Written by Gary
New global COVID cases just hit a record high (SPY -0.7%). Netflix stock down over 10% in late trading after quarterly results. Energy and financial sectors slide.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Why Dogecoin Wont Fall Into Bitcoins Energy TrapDogecoin is ridiculous, and thats the whole point. The cryptocurrency that started out as a joke is now a meme come to very lucrative life, with nearly $50 billion worth of dogecoins in circulation today. In fact, the quirky cryptocurrency is red hot, and its value has skyrocketed more than 6,000% this year, making it the fifth most valuable cryptocurrency in the world. The joke started on December 6, 2013, when a pair of software engineers decided to lampoon bitcoin, which keeps itself and its creator shrouded in mystery and takes |
| India Sees Oil Production And Refinery Output Slump In 2020, 2021Due to the pandemic that shut down some oilfields, Indias oil production dropped by 5 percent year over year in the fiscal year between April 2020 and March 2021, while refiners processed 13 percent less crude because of the slump in fuel demand, according to government data cited by The Economic Times. Natural gas production in India also slumped, by 8 percent, in the fiscal year that has just ended, the data showed. According to the data from the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC), the volume of Indias crude oil imports |
| Oil Prices Down Despite Libya OutageHave you already subscribed to the Oilprice.com youtube channel? If not, sign up today to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the breaking news and educational videos produced every week.Chart of the Week- Colder-than-normal temperatures in January and February led to higher natural gas inventory withdrawals.- Gas storage at the end of heating season (March 31) totaled 1,778 Bcf, or 1.4% less than the five-year average.- Withdrawals were 10.6% larger than the five-year average.Market |
| Oil Traders Slash Positions In Crude Futures As COVID Infections SoarThe continuing increase in Covid-19 infections in many parts of the world deepened concern among traders about the future of demand, which led to an outflow from oil futures contracts, Reuters John Kemp wrote last week. Funds had cut their positions across the six major oil contracts for two out of the last three weeks, given the pandemic situation and the persistent uncertainty around jet fuel demand recovery. An earlier report from Reuters this month cited a refining executive as saying there were signs of a pick-up in jet fuel demand. |
| Arab Gulf Countries Announced $10 Billion In New Oil And Gas Projects In Q1The Arab Gulf countries announced as much as US$10 billion worth of new projects in the oil and gas sector during the first quarter of 2021, out of the total US$32.3 billion projects in all sectors, a new report showed this week. The oil and gas industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)added the second-largest value of projects in Q1 after the utility sector, according to the Projects Journal of construction intelligence provider BNC Network, cited |
| Crude Prices Remain Above $60 As Demand Outlook ImprovesCompared to April 2020 Black April, seen as one of the worst months for global oil markets, April 2021 tells a very different story. Fundamentals are improving and a newfound bullishness is returning to the markets. Last week, Brent closed at $66.77, up by 5.72% w/w, while WTI closed at $63.13, up by 6.04% w/w, and prices continued to gain momentum on Monday. Prices have been supported by multiple factors including a weaker dollar, strong economic data from China, an improved economic growth forecast from the IMF, and strong demand |
| Chelsea and Manchester City to leave European Super LeagueChelsea and Manchester City will leave the proposed Super League. |
| American Airlines to resume hiring pilots this fall as travel demand recoversAmerican said it will join United Airlines in resuming pilot hiring this year. |
| UIPath pursues one of the biggest software IPOs ever as investors rotate out of cloud stocksAt the top end of its range, UiPath would be valued at $28 billion, which is below the company’s $35 billion valuation in a February financing round. |
| Kobe Bryant’s estate may be quietly planning to launch its own brandA look at recent trademark filings by the Kobe Bryant estate shows something bigger may be in the works. |
| Congressional investigation launched into Emergent BioSolutions’ federal vaccine contractsCongressional investigators have requested top executives from Emergent BioSolutions testify before the Select Subcommittee. |
| Virgin Galactic shares drop after Cathie Wood’s new space ETF dumps nearly half its holdingVirgin Galactic shares fell in trading Tuesday after Ark Invest’s space exploration ETF sold nearly half its stake in the space tourism company. |
| EU regulator finds possible blood clot link with J&J vaccine, but says benefits outweigh risksThe European Medicines Agency said Tuesday the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine has possible links to rare blood clot incidents. |
| United Airlines tumbles 9% as business and international travel recovery still far offUnited expects to return to profitability even if long-haul international and business travel demand recover to levels 35% below 2019. |
| Covid cases, vaccinations remain elevated as U.S. nears Biden’s 200 million goalMore than 195 million shots have been reported administered since Biden’s inauguration. |
| Boeing raises mandatory retirement age for CEO Calhoun by 5 years, CFO to retireThe announcement comes as the company continues to struggle from the coronavirus pandemic and production issues. |
| GM’s new remote work plan for employees is ambiguous, yet surprisingly simple: ‘Work appropriately’The plan is a play off the company’s simplified dress code of “dress appropriately,” which GM CEO Mary Barra initiated when leading human resources. |
| Procter & Gamble will raise prices in September to fight higher commodity costsProcter & Gamble will hike prices on baby care, feminine care and adult incontinence products in September to respond to higher commodity costs. |
| NFL data rights owner Genius Sports closes $1.5 billion mergerGenius Sports enters the public market after finalizing one of the most sought-after data rights agreements in sports. |
| Netflix Implodes After Huge Subscriber Miss, Dismal GuidanceNetflix Implodes After Huge Subscriber Miss, Dismal Guidance Recent earnings reports from streaming giant Netflix have been a mixed bag: the stock tumbled three quarters ago when the company reported earnings for its first full “post Corona” quarter and warned that “growth is slowing”, before agaon plunging two quarters ago when the company reported a huge miss in both EPS and new subs, which at 2.2 million was tied for the worst quarter in the past five years, while also reporting a worse than expected outlook for the current quarter. This reversed last quarter when Netflix reported a blowout subscriber beat number and projected it would soon be cash flow positive, sending its stock soaring to an all time high – if only briefly before again reversing – which brings us to today, when investors are on edge today to find out not whether the company would beat or miss expectations, but rather if Netflix, remains a pandemic-proof company and if the slowdown Reed Hastings warned about is for real and has pulled forward even more subscribers due to covid? After all, Netflix has been warning for months that growth would slow in early 2021 compared to the phenomenal signup rate at the start of the pandemic lockdown last year. And yes, brace for a huge base effect hit: in the first quarter of 2020, the service added 15.8 million new customers, the most in its history, a number which is unlikely to be repeated ever again. To be sure, despite a series of mediocre earnings, the company has been riding a wave of optimism, its stock soaring in early 2020, putting it in … |
| Stocks Slump As World’s Biggest Asset Manager Warns “Market Feels A Bit Frothy”Stocks Slump As World’s Biggest Asset Manager Warns “Market Feels A Bit Frothy” Rick Rieder, CIO of Blackrock’s global fixed income and head of global allocation, warned the market “feels a bit frothy… last week was a bit eery for me.” While he explains that this is “the most exciting time” to be investing, he says the largest asset manager in the world has pulled back a little amid the ‘buy everything’ mentality (and the waves of fiscal and monetary policy and surges in economic data). The CNBC anchor desperately tried to spin all that as “Goldilocks” to which Rieder responded by asking ‘what happens after goldilocks?’ warning that “The Fed is overdoing it…” Why did equities rally? Why did Treasuries rally? Why did commodities rally? In the last 50 days around $700 billion has gone into the system from the Treasury… and add The Fed’s adding its liquidity too… “There’s too much liquidity… there is literally no value in the markets today.” Additionally today, the market seemed spooked by Modi’s comments as India’s COVID case and death count rises exponentially at a record pace and lockdowns are imminent… |
| Baltimore’s Iconic Domino Sugar Factory Engulfed In FlamesÂBaltimore’s Iconic Domino Sugar Factory Engulfed In Flames The iconic Domino Sugar refinery plant in Baltimore City appears to be engulfed in flames. Local news WBAL’s Taylor Grenda tweeted, “smoke, flames coming from near Dominos.”Â
The Baltimore Sun’s Justin Fenton tweets, “smoke coming from Domino Sugar factory.”Â
Video from the Inner Harbor area shows the massive flames erupting from the facility. Fenton tweets the fire is … |
| New Global Covid Cases Just Hit A Record HighNew Global Covid Cases Just Hit A Record High AS of today, roughly half a billion people on the planet – including roughly 60% of the population in the US (where 22m jabs were administered last week) and UK – have received at least one covid-19 jab, bring the world ever closer to herd immunity. In fact, according to Bank of America, which appears to have read our take from two weeks ago, the current pace of vaccinations would allow the US to fully vaccinate 70% of its adult population by mid June…. which may be a problem for the market as that’s the level at which Powell said the Fed will begin discussing the upcoming taper.
That’s the good news. The bad news, as delivered by Deutsche credit strategist Jim Reid, is that even with global vaccinations massively outpacing total declared covid cases since the pandemic started… |
| No new smart motorways without additional safety measuresAny motorway without a hard shoulder will need to have radar technology to detect stopped vehicles. |
| Asda takeover ‘could lead to higher petrol prices’Prices could rise in some parts of the UK after the supermarket’s takeover, the competition watchdog says. |
| M&S hits back at Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake revivalAldi brings back its controversial cake for charity, but M&S says it should use its own character. |
| Crypto inflows hit $4.9 billion as of mid-April: Coinshares dataInflows in the first two weeks of April hit about $400 million to $4.9 billion, or about 9% higher than an all-time high of $4.5 billion in the first three months of the year. |
| GE Power acquires 50% equity stake in NTPC GE Power ServicesEarlier this month, GE Power India’s board had approved the acquisition of 50 per cent stake in NTPC GE Power Services Pvt Ltd (NGSL) for Rs 7.2 crore. NTPC and GE Power Systems GmbH had 50 per cent stake each in NGSL. |
| Fed Chair Powell says won’t allow ‘substantial’ overshoot of inflation target“We do not seek inflation that substantially exceeds 2 percent, nor do we seek inflation above 2 percent for a prolonged period,” Powell told Senator Rick Scott in a five-page letter. |
| : Ahead of Biden’s climate summit, U.K. toughens its greenhouse gas emissions targetsPrime Minister Boris Johnson is poised to announce this week stricter greenhouse gas emissions targets for the next 15 years. |
| The Wall Street Journal: Rivals say Elon Musk’s satellite internet project is too riskyElon Musk’s internet satellite venture has spawned an unlikely alliance of competitors, regulators and experts who say the billionaire is building a near-monopoly that is threatening space safety and the environment. |
| The Ratings Game: ThredUp will appeal to middle-income consumers who will be spending money on clothing post-COVIDAnalysts are bullish about ThredUp, which is poised for growth in a hot resale market. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
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