Written by Gary
Stocks closed mostly lower Monday as earnings season looms later this week (SPY +0.04%). TCS reports strong Q4 numbers: Will the momentum sustain?
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Two Reasons Why Gasoline Prices Are SoaringU.S. national average gasoline prices have been rising in most weeks so far this year, and are expected to reach the highest summer prices since 2018. Most of the increase has been the result of rallying crude oil prices, the component with the highest weight in the way prices are calculated. Rising gasoline demand compared to the March and April lows of 2020 is also driving prices higher as more Americans travel with the warmer weather and vaccination rollouts. Another key component of the U.S. gasoline pricethe cost of producing | |
Offshore Oil Is Much Greener Than You May ThinkOffshore oil has built some well-deserved bad rap over the decades because of oil spills, and it has frequently been the specific target of protest action from environmentalists. But if were talking about emissions, the truth about offshore oil will shock some: theyre much lower than other forms of oil production. The fact may not be universal but, as per an Energy Intelligence report that quotes executives from Shell and BHP, it remains a fact for much of the industry. There are several reasons for that, and these commonly have to | |
Russia Tightens Its Grip On Europe’s Natural Gas MarketsA much-used proverb says: a good neighbor is better than a distant friend. Nowhere is it more suitable than the EUs position vis-a-vis its largest and most important neighbor: the Russian Federation. Current relations are the worst since the end of the Cold War. Despite the often rocky interaction, the European and Russian economies are highly complementary. This has led to a level of dependence that has become a problem for certain countries. The complementarity of the economies has been mutually advantageous for decades: Russia exports | |
Russia Raids Home Of Journalist For Investigating Prominent Oil CEORussias security services raided the home of investigative journalist Roman Anin and took him in for questioning last week for what his lawyer says is connected to a past investigation Anin has published on the powerful chief executive of Russias oil giant Rosneft, Igor Sechin. The Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia searched the home of Anin on Friday, took him in for questioning at which Anin refused to answer questions, and later released him. Anin, editor-in-chief of independent investigative media outlet iStories, | |
Iran Blames Israel For Sabotage Of Nuclear SiteIran is blaming Israel for what it says was sabotage on its Natanz nuclear site over the weekend and vowed revenge against the perpetrators. Iran uses the Natanz site for uranium enrichment and had inaugurated new equipment at the facility a day before the incident. The sites power network suffered an incident, Iran said on the next day, Sunday. After initially reporting that it was a power failure, Iran said later on Sunday that the site was a target of sabotage and blamed the bitter rival Israel for it. The | |
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 | |
White House using new methods to reach vaccine-hesitant Americans: NASCAR, Country Music TV and ‘Deadliest Catch’White House uses new methods to reach vaccine-hesitant Americans: NASCAR, Country Music TV and ‘The Deadliest Catch’ | |
How Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore’s $1.5 billion purchase of the Timberwolves can rebuild the team, boost diversity in NBAFormer MLB star Alex Rodriguez and ex-Walmart e-commerce CEO Marc Lore haveagreed to purchase the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves for approximately $1.5 billion. | |
Northrop Grumman robotic MEV-2 spacecraft, in a first, catches active Intelsat satelliteNorthrop Grumman and Intelsat accomplished a space industry first on Monday, with a small spacecraft docking with an active satellite in orbit. | |
CDC chief says Michigan should ‘shut things down,’ vaccinating alone won’t stop Covid surgeCDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that trying to fight Michigan’s Covid surge with vaccines alone would lead to disappointment. | |
More colleges make Covid vaccines mandatory for studentsA growing number of colleges and universities say students will be required to get the Covid vaccine before returning to campus in the fall. | |
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. | |
Bullard Bloviation Sinks Stocks After S&P Tops Year-End Analyst EstimatesBullard Bloviation Sinks Stocks After S&P Tops Year-End Analyst Estimates The S&P 500 surpassed its average 2021 year-end target price already… Source: Bloomberg But that seemed to be the limit… for now. US equity markets roller-coasted around since the futures opened. Futures leaked lower from Sunday’s open (after Friday’s manic meltup), after weekend news that a new study shows that the South African variant may evade protection from the Pfizer vaccine. Once Asia closed and Europe opened, stocks went bid, ramping back to unchanged by the US cash open, which was met with selling… then a big rebound again at the EU close which got us back to unchanged only for The Fed’s Jim Bullard to burst the brief bubble. However, echoing Friday’s malarkey, the last hour or so saw another panic-bid. Then with minutes to go some Ukraine/NATO headlines seemed to spook stocks a little. The S&P ended unchish, Small Caps were worst with Dow and Nasdaq modes … | |
Tracking The US Labor Market RecoveryTracking The US Labor Market Recovery By Variant Perception The US labour market has pockets of tightness. However, it’s unlikely we’ll see rapidly rising household inflation-expectations until we see higher low-skilled wage growth and rising ex-transfer incomes Our indicators show that at this relatively early stage in the recovery, the US labour market already has pockets of tightness and the huge amount of slack could be eroded more quickly than many expect given the strength of our US growth leading indicators. Last week’s NFIB surveys show that small businesses are finding it more difficult than ever to fill positions. Chart Source: Bloomberg, Macrobond and Variant Perception Job openings are back to pre-pandemic levels yet fewer people ar … | |
‘Is Biden Really In Charge?’ Asks A Skeptical Sen. Cornyn‘Is Biden Really In Charge?’ Asks A Skeptical Sen. Cornyn Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) asked on Monday if Joe Biden is “really in charge,” based on the President’s much lower profile than his predecessors, and obviously scripted appearances. In a Twitter thread citing a recent Politico article, Cornyn tweeted: “The president is not doing cable news interviews. Tweets from his account are limited and, when they come, unimaginably conventional. The public comments are largely scripted. Biden has opted for fewer sit down interviews with mainstream outlets and reporters,” adding “Invites the question: is he really in charge?”
Politico noted that White House deputy communications d … | |
Will US Shale Trigger Another Oil Price Crash?Will US Shale Trigger Another Oil Price Crash? Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com, 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 OPEC’s bet that U.S. shale’s œdrill, 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 growth’s sake would be a big mistake. Instead, they have vowed to return more cash to shareholders. U.S. oil production may never return to the weekly peaks of 13 million barrels per day (bpd) just before last year’s market crash. But it is already steadying at around 11 million bpd, which is 1 million bpd above the … | |
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. | |
How to gain from three sets of 10-year government bonds?Three 10-year sovereign papers, including the benchmark, are yielding spreads up to 49 basis points among themselves. That has created a window of opportunity for quant experts on bond desks. | |
Systemic risk in Indian banks to remain high: S&P“We forecast credit losses will decline to 2.2 per cent of total loans in the year ending March 31, 2022, and 1.8 per cent in fiscal 2023, after staying elevated at an average of 2.8 per cent in fiscals 2016-2021,” S&P added. | |
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. | |
: Asked about David Cameron, Gordon Brown says former prime ministers should never lobby for commercial purposesFormer U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown took aim at the man who defeated him, saying lobbying for any commercial purposes brings “public service into disrepute.” | |
: No vacancy? Here’s one fix for the affordable-housing shortageThe real estate market has two growing problems: a serious short-age of affordable housing, especially for renters, and hospitality and office buildings in distressed states because of COVID-19. Could the second challenge offer a solution for the first? | |
: Building the last mile: E-commerce powers industrial real estateConstruction and leasing to meet e-commerce fulfillment was in high demand in the past few years, but the acceleration due to the pandemic set unprecedented levels. |
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