Written by Gary
Interest rates may need to rise modestly, says Janet Yellen then prompting a huge selloff (SPY -0.6%). DOW recovers from triple digit loss to squeak out a gain.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | The Nuclear Option For HydrogenHydrogen was thrust into the spotlight as a promising clean energy source by President George W. Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address. President Bush touted the potential for a hydrogen economy that would greatly slow the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since then, billions of dollars have been invested in an attempt to realize this vision. Hydrogens appeal is obvious. When hydrogen is combusted in an engine or consumed in a fuel cell, it combines with oxygen to form water. Thus, a car running on hydrogen |
| Oil Prices Hit 7-Week High On Demand OptimismChart of the Week- Air travel is on the rise in the U.S., indicating an uptick in jet fuel demand.- Jet fuel demand has averaged 1.2 mb/d over the past four weeks, up 200,000 bpd from March levels.- In March, 1.2 million passengers passed through U.S. airports per day on average. That jumped to 1.4 million passengers per day in April.Market Movers- Citibank added Valero (NYSE: VLO) to its focus list, raising its price target to $121 per share, up from $95.- |
| Mining Giant BHP Warns Against Chile’s Mining TaxThe worlds top miner BHP (ASX, LON, NYSE: BHP) said a proposed royalty on copper and lithium sales being discussed by lawmakers in Chile risks making international miners wary of investing in new projects or expanding existing mines to meetgrowing demand forboth metals.A congressional mining committee in the biggest copper-producing nationapproved last week a version of a bill that would charge higher rates at times of high prices for copper and lithium.The proposed law, firstintroduced in 2018 by opposition lawmakers, |
| OPEC Output Flat Ahead Of Planned 600,000 Bpd BoostOPEC kept its crude oil production essentially flat in April, just before the OPEC+ alliance is set to raise output by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May, a Bloomberg survey showed on Tuesday. The 13 members of OPEC saw their total production at 25.27 million bpd in April, which was around 50,000 bpd lower compared with March, as a reduction in oil supply from Libya, exempted from the cuts, were mostly offset by rising production from another OPEC member exempted from the OPEC+ pact, Iran, the Bloomberg survey found. Crude oil production |
| Explosion Of Violence Is A Major Threat To Colombia’s Oil IndustryOnce again, for the third time in less than two years, Colombia is saturated by protests sparked by President Ivan Duques proposed tax reforms which are aimed at stabilizing government finances. For at least four days protests raged across many of Colombias major cities with the most violent occurring in Santiago de Cali, the Andean countrys third-largest city. Protests are continuing, despite Duque announcing the withdrawal of the controversial tax bill and the resignation of Finance Minister Alberto Carrasquilla. This is |
| APICORP: Energy Investment In MENA Set To Top $800 Billion By 2025Energy investments in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are set to exceed $805 billion over the next five years, according to Saudi Arabias Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation. This is $13 billion more than the energy investments APICORP estimated will flow into MENA between 2021 and 2025 in its previous five-year outlook, published in 2020. The company based its updated forecast on four things. First, there is renewed optimism about the global economy. Second, APICORP, like most other forecasters, expects a boost in energy demand stemming |
| Gary Vaynerchuk: These three social platforms are a ‘requirement’ for small businesses to succeedAs small businesses prepare for a reopening boom, serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk says that ad spending on these three social media platforms are paramount. |
| ‘Shark Tank’s Robert Herjavec: The biggest fear-based risk business owners face right nowRobert Herjavec, ‘Shark Tank’ co-host, says businesses that survived Covid now need to trade the past year’s fear and uncertainty for a new emotional risk. |
| Still missing a stimulus check? What to know about claiming the fundsIt’s not too late to claim money you’re missing from any of the three stimulus checks the government has issued since the Covid-19 pandemic began. |
| Gap to sell its Intermix business to PE firm Altamont Capital PartnersGap said Tuesday it agreed to sell its Intermix designer clothing brand to the private equity firm Altamont Capital Partners. |
| Office return-to-work plans could make or break some restaurants’ businessFor local restaurants, employers’ decisions on how to return to work could have an outsized impact on their business. |
| Biden’s new Covid vaccination goal is for 70% of adults to have at least one shot by July 4Biden’s announcement came two months out from the Fourth of July, a date the White House hopes will mark a turning point in the coronavirus pandemic. |
| The Mega Millions jackpot is $345 million. Here are tips for handling the windfall if you winThere are some key things that experts say jackpot winners need to consider before doing much of anything. |
| Pfizer scientist expects elderly, people with underlying conditions to be first to get Covid vaccine booster shotsMikael Dolsten, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, said it makes sense to start with those most susceptible to Covid. |
| Skittles owner sues THC-laced copycat Zkittlez for trademark infringementMars Wrigley, owner of Skittles, filed a lawsuit against Terphogz, the maker of THC-laced candy Zkittlez, claiming copyright infringement. |
| NBA union executive leads talks to help players make more money from NFTsNational Basketball Players Association executive Joi Garner said she wants to maximize NBA players’ value in their agreement with NFT maker Dapper Labs. |
| Sotheby’s to accept bitcoin and ether for an upcoming auction of a Banksy paintingSotheby’s is partnering with Coinbase to accept bitcoin and ether as payment options in an upcoming auction of a Banksy painting. |
| How small and scrappy Mazda competes with the big automakersMazda’s sales are a fraction of those of the world’s largest automakers, but it has carved out a niche making cars for drivers and innovating in engines. |
| Pfizer plans to file for full FDA approval of Covid vaccine at the end of this monthIn its earnings report, Pfizer reported $3.5 billion in first-quarter sales of its Covid-19 vaccine. |
| May The Fourth Be Not With The DovesMay The Fourth Be Not With The Doves As many celebrate Star Wars Day, Janet Yellen stepped up to the plate to deliver, warning that “interest rates will have to rise to ensure the economy does not overheat.”
Bear in mind that money-markets have been discounting a rate-hike far sooner than The Fed’s dot-plot forecast would suggest for months…
Source: Bloomberg œEvery client call I’m on including the one I just finished … is talking about overheating, CNBC cited BackRock’s CIO Rick Rieder as saying. So this move today is more of a wake-up call for stocks than anything else. The Dow scrambled back to unchanged (King Kong Yellen ain’t got shit on me…). Nasdaq suffered its worst day since mid-March and is down 5 of the last 6 days… |
| “You’ll Never Be White” – Black Teacher’s Racist Rant Highlights Need To Equip All Officers With Body Cameras“You’ll Never Be White” – Black Teacher’s Racist Rant Highlights Need To Equip All Officers With Body Cameras Authored by Jonathan Turley, For years, I and others have argued for body camera (and police interrogation cameras) to be used in every jurisdiction. Despite the obvious value of such cameras, jurisdictions like Los Angeles County have resisted and still do not have this basic protection for both officers and citizens alike. Likewise, prosecutors in cities like Chicago long opposed the filming of officers by citizens. The recent controversy over a traffic stop in L.A. shows the importance of such body cameras. In the video, an officer pulls over a self-described teacher for using her cellphone while driving and is met with a barrage of racist slurs. The officer was only able to show his side in the encounter because he paid for his own camera. It is absurd that Los Angeles County forces officers to pay for their own cameras to guarantee a record of such encounters. In LA County, it is bring your own camera (BYOC) or engage in policing at your own risk. |
| Service Corp Soars To Record As Funeral Company Sees Surge In DeathsService Corp Soars To Record As Funeral Company Sees Surge In Deaths While most Americans have suffered amid the dreadful misery of COVID’s impact (and the policymakers’ responses), there is one group that is benefiting… albeit somewhat morosely. Service Corp. International surged almost 5% to a new record high this morning after the funeral and cemetery services company announced a big beat on earnings and raised its 2021 outlook. Both funeral and cemetery segments saw better-than-expected revenue growth on strong pre-need sales, while gross margins also beat expectations on strong cost management and higher volumes, according to Raymond James analyst John W. Ransom.
Source: Bloomberg Service Corp’s Statement:
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| “Use It Or Lose It” – New White House Policy Pressures States To Ensure Vaccine Adoption“Use It Or Lose It” – New White House Policy Pressures States To Ensure Vaccine Adoption As states resort to cash rewards and other tactics to try and encourage reluctant (or just plain lazy) adults to get their COVID-19 jabs, the White House on Tuesday just upped the pressure, warning the (mostly red) states that have lagged in the vaccine rollout in recent weeks that the federal government will start allocating unordered vaccines to other states. The Washington Post described the change in policy as “the most significant shift in domestic vaccine distribution” since Biden took office, and “part of an effort to account” for flagging demand in parts of the country.
According to the new plan, each state’s share of the total US adult population will still determine weekly allocations. But instead of allowing unordered doses to carry over week-to-week, the White House will instead steer untapped vaccines into a federal bank available to states where demand continues to outstrip supply. Those states will be able to order up to 50% above their weekly allocation. … |
| Pfizer expects Covid vaccine demand for yearsThe US drugs giant says demand for the vaccine is likely to be “durable” in a similar way to flu jabs. |
| Cleaner’s angry resignation note sparks flood of supportA cleaner for HSBC bank walked out after 35 years, leaving a note that has gone viral on Twitter. |
| Odeon to reopen most cinemas in May with new safety measures in placeFollowing rival Cineworld, Odeon plans to reopen sites with new safety measures in place. |
| Warren Buffett’s ESG snub risks alienating Wall StreetBuffett and his board opposed two shareholder resolutions at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting last week that called for annual reports on how its companies are responding to the challenge of climate change, as well as reports on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. |
| RBI intervenes to stem surging forwards premiumsThe central bank is said to have intervened through some state-run banks that brought down the cost of covering currency exposure across maturities, traders said. |
| Interest rates may need to rise modestly, says Janet Yellen“It may be that interest rates will have to rise somewhat to make sure that our economy doesn’t overheat, even though the additional spending is relatively small relative to the size of the economy,” she said in taped remarks to a virtual event. |
| March 2021 Headline Manufacturing New Orders ImproveWritten by Steven Hansen
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| : An environmentally friendly diamond is forever? Around $350 will buy you Pandora’s new lab-grown jewelPandora has said that it will stop selling mined diamonds and switch to affordable, lab-grown gems as part of a broader focus on sustainability. |
| The Margin: Bill and Melinda Gates’ divorce was a predictable market phenomenon and bullish for GameStop ¦we can explainA Reddit theory from March appearing to at least partially predict high-wealth divorces has retail investors psyched about their favorite meme stock. |
| : In about-face, Biden lifts refugee cap to 62,500President Joe Biden said on Monday that he would raise the U.S. refugee admission cap to 62,500 this fiscal year. |
US Census says manufacturing new orders improved month-over-month with unfilled orders again improving. Our analysis shows the rolling averages improved and remain in expansion.Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
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