Written by Gary
Oil prices rise on expectations of a strong economic recovery (SPY +0.1%). Biggest midday movers: Tesla, Nuance Communications, Uber. Amazon launches new food brand, Aplenty.
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. | |
| Morgan Stanley: Oil Prices Stuck In $60 Range This SummerOil prices will likely be stuck in the $65-$70 range this summer, Morgan Stanley says in a new note, tempering its previous forecast for $70 oil with temporary overshoots because of rising U.S. drilling activity and the potential return of Iranian exports. Although some supportive factors for oil prices are still in place, the recovery of U.S. drilling activity and the return of Iranian oil barrels are two headwinds that are appearing to take the steam out of this recovery, Morgan Stanley said, as quoted by Reuters U.S. energy editor |
| Aramco To Sell Pipeline Stake To EIG For $12 BillionSaudi Aramco has reached an agreement with a consortium led by U.S. EIG Global Energy Partners to sell it a 49-percent stake in Aramco Oil Pipelines Co. Aramco Oil Pipelines Co. is a new business entity, formed to keepor tradethe rights to 25 years of payments of rates for crude transportation across Aramco’s pipeline network. According to EIG, as quoted by Bloomberg, the entity has an equity value of some $25 billion. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month Aramco was considering the stake sale, eyeing proceeds of between |
| Oil Prices Rise On Expectations Of A Strong Economic RecoveryOil prices rose early on Monday, with WTI Crude topping $60 a barrel for the first time in a week after the Fed chair Jerome Powell said that the outlook on the U.S. economy had “brightened substantially.” As of 9:32 a.m. EDT on Monday, WTI Crude prices were rising by 1.97 percent at $60.50, and Brent Crude was up 1.76 percent at $64.06. Oil prices were supported by Powell’s assessment that the U.S. economy is set for strong growth and job creation with vaccination rollouts and fiscal stimulus. A weaker U.S. dollar also added to investors’ appetite |
| Uganda, Tanzania Seal $3.5-Bln Oil Pipeline DealUganda, Tanzania, and two oil majors inked a deal for the construction of a $3.5-billion pipeline that will carry Ugandan oil to the Tanzanian coast, from where it will reach international markets. Reuters reports that the governments of the two countries signed the relevant agreements with French Total and Chinese CNOOC, which are operators of Ugandas oilfields, after they bought them from Tullow Oil last year. The East-African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)project will be a 1,443-kilometer-long (897 miles) pipeline expected to transport |
| Houthi Rebels Strike Aramco Oil Facilities With Drones And MissilesThe Houthi rebels from Yemen today claimed yet another attack on Saudi Aramco facilities, involving 17 drones and two ballistic missiles. Reuters has reported the attack, according to the statement, targeted Aramco facilities in Jeddah and Jubail. The news comes just a day after Arab News reported that Saudi forces had intercepted three drones and one ballistic missile fired at two other locations, both in southern Saudi Arabia: Khamis Mushayt and Jazan. A spokesman for the Houthis said today that these two locations were targets of their latest |
| The $7 Trillion Reason Saudi Arabia Is Cutting Oil ProductionStrict 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 |
| Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Tesla, Nuance Communications, Uber and moreThese are the stocks posting the largest moves in midday trading. |
| Progressive group targets FedEx, Nike in campaign calling for higher corporate taxesA progressive organization is taking aim at FedEx and Nike in a new campaign to persuade Congress to raise the corporate tax rate. |
| Domino’s Pizza pilots driverless delivery with Nuro autonomous car in HoustonAn autonomous car made by Nuro will start delivering Domino’s pizzas in Houston this week as part of a pilot program. |
| WHO says Covid pandemic is growing ‘exponentially’ at more than 4.4 million new cases a weekMaria Van Kerkhove, the agency’s technical lead for Covid-19, said “we’re in a critical point of the pandemic.” |
| Will Smith, Antoine Fuqua will no longer film slave drama ‘Emancipation’ in Georgia“Emancipation,” a slave drama directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Will Smith, will no longer be filmed in Georgia due to the passage of a restrictive voting law. |
| Biden meets today with executives on chip shortage as U.S. auto industry feels the painBiden could try to pressure chipmakers; he’s also backed proposals for tax incentives to U.S. manufacturers to make the critical parts in America. |
| Dr. Scott Gottlieb believes Americans should have access to Covid ‘vaccine passports’Digital proof of Covid vaccinations could be helpful in navigating the pandemic in the months ahead, Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC. |
| Why Americans are eating more snacksFrito-Lay, one of the largest snack food makers, is benefiting as Americans stuck at home snack more. |
| U.S. hits daily vaccination record as case counts return to summer peaksThe U.S. reported 4.6 million vaccine doses administered on Saturday, a single-day record, as the country sees an average of 70,000 new Covid cases per day. |
| General Motors-backed Cruise is set to expand self-driving operations to Dubai in 2023Cruise 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 soarThe 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 treatmentRegeneron 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 JapanHideki Matsuyama overcame a nervy start and a pressure-induced back-nine stutter to become the first Japanese player to win a men’s major. |
| Is Biden’s Supreme Court Commission Packed To Fail?Is Biden’s Supreme Court Commission Packed To Fail? Authored by Jonathan Turley, Below is my column in The Hill on President Joe Biden’s Commission on the Supreme Court. While the composition of the makeup of the Commission is now known, the true purpose of the Commission remains in doubt. While the Commission is likely to make recommendations for œreforms, the genesis of the Commission was to consider the court packing scheme that was widely discussed during the 2020 presidential election. Biden precisely called court packing a œbone headed and œterrible, terrible idea. However, he was not willing to confront extreme voices in his own party and this Commission is the result. The hope of many in Washington is that this Commission will give the Administration cover in setting aside the demands to add new members in the short term to create a liberal majority on the Court. If this largely liberal commission recommends against court packing, Biden and the Democratic leadership could shrug and say œwell, we tried.  |
| Taiwan Records Largest Ever Incursion By Chinese Air Force With 25 Planes MondayTaiwan Records Largest Ever Incursion By Chinese Air Force With 25 Planes Monday China has continued its muscle-flexing exercises near Taiwan on Monday, this time sending an unprecedentedly large group of aircraft to breach Taiwan’s defense zone. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has announced that 25 Chinese Air Force planes entered its airspace, which included 18 fighter jets escorting four long-range bombers. It marks the largest ever Chinese aerial incursion since Taiwan began recording and publicly disclosing the data and follows last month’s 20-strong Chinese aircraft incursion.Â
As is typical in such aggressive Chinese maneuvers near the island, Taiwan said it scrambled its own jets while also issuing radio warnings, and further its military said “air defense missile systems deployed to monitor the activity.” It’s widely perceived that Beijing’s uptick in such flights, which have become ‘routine’ on a … |
| Stimulus And COVID-19 Attitudes Reflect Poor Math SkillsStimulus And COVID-19 Attitudes Reflect Poor Math Skills Authored by Bruce Wilds via Advancing Time blog, For all the noise made over Covid-19, many people might be surprised to find out that it was not the leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2020. It came in third, behind heart disease and cancer, according to a new CDC study. COVID-19 was listed as the underlying cause of 345,323 deaths during 2020 and was the third leading underlying cause of death, after heart disease (690,882 deaths) and cancer (598,932) That is reality in a nutshell.
So Much For The Idea We Are All Going to Die From Covid This data kinda puts into focus how warped we have become by the fear-mongering fostered upon us. it is difficult to argue with this data. It was lifted from the |
| Foreign Demand Jumps For 3Y Treasuries As Auction Blitz BeginsForeign Demand Jumps For 3Y Treasuries As Auction Blitz Begins It’s an extremely busy week – and day – for Treasury issuance, which sees a $58BN 3-year note sale at 11:30am ET, followed by $38BN 10-year reopening at 1pm ET; and concludes with $24BN 30-year reopening Tuesday in a dramatically abbreviated schedule. Moments ago, the first of today’s two auctions priced, and anyone who was expecting disappointment can exhale: the sale of $58BN in 3Y paper came out solid, pricing at 0.376%, stopping through the When Issued 0.378% by 0.2bps. The Bid to Cover was not quite as impressive, sliding to 2.318 from 2.689 and not only below the 6-auction average of 2.452 but the lowest since December’s 2.275. The internals were more impressive, with Indirect (foreign buyers) interest jumping and taking down 51.1%, up from 47.8% and above the recent average of 51.1. And with Directs taking 15.8%, or the lowest since January’s 14.6%, Dealers were left holding 33.1% of the final takedown, also in line with the six-auction average of 34.0%. Overall, a solid auction and one which set the stage for today’s much anticipated sale of $38BN in 10Y notes at 1pm. |
| Shoppers rush back as High Streets reopen in England and WalesFootfall doubles as queues form outside branches of Primark, JD Sports and TK Maxx. |
| Only two in five pubs in England reopenLess than half the pubs in England reopened on Monday, the industry says, and many face a fight for survival. |
| Microsoft makes $20bn bet on speech AI firm NuanceThe US tech giant is buying artificial intelligence firm Nuance, best known for developing Apple’s Siri. |
| TCS reports strong Q4 numbers: Will the momentum sustain?While its stock has gained over the past few days following the anticipation of robust quarterly performance and weakness in the rupee against the dollar, the latest quarterly numbers may help it sustain the current valuation. |
| How the RBI intervened to arrest rupee’s fallThe central bank, according to market sources, net sold an estimated $600 million in the exchange traded futures market to arrest the rupee’s free fall against the dollar amid apprehension that a renewed lockdown, triggered by the second wave of Coronavirus may scuttle a nascent economic recovery. |
| Sebi slaps Rs 25 crore fine on YES Bank in AT-1 bonds caseThe watchdog has imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Vivek Kanwar, who was the Managing Director of Yes Bank, Rs 50 lakh each on Ashish Nasa and Jasjit Singh Banga, who were part of the bank’s private wealth management team at the time of violation. |
| : ‘Racism is a public-health issue’: COVID-related restrictions impact some Americans more than othersEach 10% decrease in state-specific mobility was linked to higher odds of mental health problems, unemployment, food insufficiency, and class cancellations. |
| : MarketWatch’s money challenge week 2: Learn why we act the way we do around moneyHere are some small and manageable ways you can get a handle on your money and reach your financial goals this week |
| : Amazon launches new food brand, AplentyAmazon.com Inc. said Monday that it has launched a new private-label food brand, Aplenty, that will include snack items like pita chips, crackers and mini cookies, as well as condiments, frozen foods and pantry staples. |
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