12Apr2021 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Futures Slip After Large Caps Hit Fresh Records, DOW Down 47 Points, Nasdaq Down -0.3%, WTI Crude Above 60, Bitcoin Higher At 60300

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.

The $7 Trillion Reason Saudi Arabia Is Cutting Oil Production

Strict production discipline by OPEC and its partners is the #1 reason why oil prices have managed to stage a remarkable recovery and stay relatively high after plunging to historical lows in 2020. Early this month, oil prices reacted positively after OPEC and its non-OPEC partners, aka OPEC+, 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 350,000 coming in June and June and 450,000 barrels per

Qatar Could Throw A Wrench In Americas Ambitious LNG Plans

U.S. domestic demand for natural gas has been falling for a year now, according to EIA data. The authority expects demand will continue down this year as well because of cheap renewables and coal. And yet, production is on the risea combination that makes U.S. gas producers increasingly dependent on export markets. Reuters John Kemp wrote in a recent column that while U.S. natural gas production grew at some 4.3 percent between 2015 and 2020, domestic consumption of the commodity only increased at half that rate. Exportsvia

Teslas Biggest Competitor Is Ditching Nickel And Cobalt

Chinas BYD confirmed that it is going all-in on LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries, scrapping NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese) technology from its model line-up entirely. BYD, which is backed by legendary US investor Warren Buffet through a 21% stake, is the second-largest electric vehicle brand by volume behind Tesla and also supplies other carmakers with its battery technology. The Shenzen-based company is not only touting its Blade technology as a significantly cheaper option but is making much of the

How The U.S. Could Benefit From Australias Trade Spat With China

Coals days are numbered. The worlds dirtiest fossil fuel has long since fallen out of favor with climate-conscious policymakers, investors, and constituents alike, and even those who are less environmentally motivated have little reason to remain loyal to the emissions-heavy fuel source now that it has been more expensive than wind and solar in most of the world for years now. But even though coal is definitively in terminal decline, its denouement has been anything but linear. While countries have been making increasingly ambitious

Enis Latest Oil Discovery Could Be Big For Angola

Italian firm Eni has made a new light oil discovery off the coast of Angola after exploration activities recommenced following a year of pandemic restrictions. The discovery, made on Tuesday, is in Angolas deepwater Block 15/06. Eni believes the exploration well, drilled at 500 metres in the Cuica exploration prospect, could hold as much as 200 to 250 million barrels of oil and presents the second big oil discovery in the area. “The well-head location, intentionally placed close to East Hubs subsea network, will

Will U.S. Shale Trigger Another Oil Price Crash?

A year after the pandemic and the disagreement within OPEC+ over supply management crushed oil prices, the industry finds itself at an all-too-familiar crossroads: Will OPECs bet that U.S. shales drill, baby, drill is gone forever be right this time? Analysts seem to concur that this is a safe bet, at least for this year, as U.S. shale overall will keep the promised spending discipline. In a sign that spending beyond cash flows is a thing of the past, major listed producers now say that growing production for growths

General Motors-backed Cruise is set to expand self-driving operations to Dubai in 2023

Cruise has signed a deal with Dubai’s roads and transport authority to be the exclusive provider for robotaxis through 2029.

India overtakes Brazil to become the second-worst hit country as Covid cases soar

The South Asian nation reported more than 168,000 new cases over a 24-hour period on Monday, according to health ministry data.

Regeneron to request FDA clearance to use Covid antibody drug as a preventative treatment

Regeneron said a phase three clinical trial of the drug reduced the risk of symptomatic infections in individuals by 81%.

The Masters: Hideki Matsuyama survives late mistakes to win first men’s major for Japan

Hideki Matsuyama overcame a nervy start and a pressure-induced back-nine stutter to become the first Japanese player to win a men’s major.

Covid variant from South Africa was able to ‘break through’ Pfizer vaccine in Israeli study

The coronavirus variant first discovered in South Africa is able to evade some of the protection of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to an Israeli study.

Four ways consumer spending will change once more people are vaccinated

Even as store traffic and vaccinations pick up, the global health crisis will continue to shape consumers’ mindset and their purchases.

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ tops $60 million domestically, the best box office haul of the pandemic

“Godzilla vs. Kong” has topped $60 million at the domestic box office, making it the highest-grossing movie to be released during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday

U.S. stock futures slipped Monday after Friday’s rally on Covid reopening optimism lifted the Dow and S&P 500 to record closes.

U.S. states face steep decline in J&J Covid vaccine amid production problems at Baltimore plant

The government has allocated only 700,000 J&J shots to states next week, down from 4.9 million the week prior, according to data from the CDC.

Chipotle CFO says digital sales remain strong even as dining rooms reopen from Covid closures

“We’re going to end up being ahead of the game when [the] pandemic is fully behind us,” Chipotle CFO Jack Hartung told CNBC.

U.S. sees rising Covid cases associated with youth sports, CDC director says

The connection between youth sports and increased coronavirus cases comes as the highly infectious B.1.1.7 variant is now the most common strain in the U.S.

Can you mix and match Covid vaccines? Here’s what we know so far

The global medical community is considering whether it’s possible, and safe, to administer two different vaccine candidates to the same person.   Â

Asia is the world’s most expensive region for the wealthy. Here’s how 25 global cities stack up

Asia continues to be the most expensive place in the world to be rich, according to a new report, which saw the region’s resilience to Covid hold high prices steady.

Cryptos Reach New Record High Ahead Of Coinbase Listing

Cryptos Reach New Record High Ahead Of Coinbase Listing

Ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled direct listing of on Nasdaq, interest in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has soared (along with prices for the underlying cryptocurrencies).

The exchange, which didn’t exist a decade ago, is expected to go public this week at a staggering valuation of about $100 billion.

œCoinbase is one of the most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, Mira Christanto, an analyst who covers the company for Messari, said in a research report. œThe market has shown that investors are hungry for crypto exposure through equity markets.

And in a virtuous circle of FOMO, the crypto market has reached a new record high of almost $2.1 trillion.

Source

Helped overnight by a new surge in Bitcoin back above $61,000….

Ant Group To Become Holding Company Amid Beijing’s Ongoing Jack Ma Crackdown

Ant Group To Become Holding Company Amid Beijing’s Ongoing Jack Ma Crackdown

Just days after Jack Ma’s Alibaba was fined a record $2.8 billion as part of Beijing’s anti-trust crackdown of Jack Ma’s sprawling financial empire, on Monday Ant Group, the financial-technology giant controlled by billionaire Jack Ma whose IPO was ceremoniously yanked by Beijing last November, would apply to become a financial holding company overseen by China’s central bank, overhauling its business to adapt to a new era of tighter regulation for internet companies. The move would result in Ant Group being regulated more like a bank, directing an overhaul that was set in motion when the fintech giant’s record initial public offering was abruptly halted last year.

In a statement, the People’s Bank of China said Ant representatives were summoned to a meeting Monday with four regulatory agencies that also included the country’s banking, securities and foreign-exchange overseers, the WSJ reported. It said a “comprehensive, viable rectification plan for Ant has been formulated under the regulators’ supervision over the past few months.

The central bank ordered Ant to rectify its business in five areas, including eliminating unfair competition in its payments business, managing liquidity risks in its major fund products, ending a monopoly on information and improving corporate governance, accordi …

Futures, Global Stocks Hover At All Time High As Q1 Earnings Begin

Futures, Global Stocks Hover At All Time High As Q1 Earnings Begin

Global stock markets and US equity index futures dipped modestly with shares in Europe and Asia as traders weighed inflation risks, an uneven global recovery and the latest upbeat economic outlook from Washington. After sprinting to close at an all time high on optimism that vaccination programs and the easing of lockdowns to combat COVID-19 would bode well for an economic rebound, S&P 500 futures were cautious to start the new week as investors waited to see whether U.S. earnings would justify sky-high valuations, while a rally in bonds could be tested by what should be strong readings for U.S. inflation and another round of blockbuster retail sales this week.

MSCI’s All Country World Index was down 0.25% after the start of European trading, off Friday’s record high. The gauge’s price-to-earnings ratio is at its highest level since early 2010. At 07:30 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 43 points, or 0.13%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 5 points, or 0.13% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 38 points, or 0.27%.

Is Bitcoin Displacing Gold As An Inflation Hedge?

Is Bitcoin Displacing Gold As An Inflation Hedge?

Authored by John Authers via Bloomberg.com,

Silver and Gold, and Bitcoin

How to explain bitcoin? As I said a couple of weeks ago, it’s hard to dismiss the digital currency as a classic investment bubble because “ unlike any of the other historical manias which have seen similarly extreme gains in price “ it has formed a series of bubbles, which have burst and then reinflated. Bubbles aren’t supposed to do this: They are booms grown so large that they cannot gently deflate and must burst, never to return.

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Bitcoin has many of the symptoms of a speculative mania, led by the sheer excitement it inspires in its believers. But it’s hard to say what the digital asset’s value should be. Like gold, value is in the eye of the beholder. It has no intrinsic value, and while the same is true of banknotes, it has no government standing behind it.Â

Plenty of people are gr …

Shoppers rush back as High Streets reopen in England and Wales

Footfall more than trebles as queues form outside branches of Primark, JD Sports and TK Maxx.

Cyber-firm Darktrace eyes ‘£3bn’ London share listing

Boss Poppy Gustafsson says London is a “logical choice” despite Deliveroo’s flop flotation.

Covid lockdown eases: ‘Sense of celebration’ as pubs and shops reopen

Salons offered early-morning haircuts and pubs served midnight pints as England’s rules changed.

PSU bank stocks plunge up to 12% on asset quality woes

Nifty PSU Bank plunged 9.26 per cent led by Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank and Bank of India that dropped over 10 per cent each in a single session.

Upstox takes a leaf out of Tata, Bezos books as it eyes 300 million users

Upstox is cognisant of the fact that it does not want to blindly chase growth and success with a ‘whatever it takes’ mentality.

Infosys, HDFC, 7 other stocks that may help you make money in a few weeks

A record surge in Covid-19 infections is spooking Dalal Street once again amid weakness across global markets, as investors await the onset of the corporate earnings back home. Anticipating strong stock-specific action, analysts have made a few recommendations that they believe can help investors bag handsome returns in the coming weeks.

: Iran blames Israel for major nuclear plant explosion

The Iranian government alleged on Monday that Israel was behind a blackout that followed an explosion at the Natanz nuclear site, with foreign minister Javad Zarif threatening to œtake revenge against the Zionists.

Market Snapshot: Dow set to edge back to kick off earnings week of as Powell says U.S. economy at ‘inflection point’

U.S. stock-index futures on Monday head modestly lower in a week that will see the unofficial start of first-quarter earnings, headlined by some of the nation’s largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group.

: Brits bent on spending spree as pubs, shops, gyms and hairdressers reopen in England

Thousands queued up outside major retailers and gyms in the early hours of Monday as shops reopened in England.