Written by Gary
G-20 nearer to a deal on minimum corporate tax rate (SPY +0.5%). Big oil set to return to profit in 2021 and the WEI index improved again.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Big Oil Set To Return To Profit In 2021Vitol, Shell and Exxon are all expected to announce profits in Q1 2021 following a turbulent 2020. The three companies are profiting from increased oil demand and a rise in oil prices, giving analysts hope for a strong year in oil and gas. Shell announced this week that it expects to make its first profit from oil production in the first quarter of 2021 since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company’s upstream unit, which mainly manages crude exploration and production, has gained from the surge in oil prices over the past |
| Investors Rush To Oil Stocks Despite ESG PushOil and gas companies have been in the crosshairs of public outrage for years now and the pressure has only been growing, with a new emerging breed of investors pressuring the industry into cleaning up its act. And yet, there seems to be plenty of the old sort of investors, too, the ones who go after returns and pile into oil and gas because they provide returns. In the year to date, the energy sector on the S&P 500 has gained 29.4 percent, Palash Ghosh reported for Forbes. This makes energy the best-performing sector on the S&P 500, followed |
| Ecuador’s Oil Industry Desperately Needs A MiracleOver the last decade it has been a wild ride for Ecuadors trouble-plagued but economically crucial oil industry. Former president Rafael Correas heavy-handed policies, centered around oil nationalism and greater state control of the industry, deterred foreign energy majors from investing in the impoverished Latin American nation. Those impacted the profitability of private energy companies and allegedly led to profiteering by state run energy enterprises and far-reaching corruption.Since assuming office in 2017 President Lenin Moreno |
| Oman’s State-owned Oil Company QQ Mulls IPOOman is looking at several options to plug the holes in its budget, according to anonymous sources that disclosed the information to Bloombergand its taking a hard look at state-energy company OQ to do that. Some of the options that the government of Oman is looking at is selling a stake in OQ, going the popular IPO route, or ditching some of the companys subsidiaries. State-energy firm OQ is a global integrated energy group that posted total revenues of nearly $20 billion in 2019. Its consoliated assets as of the end of 2019 |
| Oil Slips As COVID Resurgence Threatens Demand RecoveryOil prices dropped early on Thursday, following a record number of new daily COVID cases in major oil consumer India and a jump in U.S. gasoline stocks estimated by the EIA. As of 10:55 a.m. EDT on Thursday, WTI Crude prices were down 0.69 percent at $59.33 and Brent Crude was trading down 0.43 percent on the day at $62.87. Crude oil prices continued to reflect on Thursday a sizeable build in U.S. gasoline inventories reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday. The EIA reported a crude oil inventory draw of 3.5 million |
| Bidens Plan Looks To Eliminate $35 Billion Fossil Fuel SubsidiesThe $2-trillion infrastructure and tax plan of U.S. President Joe Biden proposes to eliminate tax preferences and implicit subsidies for fossil fuels that would boost government receipts by more than $35 billion over the next decade, the U.S. Treasury said in the Made in America Tax Plan Report this week. President Bidens plan on fixing the nations infrastructureunveiledlast week proposes to eliminate tax preferences for fossil fuels and make sure polluting industries pay for environmental clean up. The President |
| Rolls-Royce hits new sales record in the first quarter as the wealthy demand luxury carsThe luxury auto company delivered 1,380 cars in the first quarter, up 62% from the same time last year as the pandemic started hurting sales and manufacturing. |
| McDonald’s CEO made more than $10.8 million last yearMcDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski received more than $10.8 million in compensation last year, despite the company missing performance targets |
| Employers should incentivize, not mandate, workers to get Covid vaccines, says Wharton professorBusinesses should look to incentivize staff to get a Covid vaccine, rather than mandate it, Wharton School professor Nancy Rothbard told CNBC on Thursday. |
| Rocket Lab’s next launch will feature second booster recovery, aiming for reusability like SpaceXThe next mission for Rocket Lab will feature its second attempt to recover an Electron rocket booster after liftoff by splashing it down in the ocean. |
| New York’s wealthiest look for exits as state readies hefty tax increaseNew York’s business leaders are looking for exits as their taxes are set to be raised in the states upcoming budget. |
| Florida sues CDC to allow cruises to resume U.S. sailings, industry asks to be treated like airlinesFlorida’s governor said the state will sue the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding cruise ships be allowed to resume sailing immediately. |
| Netflix strikes deal for streaming rights to Sony films, including upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ moviesStarting next year, all movies released by Sony Pictures will stream exclusively on Netflix after their theatrical and home entertainment releases. |
| Warner Bros.’ blockbusters will debut in theaters first in 2022 before heading to streamingWarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar reaffirmed the studio’s commitment to movie theaters, saying blockbusters will debut in cinemas before heading to streaming. |
| Researchers identify five new cases of ‘double mutant’ Covid variant in CaliforniaThe double-mutant strain contains two key mutations, E484Q and L452R, that have been found separately in other variants but not together in a single strain. |
| The Masters: Five possible storylines to follow this week at Augusta NationalAhead of the 85th Masters at Augusta National, we look at five possible storylines to follow this week. |
| WWE is fully converted to Peacock, now it wants to make more contentThe WWE will host its WrestleMania 37 event exclusively on Peacock as part of a $1 billion rights agreement. |
| GM and Ford cutting production at several North American plants due to chip shortageFor months, GM has been prioritizing manufacturing its most profitable vehicles, such as full-size pickups, by cutting production of cars and crossovers. |
| As Americans start traveling again, airlines revive pilot hiring plansAirlines including United, JetBlue and Spirit have started or plan to resume hiring pilots. |
| Dollar Dump Sparks Bid For Bonds, Bullion, Bitcoin, & Big-TechDollar Dump Sparks Bid For Bonds, Bullion, Bitcoin, & Big-Tech The Dollar resumed its freefall today, back to pre-FOMC plunge levels today…
Source: Bloomberg …and it’s gone… The short-term rates market continued its dovish reversal, now expecting over 10bps less tightening by the end of 2022… |
| “This Is An Unprecedented, Bad Combo”: Why Some Traders See A “Shock” Growth Hit Dead Ahead“This Is An Unprecedented, Bad Combo”: Why Some Traders See A “Shock” Growth Hit Dead Ahead Over the weekend, we explained why both Goldman and JPM expect economic activity in April and May to top “Anything We’ll See In Our Careers”, on the back of four main factors: i) continued stimulus injections, ii) Â $1.5tn in ‘excess’ savings, which Goldman expects that to rise to about $2.4tn, or 11% of GDP, iii) a record share of respondents planning to purchase a home in the coming months, and iv)Â $4.44 trilion currently sitting in US money market fund.
But what happens then… Will the record stimulus tailwind – and soaring inpuct costs – become a margin-crushing headwind which will hammer the economy in the second half? As SocGen’s resident permabear Albert Edwards writes in a note today titled “Intoxicated by the fiscal package, investors can’t see what lies dead ahead”, if o … |
| Manhattan Condo Sales Increase For First Time In Four QuartersManhattan Condo Sales Increase For First Time In Four Quarters Spring is here, not just in terms of warmer temperatures but also in the Manhattan housing market. Vaccine rollouts are in full effect as people become more comfortable in returning to the borough. Greater housing affordability, coupled with a slump in housing prices and historically low mortgage rates, have increased sales. The latest edition of the Elliman Report shows housing sales in Manhattan rose in the first quarter of 2021, exceeding year-ago levels for the first time in four quarters. First-quarter sales were 2,457, which is an increase of 2.1% over the same period last year – when the pandemic paralyzed the metro area. In a prior report, Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel and author of the report, said the latest sales rebound should not be viewed as an “imminent recovery.” Sales in the borough increased last quarter for a multitude of reasons. From historically low mortgage rates to increased affordability due to rising inventory putting downward pressure on prices, those who once thought Manhattan was unaffordable are now searching for deals. Over the first quarter, the median condo sale price averaged $1,550,000, or about a 5% decline over the same period last year. |
| Watch: Diners Chant “Get Out” As Health Officials Try To Shut Down RestaurantWatch: Diners Chant “Get Out” As Health Officials Try To Shut Down Restaurant Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News, A video out of Vancouver shows diners chanting œget out! as health officials try to shut down a restaurant that opened in violation of COVID-19 lockdown laws.
The clip shows a pair of health officials talking to Corduroy Restaurant owner Rebecca Matthews as she tells the bureaucrats they are trespassing before asking them to leave. At first, the health officials refuse to leave but their behavior soon changes when the rest of the diners begin to chant œget out!
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| Prince William: Banks must do more to protect environmentThe Duke of Cambridge says investing in nature is a cost effective way of tackling global warming. |
| Greensill lobbying row: Rishi Sunak texts to David Cameron releasedLabour calls for an inquiry into “lucrative contracts” awarded to an employer of the former PM. |
| Wiltshire pub’s new chalet ‘breaks Covid rules’The bar, with pizza oven and TV, does not comply with outdoor shelter guidelines, a council says. |
| Shrem Group to raise Rs 4,100 cr via InvIT, SBI loanThe company will also raise about Rs 3,500 crore loan from the State Bank of India at a rate in the range of 7-7.35 percent with 15-year maturity as it seeks to repay existing high-cost debt. Final sanction for the loan is awaited. |
| First purchase of G-secs worth Rs 25,000 cr under G-SAP 1.0 on Apr 15: RBIAfter the MPC meeting on Wednesday, Governor Shaktikanta Das announced that the RBI will conduct open market purchase of government securities (G-secs) of Rs 1 lakh crore under the G-SAP 1.0 in the first quarter of this financial year. |
| Rakesh Jhunjhunwala may have placed a bid in Lodha Developers’ IPO: ETNow reportThe report comes at a time when the city-based real estate developer’s IPO has struggled for response from investors. |
| 03 April 2021 New York Fed Weekly Economic Index (WEI): Index Again ImprovedWritten by Steven Hansen The New York Fed’s Weekly Leading Index (WLI) improved mostly due to the economic sharp deterioration which occurred one year ago. This index recovery is improving based on the 13-week rolling average.
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| : Here’s what to know as Harbour Energy becomes London’s top independent oil-and-gas groupWith a market capitalization of nearly $5.50 billion, the company formed from the merger of Premier Oil and Chrysaor Holdings is now the largest independent oil-and-gas group in the British exchange. |
| : G-20 nearer to a deal on minimum corporate tax rateFinance ministers from the world’s most developed economies said on Wednesday they hoped to agree on an overhaul of the way multinationals are taxed as well as on a minimum tax rate by the end of the year. |
| : Here’s how the European Commission’s first female president was left unseated in TurkeyThree presidents but only two chairs meant Ursula von der Leyen was consigned to a sofa. |
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