Written by Gary
Stocks panic-bid off EU close after Biden-induced breakdown (SPY +0.6%). Amazon has made as much profit during pandemic as previous three years of earnings in total.
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Chinas Shale Industry Faces Numerous ChallengesChina has bet on developing its vast shale gas resources to boost its natural gas supply as demand surges. Despite recent shale production surprises to the upside, China still has several major challenges to overcome if it were to replicate, at least partially, the American shale boom. China is estimated to have a lot of shale gas resources, even higher than those in the United States. China actually has the highest technically recoverable shale gas resources in the world, as per EIA estimates. However, Beijing has struggled to develop those huge | |
When Will Oil Demand Fully Recover?As the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread last year, I developed an idea. I hypothesized that the pandemic would cause a permanent dent in oil demand. I covered that hypothesis in a couple of articles last year, includingWill Covid-19 Hasten The Demise Of Fossil Fuels? My reasoning was that the large scale move to telework would prove to be very popular, and some companies would simply continue to business that way. Meetings that required people to fly halfway across the country could easily be done by teleconferencing. Once people were forced | |
U.S. Oil Imports From OPEC Plunge To Lowest Since 1973The OPEC+ production cuts, lower overall oil demand, and declining demand for foreign-sourced lighter crudes resulted in 2020 in the lowest annual American crude oil imports from OPEC in data going back to 1973, the Energy Information Administrations This Week in Petroleum note showed. Last year, U.S. crude oil imports from OPEC producers averaged just 816,000 barrels per day (bpd), the EIA has estimated. The OPEC+ production cuts and the deliberate efforts from Saudi Arabia to reduce shipments to the most transparent market, | |
Rystad Energy: Indias COVID Crisis Could Result In Global Oil GlutIndias worsening COVID outbreak is set to disturb the nearly balanced global oil market, which will show a surplus of oil supply of as much as 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) next month amid a sizeable loss of demand from the worlds third-largest oil importer, Rystad Energy says. India has seen fuel demand decline in recent weeks as record-high new coronavirus infections are prompting lockdowns and curfews in many states in the country of 1.3 billion residents, limiting mobility and slowing business activity. Indias combined | |
Offshore Wind To See Spending Explode To $810 Billion This DecadeThe offshore wind industrys global installed capacity is set to exceed 250 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, driven by a surge in coming projects, a Rystad Energy report shows. The combined capital and operational expenditure for the decade is set to add up to an eye-popping $810 billion, signaling an increasing shift of investments from oil and gas to renewable energy technologies. The cumulative installed capacity of global offshore wind projects climbed to 33 GW in 2020 a significant achievement for an industry that has nearly tripled its | |
Oil Jumps To Six-Week High On Stronger Economic OutlookOil prices rose early on Thursday to their highest level in six weeks as a brighter outlook on the American economy and oil demand offset bearish demand prospects from the COVID crisis in India. As of 11:03 a.m. EDT on Thursday, WTI Crude was up 1.50 percent at $64.87, after touching $65 earlier in the day, and Brent Crude prices had risen 1.61 percent to cross the $68 a barrel mark, at $68.41. A weaker U.S. dollar today also added fuel to the oil rally this week, which had accelerated on Wednesday when the EIA reported a small inventory | |
Biden wants to raise $1.5 trillion by taxing the rich. Here’s howPresident Joe Biden’s American Families Plan would raise taxes on the top 1%. It would increase the levy on their capital gains and ordinary income. | |
Ford’s ‘confusing’ 2021 guidance is hurting its stock despite blowout first-quarter earningsThe negative reaction by investors following Ford’s first-quarter results is a mix of things related to the chip problem, including its 2021 guidance. | |
Royal Caribbean CEO, after months of cajoling, praises CDC’s new path to resume U.S. cruisesAfter months of pressuring the CDC, Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain said the agency’s new cruise Covid policies are “achievable, practical and safe.” | |
FDA to propose ban on menthol-flavored cigarettes, with industry likely to challengeThe Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it will propose a ban on menthol-flavored cigarettes in the United States. | |
Two takes on stimulus: Domino’s says it’s riding ‘the wave,’ McDonald’s says growth ‘way beyond checks’Domino’s Pizza and McDonald’s both reported that government stimulus checks boosted their first-quarter results. | |
Here’s how Emirates can bounce back from Covid-19In November, Emirates Group announced half-year net losses of $3.8 billion. | |
McDonald’s revenue tops pre-pandemic levels, fueled by the strong U.S. recoveryMcDonald’s beat Wall Street’s estimates for its quarterly earnings as net sales topped pre-pandemic levels. | |
Marlboro parent Altria revenue falls short as cigarette shipments decline, buys rest of On brandAltria’s first-quarter earnings declined as revenue fell short of estimates and cigarette shipments continue to decline. | |
Tyson Fury calls out UFC’s Francis Ngannou; Derek Chisora backed by Michael ‘Venom’ PageTyson Fury has exchanged challenges with Francis Ngannou, the UFC’s new heavyweight champion. | |
U.S. vaccination pace slides further from peak levels as Covid case counts decline in most statesThe rate of daily Covid vaccine shots in the U.S. is on the decline, but coronavirus cases are also dropping in most states. | |
Covid threat for Europe ‘remains present,’ WHO says despite falling infectionsIn Europe, the U.K. is steadily lifting its lockdown and its vaccination rollout continues at pace. | |
Global electric vehicle numbers set to hit 145 million by end of the decade, IEA saysMajor carmakers are looking to increase their electric vehicle offering. | |
Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Facebook, Ford, eBay and moreThese are the stocks posting the largest moves in midday trading. | |
Amazon Hits Record High On Blowout Earnings And GuidanceAmazon Hits Record High On Blowout Earnings And Guidance With the bulk of the FAAM(N)G stocks reporting somewhat mixed earnings so far, with NFLX and MSFT disappointing offset by solid results from Google and Apple (although one wouldn’t know it looking at today’s stock price), investors were keenly looking for a tiebreaker from today’s Amazon earnings, where according to Bloomberg, the biggest question for Amazon is how sustainable are the growth trends that boosted its performance during the pandemic. The Internet giant was one of the biggest beneficiaries of shifts in consumer and business behavior last year. Many consumers flocked to buy things online as they wanted to avoid infection at physical stores. Further, Amazon Web Services revenue soared on back of rising usage from Internet digital services – including remote-working software, videostreaming and gaming. But with the wider available of vaccines and as employees start to return to physical offices, the risk is some of these trends may start to reverse. Bloomberg also notes that investors will be also looking for any commentary on the future prospects for regulation and antitrust legislation. Questions aside, Amazon shares rallied in recent weeks, gaining about 18% off a year-to-date low in March. The stock has been approaching an intraday record of $3,552.25 that was set in early September. Shares rose about 0.3% Thursday ahead of results. * * * So with that in mind, how did Amazon do? Well, in the first quarter since Jeff Bezos announced his departure, we just had another blockbuster quarter for the online retailer which blew away consensus estimates and also guided solidly higher than expec … | |
Stocks Panic-Bid Off EU Close After Biden-Induced BreakdownStocks Panic-Bid Off EU Close After Biden-Induced Breakdown After solid gains overnight building on the FB and AAPL earnings beats (understatement) but a disappointing miss on GDP (bear in mind that jobless were basically flat and pending home sales also disappointed), everything went to shit as US cash markets opened and stocks puked below pre-FOMC lows. Then that selling was exaggerated when the Biden admin said they would like all gig workers to be employees (whether they like it or not), which sparked another big puke. The European close appeared to stall the selling and dip-buyers rushed in to lift everything back into the green in one-trade. And then, around 1500ET, it all started to slide again, but that didn’t last… The S&P 500 broke above the psychologically important 4200 level, then plunged to a crucial support level 4170 (vol trigger) and ripped back before fading in the end to close above 4200 at a new record high… | |
A Simple Question Going Unanswered About COVID VaccinesA Simple Question Going Unanswered About COVID Vaccines Authored by Mark Glennon via Wirepoints.org,
Think about that quote above. It’s posted on the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health website. Yet extensive limitations or recommended restrictions remain for vaccinated people, from the Center for Disease Control and many state or local health authorities. Why? Why are there any remaining restrictions on vaccinated people if they can’t get infected or spread the virus? | |
NYC Lost $1.2 Billion In Tax Revenue As Tourism Plunged 73% During PandemicNYC Lost $1.2 Billion In Tax Revenue As Tourism Plunged 73% During Pandemic As Europe rolls out a vaccine passport to try and support its tourism industry by any means necessary, New York City’s tourism industry is just showing its first signs of revival. And with those who choose not to get vaccinated restricted from traveling abroad for the foreseeable future, domestic destinations like the Big Apple are excited by the prospect of a bigger-than-expected rebound. On that note, Bloomberg reports that the city’s tourism industry is just showing its first signs of revival, according to a report from the state Comptroller’s Office. | |
Ryanair told to compensate passengers over strike cancellationsThe airline had said strike actions were “extraordinary circumstances”, so it did not have to pay compensation. | |
McDonald’s sales are back above pre-Covid levelsThe fast food giant saw sales and profits recover strongly in the first three months of the year. | |
US economy accelerates as recovery continuesThe economy grew strongly in the first quarter of 2021 helped by heavy government spending on Covid aid. | |
Companies look to cover currency risk as rupee set to turn volatile“Companies with overseas borrowings are increasingly covering their positions as any sudden drop in the rupee’s value will raise their repayment liabilities amid uncertain time,” said Bhaskar Panda, executive vice president at HDFC Bank. | |
The four-decade decline in global corporate tax ratesGovernments worldwide are desperate to raise extra revenue to rebuild their pandemic-ravaged economies and corporate taxation is becoming an obvious target after decades of decline. | |
Warren Buffett poised to weigh in on how Berkshire fares post-pandemicOn Saturday, Berkshire’s chief executive officer will address shareholders via video-conference to conform with health guidelines, scrapping for a second year an arena event in Omaha, Nebraska, that typically attracted thousands of adoring fans. | |
: How ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic Games will try to prove Apple is operating App Store as an illegal monopolyEpic Games Inc., the maker of “Fortnite,” has drawn a clear battle line as it prepares for a monumental court battle against Apple Inc.: It claims the iPhone maker abuses its control of the App Store for anticompetitive purposes. | |
: Amazon has made as much profit during pandemic as previous three years of earnings in totalThe pandemic has been very profitable for Amazon.com Inc. | |
: Apple will fight Epic antitrust suit by claiming ‘a carefully planned plot against Apple and Google’In defending itself against potentially the most consequential antitrust action in more than 20 years, Apple Inc. will attempt to paint opponent Epic Games Inc. as a company that grew into a videogame titan on the back of its App Store and is now picking on Apple while making money on multiple platforms. |
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