26Apr2021 Market Close: April 2021 Texas Manufacturing Index Declines But Remains Strong, DOW Closes Down 62 Points, Nasdaq Up +0.9%, Gold Inching Higher 1781, Bitcoin 53700

Written by Gary

Royal Caribbean halts hiring in India, suspends Indian crew assignments (SPY +0.2%). Academy Awards ratings plummet to all-time low, U.S. 10-year Treasury yield pulls back from 1.60%.

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Many European Refiners May Not Survive COVID The coronavirus pandemic has shortened Europe’s energy transition. What was initially perceived as a gradual movement towards fewer emissions and greener generation has now become an unprecedently ambitious endeavor by the time Europe recovers from the COVID-triggered slump, its fuel demand will have already dropped to the point where some downstream assets are no longer needed. This process of refinery backsliding ultimately leads to the closure of less-efficient assets, be it due to lower refining complexity, geographic remoteness
	EU Admits It Can’t Go Net-Zero Without Natural Gas Last week saw some much-needed good news for natural gas. The European Union signaled that it would include natural gas in its energy plans for the future, emissions and all. The not-so-good news is that speaking of emissions, the EU might oblige suppliers to minimize these as much as is possible. In the early days of the rush to cut emissions, natural gas was hailed as what many called a bridge fuel, the bridge being between fossil fuels and renewable energy. Then, as the rush accelerated, the bridge-fuel status of natural gas began to be questioned,
	Canada Fights To Save Line 5 From Shutdown Canada has repeatedly been raising with top U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, the issue with Enbridge’s Line 5 which Michigan wants shut down, and considers intervening in the legal dispute between the pipeline operator and the U.S. state, sources with knowledge of Canada’s plans told Reuters. The Line 5 pipeline saga although not as spectacular as the killing of Keystone XL by President Biden or the troubles surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline is once again pitting Canada against the U.S. Michigan Governor Gretchen
	Saudi Arabia’s Shift To Renewables Could Save It $200 Billion Saudi Arabia could save some $200 billion over the next ten years by switching from crude oil to natural gas and renewables for electricity production, Reuters reports, citing the Kingdom’s Finance Minister. “Instead of buying fuel from the international markets at $60 and then selling it at $6 for Saudi utilities, or using some of our quota in OPEC to sell at $6, we’re going to actually displace at least 1 million barrels a day of oil equivalent in the next 10 years and replace it with gas and renewables,” Mohammed al-Jadaan said. OPEC’s largest
	Total Forced To Halt $20B Mozambique LNG Project After Militant Attacks Frances supermajor Total declared force majeure on Monday on its US$20-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique following recent Islamist militant attacks in towns close to the site. The project site is close to the town of Palma in the Cabo Delgado province, where Islamic State-affiliated militants have been active for a few years now. Last month Islamic State-affiliated militants raided the town of Palma in the Cabo Delgado province in attacks that have left dozens of people killed since March
	The Ugly Truth About Renewable Power When Texas literally froze this February, some blamed the blackouts that left millions of Texans in the dark on the wind turbines. Others blamed them on the gas-fired power plants. The truth isn’t so politically simple. In truth, both wind turbines and gas plants froze because of the abnormal weather. And when Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway said it had plans for additional generation capacity in Texas, it wasn’t talking about wind turbines. It was talking about more gas-fired power plants more gigawatts of them. While the Texas Freeze
	Royal Caribbean halts hiring in India, suspends Indian crew assignments as Covid cases surge Royal Caribbean Cruises is temporarily suspending all assignments for its staff from India and will halt hiring in the country.
	U.S. vaccination pace slows as average daily cases drop below 60,000 The rate of U.S. vaccinations continued to slide in recent days as average daily case counts dropped below 60,000 on Friday for the first time since March 25.
	Fauci says the U.S. should see a turning point in the pandemic ‘within a few weeks If the U.S. continues its pace of vaccinations, “literally within a few weeks, we’re going to start to see a turning around of the dynamics,” Fauci said.
	Tax flight was a myth, but Covid-19 may change that Tax increases in New York and New Jersey could encourage some wealthy individuals to leave to states with lower taxes.
	Academy Awards ratings plummet to all-time low as viewership drops below 10 million The 2021 Oscars ceremony was watched by the smallest audience the award show has ever received.
	U.S. to share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine with other countries The U.S. will share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine with other countries as cases continue to spike worldwide, a U.S. official said Monday.
	With Biden as an ally, United Auto Workers union prepares to fight for EV jobs The UAW plans to take advantage of Biden’s support for unions, including potentially organizing new U.S. plants for EV start-ups or even Tesla. Â
	Walmart says a rising number of women, people of color are in leadership roles The country’s largest retailer gave a progress update on its diversity and inclusion efforts in a report published on Monday.
	Shareholder campaign pushes Citigroup and others for worker representation on boards Citigroup is the latest company to face a shareholder vote on whether it should consider a non-management worker in its pool of board candidates.
	Rare Basquiat ‘skull’ painting could fetch more than $50 million at auction The expected value of the Jean-Michel Basquiat painting is a sign that the art market is flush with cash, and lofty prices are enticing sellers.
	Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Best Buy, Casper Sleep, Etsy and more These are the stocks posting the largest moves in midday trading.
	The Oscars were a well-intentioned mess that flopped despite an elite producing team The 93rd annual Academy Awards ceremony was expected to break the mold and shake things up, but turned out to be just like every other Oscars show before it.
	Biden administration set to relax outdoor mask guidance The CDC’s guidance now states that “masks may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others, or with people who live in your household.”
	Dollar Drop, Crypto Pop Reflects “Crazy People” Running The System Dollar Drop, Crypto Pop Reflects “Crazy People” Running The System The last few months have seen the dollar dive and crypto thrive… Source: Bloomberg And the last few days have been no different…
	Biden Picks Harris To Lead New Pro-Union Task Force Biden Picks Harris To Lead New Pro-Union Task Force With the success of “Nomadland” during last night’s Oscars Ceremony (which nobody watched), the depredations facing American workers at the hands of Amazon are back in the headlines. Just weeks after workers at the company’s Bessemer, Ala. fulfillment center, voted overwhelmingly against unionizing, the plant’s workers are suing the NLRB alleging that Amazon “sabotaged” the vote. As Democrats look to shore up organized labor, formerly a cornerstone of their political base, President Biden has just appointed VP Kamala Harris – who is also in charge of stage-managing the worsening border crisis on Biden’s behalf – to lead a new pro-union task force that the president will create with the stroke of a pen on Monday. Biden is expected to sign an executive order creating a task force to promote labor organizing, which Harris will then lead. The panel will have 180 days t …
	Stocks Just Suddenly Puked On Massive Volume… Stocks Just Suddenly Puked On Massive Volume… Shortly after the Census data was released, US equity markets puked… The S&P erased all post-open gains on massive volume… VIX spiked above 18 briefly…
	Census: TX Gains 2 House Seats, CA, NY Lose One As US Political Map Is Redrawn Census: TX Gains 2 House Seats, CA, NY Lose One As US Political Map Is Redrawn The first set of results from the 2020 census are in, and reveal that the red state of Texas is set to gain two House seats, while California and New York will each lose one. This will bring the red state of Texas to a total of 38 seats and 40 electoral college votes – the 2nd highest behind California. Also gaining seats are Colorado, Florida, Montana, Oregon and North Carolina, while states losing House seats also include Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The states which gained seats are largely those won by former President Donald Trump in 2020, while states which Biden won during the election are “losers” according to Bloomberg.
	Summer holiday demand shifts to autumn amid travel uncertainty Thomas Cook and Kuoni see autumn bookings surge as travellers defer summer breaks amid travel uncertainty.
	Shopping trips set to fuel an economic rebound Experts forecast faster growth because of the vaccine rollout and easing of lockdown restrictions.
	Abrdn: Standard Life Aberdeen vowel-less rebrand mocked The firm says the change will make its brand more “dynamic”, but some social media users do not agree.
	Will India Inc see rating downgrades on the back of localized lockdowns? While no immediate rating downgrades could happen, a lot of companies in hospitality, retail, travel & tourism, commercial real estate, and entertainment could see sharp downgrades.
	A timely ESG shot in the arm may support L&T’s stock On the business front, L&T’s order inflow picked up sharply in the second half of FY21 after a contraction in the first half.
	Arohan Financial Services, Dodla Dairy get Sebi’s go-ahead for IPO Sebi’s observation is very necessary for any company to launch public issues like initial public offer (IPO), follow-on public offer (FPO), and rights issue.
	Bond Report: U.S. 10-year Treasury yield pulls back from 1.60% in choppy session U.S. Treasury yields came off their highs on Monday as a resilient bond market weathered a bearish move earlier in the day.
	Capitol Report: New York, California set to lose House seats; Florida and Texas to gain after Census Bureau reveals 2020 counts The Census Bureau released the initial findings of its 2020 population count on Monday, and the data will lead to a recalculation of the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives apportioned to each state, which could upend the balance of power in Washington.
	: Some new investors see a ‘buying opportunity’ if Biden raises capital-gains taxes on millionaires ‘I look at something like this as an opportunity to buy and hold,’ said one millennial investor who’s on the lookout for a stock-market selloff if capital gains tax rates increase.