Written by Gary
U.S. trade deficit widens 4.8% to record $71.1 billion and gold down 0.4% at $1,735.90/oz (SPY -0.2%). Biggest premarket movers: Beyond Meat, Nokia, Li Auto.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are mixed. The DAX is higher by 0.06%, while the CAC 40 is leading the FTSE 100 lower. They are down 0.43% and 0.07% respectively. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | UAE Presents Phenomenal Plan To Boost Its Position As Oil HubThree key developments were announced last week by the UAE in line with its role as a principal member of the U.S.s new Middle East strategy to counter Chinas dramatically increasing influence over the region: plans for a major economic expansion; plans to attract more oil trade into new contracts; and plans to counter Iranian threats to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. The first of these developments – announced by UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime |
| Irans Comeback To Oil Markets Unlikely To Cause Price CrashOil investors now have to contend with another wildcard: Iran soon returning to the oil markets. After a three-year layoff, Iran could be poised to officially rejoin the ranks of oil exporters as early as 2021. But does it really portend oil price doom? Not necessarily. Oil prices reacted positively after OPEC and its non-OPEC partners last week reached a favorable agreement to start gradually curbing production cuts beginning in May. Starting next month, OPEC+ will allow an additional 350,000 barrels per day to join the markets, with another |
| Why Has President Biden Sidelined Natural Gas?Build Back Better was the slogan that accompanied the Biden administrations initiative for economic recovery after the pandemic. The actual plan that the administration released was titled the American Jobs Plan, and according to some observers, it could threaten the long-term survival chances of the U.S. natural gas industry. On the campaign trail, Biden once inadvertently perhaps said he would ban fracking. This turned into a faux pas that took repeated assurances from the then-candidate that he would not ban |
| Should U.S. Oil Drillers Be Worried About Carbon Taxes?As governments are looking to put a price on carbon or raise current carbon taxes, the oil and gas industry globally is bracing for the impact of those levies on the economies of upstream projects. The oil industry itself, for the most part, supports carbon pricing as one of the most efficient ways to reduce emissions and fight climate changethe two main drags on the oil sector since the energy transition push became mainstream. Carbon pricing is a tangible way for governments to make polluters pay, and the net-zero |
| Oil Prices Under Pressure Following Large Gasoline BuildThe American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a modest draw in crude oil inventories of 2.618 million barrels for the week ending April 2. Analysts had predicted a smaller draw of 1.436 million barrels for the week. In the previous week, the API reported a build in oil inventories of 3.910 million barrels after analysts had predicted a much smaller build of 107,000 barrels. Plains All American tanks at main Cushing area as of April 2. After tanking on Monday, oil prices were trading up on the day prior to the data release as fears |
| Qatar Looks To Dominate This Very-Fast Growing Gas MarketQatar Petroleum found itself in the limelight of the LNG scene in 2021, having clinched two major deals with Pakistan and China. All the while media buzz around the supply deal with Sinopec has created ripples in the news, the contract with the Pakistan State Oil Company (PSOC) was absorbed by the media community as if that were the natural state of things. The Qatar Petroleum-PSOC deal is in many ways logical the two sides already had a 15-year supply deal, as a consequence of which Qatar has catapulted itself into the position of leading |
| 1 in 3 Covid survivors suffer neurological or mental disorders, study findsOne in three Covid-19 survivors has suffered a neurological or psychiatric disorder within six months of infection with the virus, a study has found. |
| Op-ed: Here’s a smart tax-planning strategy for bitcoin investorsHave bitcoin and want to liquidate, diversify, get a tax deduction, enjoy lifetime income and be generous? The answer may be a charitable remainder trust. |
| Op-ed: Stop saying Covid vaccine passport and learn from messaging missteps of the pastThe concept of a coronavirus vaccine passport pushes nearly every partisan political button for Republicans, according to Brian Castrucci and Frank Luntz. |
| More colleges move to make vaccines mandatory for studentsA growing number of colleges and universities will require students to get the Covid vaccine before returning to campus in the fall. |
| UPS agrees to buy electric vertical aircraft to speed up package delivery in small marketsUnited Parcel Service is taking delivery to new heights, literally, with the purchase of 10 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. |
| Beta hopes its electric vertical aircraft deal with UPS validates this new mode of transport“Nobody here is replacing a helicopter or a jet,” Beta founder Kyle Clark told CNBC. “We’re actually enabling entirely new routes and missions.” |
| Mall vacancies jump at fastest pace on record, hitting new high, as retailers cull store countsIf you noticed more darkened windows and empty stores at the mall recently, you’re not alone. |
| Target says it will spend more than $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025Target joins a growing list of retailers that have made commitments to work with more Black-owned businesses and carry more of their merchandise. |
| Ready to dress up again, teens turn to online brands Shein and Princess Polly, and thrift storesTeen spending is slowly ticking up from a two-decade low, according to Piper Sandler’s 41st biannual œTaking Stock with Teens report. |
| Some people with ‘long Covid’ say their symptoms ease after getting vaccineSome people who have lingering and often debilitating symptoms months after their initial bout of Covid say they are finding relief after getting vaccinated. |
| Vaccines are a national priority but not ‘silver bullets’ for reopening, Singapore minister saysSingapore needs a “suite of measures” beyond Covid vaccinations in order to open up its economy, said S Iswaran, minister for communications and information. |
| Goldman Sachs downgrades India’s growth forecast as Covid cases spikeThe investment bank on Tuesday lowered India’s growth forecast for the April-June quarter from 33.4% year-on-year previously, to 31.3%. |
| Want to book a private flight? There’s an app for thatNew apps allow flyers to book private jets ” or just a seat on one ” faster and easier than ever before. |
| 255 ‘Transgender’ Inmates Request Transfer To Women’s Prisons After California Passes New Law255 ‘Transgender’ Inmates Request Transfer To Women’s Prisons After California Passes New Law Authored by Andrea Widburg via AmericanThinker.com, For those who are wondering how the Democrats’ œEquality Act ” requiring people to be treated according to their gender identity — will operate if passed, we’re getting some foreshadowing from California. On January 1, a law went into effect holding that state prisoners must be housed in a facility consistent with their gender identity, regardless of their anatomy. To date, 261 prisoners ” 255 of them biological men ” have asked to be relocated. The reasoning behind the law wasn’t just the usual woke madness of treating transgenderism as if it’s not a sad case of body dysmorphia but is, instead, a magical change in sex. Instead, there was a humane goal: Men who identify as women, when placed in all-male prisons, are extremely vulnerable to prison rape. One man in Australia claimed that he was raped over 2,000 times which, if true, is appalling. However, when you place so-called transgender men in women’s prisons, there’s also a rape problem, with the men ” many of whom claim to be lesbians ” raping those women unlucky enough find themselves in the same cell, ward, or shower as one of these so-called œtransgender women. England has been engaged in this transgender experiment for a while and |
| Can The US Borrow Its Way To Higher Growth? (Spoiler: No)Can The US Borrow Its Way To Higher Growth? (Spoiler: No) In its chart of the day, DB credit strategist Stuart Sparks writes that history teaches us that although investments in productive capacity can in principle raise potential growth and r* in such a way that the debt incurred to finance fiscal stimulus is paid down over time (r-g |
| Futures Flat Ahead Of FOMC MinutesFutures Flat Ahead Of FOMC Minutes Global stocks were stuck in a holding pattern on Wednesday at record high levels, with US equity futures unchanged from Tuesday’s close, as investors awaited details of the latest FOMC minutes. The 10-year Treasury yield reversed an earlier loss, while the dollar paused after a four-day slide.
While COVID case numbers rose in several parts of the world and geopolitical tensions between China and Taiwan and between Russia and Ukraine ensured it was by no means a fairytale, markets had a Goldilocks feel again with MSCI’s 50-country world index grinding out a sixth day of gains. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 fluctuated after the underlying gauges retreated overnight as volume on U.S. exchanges dwindled below 10 billion shares for the first time this year. The IMF raised its global growth forecast to 6% this year from 5.5% on Tuesday, reflecting a rapidly brightening outlook for the U.S. economy. If realized, that would be the fastest the world economy has grown since 1976, albeit after the steepest annual dow … |
| JP Morgan’s Dimon Says Economic Boom Could Justify “Lofty” Stock Valuations By Lasting Through 2023JP Morgan’s Dimon Says Economic Boom Could Justify “Lofty” Stock Valuations By Lasting Through 2023 As his bank tries to offload big blocks of Manhattan real estate, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon proclaimed in his latest annual letter to shareholders, published Wednesday morning, that the economic expansion in the US could run through 2023, which would justify lofty equity valuations which recently pushed the S&P 500 north of 4K. And the CEO who once called for the US to raise taxes on the rich and adopt more explicitly socialist policies to expand access to higher education, housing and child care, praised the federal government’s response to the economic crisis caused by the COVID pandemic. Consumers who are now flush with savings will help drive an economic boom, Dimon wrote in his 34K-word missive. “I have little doubt that with excess savings, new stimulus savings, huge deficit spending, more QE, a new potential infrastructure bill, a successful vaccine and euphoria around the end of the pandemic, the US economy will likely boom,” Dimon said. “This boom could easily run into 2023 because all the spending could extend well into 2023.” “Ascertaining the quality of the government’s spending will take years, Dimon said, but he has little doubt that “spent wisely, it will create more economic opportunity for everyone,” he said. Although equity valuations are already “quite high”, Dimon aid a multi-year boom may help to justify current levels, because markets are pricing in … |
| Deliveroo shares up 2% on first full trading day as some riders go on strikeWednesday is the first day of trading for 70,000 retail investors, as 400 UK riders are expected to stage a strike. |
| Driving lessons to resume in England and Wales on 12 AprilLessons can start on 12 April and tests will return 10 days later, the transport secretary says. |
| ‘Our flight refund battle for mum who can barely walk’The family was sent a voucher, rather than the refund they wanted – until BBC News followed up the case. |
| India takes step down QE road with $14 billion bond-buy planThe debt purchases under the program in the secondary market will start from April 15, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said Wednesday. |
| RBI extends olive branch to bond mart with unfront purchase offerThe RBI Governor extended a peace gesture to the market by committing to conduct special government bond purchases of Rs 1 lakh crore upfront this quarter. |
| Rupee slumps to 4-month low of 74.16 against dollarAt the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.52 against the US dollar, then fell further to 74.16, registering a fall of 75 paise over its previous close. |
| : Toshiba considers $20 billion CVC buyout offer, but Japanese government would have to approve the dealToshiba shares jumped 18% on Wednesday before trading was suspended in Tokyo. |
| Futures Movers: Oil prices rise after industry data shows fall in crude inventoriesOil futures rise Wednesday, finding support after an industry trade group reports a fall in U.S. crude inventories. |
| Project Syndicate: The one word that explains why fears of inflation are off-baseMaximum employment doesn’t create inflation, especially in a globalized world. |
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