as reported by Bloomberg News Chief Energy Correspondent Javier Blas, the 7-day rolling average of the number of flights tracked by Flightradar24 hit the highest on Wednesday since the start of the pandemic. Flightradar24 tracked a total of 77,708 flightsboth passenger and | |
Bush, Obama, Or Trump: Who Was Best From Gasoline Prices?Last week I filled up with gasoline, and the price was over $3.00 a gallon. Its been a long time since I paid that much for gasoline. In fact, I checked the data at the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to see the last time weekly gasoline prices were above $3.00/gal. It was in May 2018, during President Trumps second year in office. In the previous two articles, I addressed some beliefs relating to presidents and gasoline prices. One of the strongest current beliefs is that President Trump came into office and took decisive | |
Biden Administration Studies If EVs Can Enter Biofuel Credit ProgramThe U.S. Administration has asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give an opinion on whether charging electric vehicles with renewable biogas could become part of the biofuel credits program, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources with knowledge of the plans. Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in the United States, oil refiners are required to blend growing amounts of renewable fuels into gasoline and diesel. Refiners that dont have the infrastructure to blend biofuels must purchase tradeable blending credits known | |
Europe Looks To Stock Up On Natural Gas This SummerHarsh winters are always bad news for energy consumers. But they are good news for those that produce the energy that consumers use. This winter has been no exception: harsh weather across Europe has emptied the continents gas storage, and now exporters from around the world are preparing to respond to the rising demand. Bloomberg reports that Europes natural gas inventories are about 25 billion cubic meters below the levels from this time last year. This amount, according to the report, is equal to about a third of Germanys | |
The 2 Nations Driving The Recovery In Offshore OilOffshore oil and gas drilling is set for a rebound this year following a major 2020 pullback when exploration and production companies deferred many activities due to the pandemic and the collapse in oil prices. Lower lifting and breakeven costs at the most prolific offshore oil regions off Brazil and Guyana are setting the stage for a rebound in offshore drilling in South America, which will be one of the main growth drivers of global offshore activity this year, analysts say. Drilling and well services spending in Latin America is | |
Extreme E: Your essential guide to all-new motorsport series live on Sky Sports ahead of first XPrixThe first-ever season of a unique, brand new motorsport, Extreme E, gets under way this weekend. | |
Here’s what it costs to work remotely in 4 global hotspotsWe break down what remote workers can expect to experience and how much they may pay to live in Bali, Barbados, Croatia and Jamaica. | |
Europe’s stumbling vaccine rollout provides a lesson in EU politicsThe European Union has had a bumpy Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Here is what happened. | |
India’s Covid-19 cases are rising again. One state is getting hit especially hardMaharashtra accounted for more than half of all the cases reported in India over a seven-day period beginning March 24, according to government data. | |
Micron, QuantumScape and Hyzon Motors CEOs react to Biden’s plans for infrastructureTheir appearances came a day after President Biden unveiled an infrastructure bill that would bolster the U.S. electric vehicle and semiconductor industries. | |
Cramer’s week ahead: A ‘bad news is good news’ kind of marketCNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday he won’t be surprised if the March jobs report is soft. | |
Hotels are reaching the highest occupancy levels since the pandemic, Wyndham CEO saysThe hotel industry just had the highest occupancy levels in the past two weeks since the start of the pandemic last March, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts CEO said. | |
Here’s how you can be forced to get the Covid vaccine in the U.S.Thirty percent of U.S. adults still don’t want to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, but many of them may not have much of a choice. | |
Why Hollywood may be staying surprisingly quiet about Georgia’s new voting lawAnother contentious law proposed in Georgia is throwing Hollywood into turmoil as it mulls over how to respond. | |
National Football League agrees to data rights deal with Genius SportsThe NFL announced London-based data and technology firm Genius Sports would operate its rights, taking over for Sportradar. | |
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan and hundreds of Asian American business leaders pledge $10 million to AAPI causesThe pledge comes amid national attention on anti-Asian violence in the U.S. and fundraising efforts following the fatal Atlanta shootings. | |
CarMax ads featuring basketball star Sue Bird go viral, call attention to gender bias in sportsA series of CarMax ads featuring WNBA standout Sue Bird uses humor and misdirection to elevate female athletes. | |
United Airlines tells staff it’s hiring hundreds of pilots next month as carrier plans for a travel recoveryUnited Airlines plans to resume pilot hiring next month in a pandemic turning point. | |
Futures Explode Higher After Payrolls Beat, Yields & Dollar RiseFutures Explode Higher After Payrolls Beat, Yields & Dollar Rise The massive payrolls beat sparked an utter buying panic in US equity futures, with Small Caps massively outperforming… This move has erased all of the losses since March’s FOMC… Bond yields are also spiking with 10Y pushing up towards 1.70% (but the move is de minimus relative to stocks)… | |
Huge Beat: March Jobs Soar By 916K, Smashing ExpectationsHuge Beat: March Jobs Soar By 916K, Smashing Expectations It wasn’t quite the whisper number of 1 million jobs, but it was close: moments ago the BLS reported ago that in March the US added a total of 916K jobs, smashing expectations of 660K, nearly triple the original February print of 379K and was the strongest payrolls report since last August. Putting the beat in context, it was an almost 2-sigma beat to consensus estimates if not quite as high as some expectations such as BofA’s which saw a 1MM print today. | |
Cryptos Near $2 Trillion Market Cap As Bitcoin, Ethereum Surge Above Key LevelsCryptos Near $2 Trillion Market Cap As Bitcoin, Ethereum Surge Above Key Levels For the first time ever, Ethereum has topped $2,000, building on recent gains after Visa’s decision to conduct a stablecoin transaction on its legacy payment platform. As bitcoinist notes, the dollar-pegged token in concern was USDC, which functions atop the Ethereum blockchain. Source: Bloomberg Meanwhile, on April 1 (believing it was not the April Fools prank), billionaire investor Mark Cuban admitted that he owns many Ethereum tokens, praising its smart contracts features that would back the now-booming decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens sector.
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Futures Fly To All Time High Of 4,023 Ahead Of Blockbuster Payrolls ReportFutures Fly To All Time High Of 4,023 Ahead Of Blockbuster Payrolls Report While US cash markets are closed for Good Friday today, S&P futures continued their Thursday ramp higher, and after rising above 4,000 for the first time yesterday were last trading at 4,022, up 0.3%, ahead of the March payrolls data (preview here) expected to show the biggest increase in jobs in five months (and potentially much more). While cash bonds are open, most other markets were also closed for Good Friday. As previewed yesterday, if it is a big outlier, the jobs report will likely roil the bond market as trading volumes will be extreme thin during today’s holiday-shortened session and all trades will be focused in rates as Treasuries will be the only asset open (until noon) while the New York Stock Exchange is closed today. | |
US jobs creation surges in March as recovery gains steamUS employers add more than 900,000 jobs in March. as vaccinations spread and restrictions ease. | |
Boohoo to probe price differences for same clothingThe same coat sold by Coast is more expensive than Dorothy Perkins despite both being owned by Boohoo. | |
Covid 19: Pakistan among new countries added to England’s travel ban listTravel from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya or the Philippines will not be allowed from 9 April. | |
Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem files papers for Rs 450 cr IPOThe initial public offer (IPO) comprises fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs 225 crore and an offer of sale to the tune of Rs 225 crore by existing promoters and shareholders, according to draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). | |
Bitcoin volatility decline paves way for banks, JPMorgan saysThree-month realized volatility for the cryptocurrency has fallen to 86% after rising above 90% in February. The six-month measure appears to be stabilizing at around 73%. | |
Are steel stocks the best way to ride the commodities boom?A strong rebound in demand and supply cuts in China owing to environmental concerns are major factors keeping the steel prices buoyant. | |
Rail Week Ending 27 March 2021 – Improvement Continues As Comparisons Now To Pandemic Lockdown On Year AgoWritten by Steven Hansen Week 12 of 2021 shows the same week total rail traffic (from the same week one year ago) improved according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data. Total rail traffic has been mostly in contraction for over one year – and now is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic. | |
ETF Wrap: ETF Wrap: Putting your money where your mouth is, and we have a winner(s)!ETF Wrap is a briefing of what investors need to know about the exchange-traded fund sector, including exclusive commentary and interviews on the industry from MarketWatch | |
Economic Report: U.S. gains 916,000 new jobs in March and signals strengthening economyRestaurants and other businesses hired the most workers in March in seven months as the U.S. added 916,000 new jobs, signaling the economy is primed for a period of rapid expansion again. The official unemployment rate slipped to 6% from 6.2%. | |
The Big Number: Biden’s infrastructure plan calls for putting big money toward care for the agingPresident Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan aims to put $400 billion toward “expanding access to quality, affordable home- or community-based care for aging relatives and people with disabilities.” |
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