07May2021 Market Close: Oil And Gas Rig Count Climbs Amid Price Rally, WTI Crude At 64.84, Gold Surges 1831, Crypto Soars, Bitcoin 58000, Dogecoin Higher $0.64 As Dollar Crashes 90.20

Written by Gary

US jobs figures fall far short of expectations, ECRI’s WLI growth rate marginally improves (SPY +0.7%). DOW and SP 500 record new historic highs.

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	New Mexico Proposes Tougher Emission Rules For Oil & Gas Oil and gas companies in New Mexico may be in for a rude awakening, with a new law that would disallow any oil and gas company exemptions for reducing emissions. The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) proposes a new rule that would improve air quality by removing all current exemptions for oil and gas wells and enact stricter emissions standards for the oil and gas industry. The new proposed ozone rule, unveiled by the NMED this week, targets to reduce emissions of ozone precursor pollutantsvolatile organic compounds and oxides of
	Oil Markets Optimistic As Brent Flirts With $70 There was a slight pullback in oil prices following Wednesdays highs, but the rally is still very much on and bullish sentiment is palpable as summer driving season nears.For more great energy content, make sure you subscribe to the Oilprice youtube channel for breaking news and analysis.Friday, May 7th, 2021Brent tested $70 per barrel on Wednesday but fell back on Thursday. Oil had a great run, but it got a little bit ahead of itself, Phil Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures LLC in Chicago, told Bloomberg.
	Grid Operator Unwittingly Shut Down Natural Gas During Texas Freeze The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) tried to prevent blackouts during the winter storm by paying large industrial users to cut power consumption, but the program to save electricity actually ended up further eroding natural gas supply because some of those large users they shut down were natural gas infrastructure firms, an analysis by The Wall Street Journal has found. During the Texas Freeze in the middle of February, ERCOT activated its program to pay big industrial consumers to reduce the electricity they use in an attempt to
	Chinas Natural Gas Imports Surge As Economy Recovers Natural gas imports into China rose 22.4 percent on the year in the first four months of this year to 39.45 million metric tons, Natural Gas World reports, citing customs data. April natural gas imports alone were 31 percent higher on the year and 16.2 percent higher on March, the data also revealed. China has seen a surge in gas demand as its economy rebounded after the pandemic, with the upward trend likely to remain in place for the observable future, adding 10 percent this year alone, according to Chinese state energy majors PetroChina and
	Oil And Gas Rig Count Climbs Amid Price Rally Baker Hughes reported on Friday that the number of oil and gas rigs in the United States increased by 8 this week, bringing the total rig count to 448. In the week prior, the U.S. oil and gas rig count increased by 2. The total number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the U.S. is now 74 more than this time last year. The oil rig count increased by 2 this week, bringing the total oil rig count to 344 this week. The number of gas rigs increased by 7 to 103. The number of miscellaneous rigs decreased by 1. The EIAs estimate for oil production
	Do Mexico’s Energy Reforms Violate Its Trade Commitments? The American Petroleum Institute has called on the U.S. federal government to take note of Mexico’s energy industry reforms as spearheaded by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, saying recent changes to industry legislation are violations of Mexico’s trade commitments and also that they undermine investor confidence. Reuters cited a letter by the industry lobby to the federal government, in which it laid out its concerns about recent amendments voted by the Mexican parliament. “The common denominator of both laws is to hinder new private investment
	Pfizer CEO opposes U.S. call to waive Covid vaccine patents, cites manufacturing and safety issues Pfizer’s CEO said the waiver proposal “will unleashÂ a scramble for the critical inputs we require in order to make a safe and effective vaccine.’
	Automaker Stellantis expects employees to work remote most of the time under new plan When employees of Fiat Chrysler, now Stellantis, return to offices they’ll do so with a new company and a more flexible work schedule.
	Covid cases are falling in 30 states with a third of Americans fully vaccinated The rate of daily Covid infections is declining in 30 states and the District of Columbia and one-in-three Americans are now fully vaccinated.
	There are more reasons this year to check your homeowners insurance ahead of severe summer weather As weather-related events become more severe and costly, it’s important to make sure you have sufficient coverage if your home gets damaged or destroyed.
	WHO chief urges world to follow U.S. lead and support waiving Covid vaccine patent protections WHO chief says he urges other countries to follow the example of the U.S. on supporting vaccine patent waivers.
	UK reveals ‘green list’ of nations England residents can visit quarantine-free The U.K. has revealed the “green list” of countries that people in England will soon be allowed to visit without having to quarantine on their return.
	Why demand is surging beyond the U.S. in the multibillion-dollar armed drone market Companies in China, Turkey and Russia are increasingly producing armed drones, remotely piloted aircraft that can use guided weapons on and off the battlefield.
	Insurers brace for lawsuits as workers return to the office. Employers should avoid these pitfalls As businesses reopen offices, big insurers are bracing for an onslaught of claims related to employment and labor lawsuits.
	WHO approves Covid vaccine made by China’s Sinopharm for emergency use The new addition to the list could hasten efforts to control the spread of Covid, which has recently spread to record high infection levels in some countries.
	Southwest plans to start hiring flight attendants again as travel rebounds Southwest is the latest airline to announce plans to resume hiring as travel demand returns.
	CDC official who issued early warnings about the threat of Covid will resign Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the CDC health expert who sounded alarms about the threat posed to the U.S. by the coronavirus, is resigning.
	Labor secretary says pandemic is still weighing on economy but confidence is coming back Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said after April’s disappointing jobs report that in normal circumstances 266,000 jobs “is a good number.”
	AMC CEO Adam Aron raved about its new investors who are at odds with Wall Street AMC’s new investors are rallying around the stock, but Wall Street is far more bearish on the company’s performance.
	Gold Surges To Best Week In 6 Months, Crypto Soars As Dollar Crashes Gold Surges To Best Week In 6 Months, Crypto Soars As Dollar Crashes This was not the shitty jobs data you were looking for… These people think Americans are stupid. https://t.co/d7nqCFBqU1 ” Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) May 7, 2021 Or put another way… The instant reaction at the payrolls data was Small Caps puked and Big-Tech buying-panic… But by the end that difference has converged…
	Dramatic Footage Shows Deadly Crash Of Tesla Slamming Into Truck In China Dramatic Footage Shows Deadly Crash Of Tesla Slamming Into Truck In China The honeymoon between Tesla and China continue to sour as theÂ Global Times, China’s closest major media organization to the state, published a horrifying image of a Tesla vehicle rear-ending a truck in Shaoguan, South China’s Guangdong Province on Friday, “killing the electric car’s driver on the spot.”Â Tesla can’t catch a break in China. If state media wanted to protect the US car company, they would’ve ignored the report; instead, they’re drumming up bad press for Elon Musk. This follows CCTV broadcaster calling for anÂ investigationÂ last month into Tesla’s brake failures following other incidents where the electric cars have plowed into things.Â A #Tesla rear-ended a truck in Shaoguan, South China’s Guangd …
	Consumer Credit Explodes Higher As Americans Rediscover Their Love For Credit Cards Consumer Credit Explodes Higher As Americans Rediscover Their Love For Credit Cards Just yesterday, we showed that only a few quarters after banks effectively shut down, refusing to give out C&I, credit card or auto loans and mortgages to virtually anyone as a result of record Draconian credit standards, credit standards saw a complete U-turn and as of April, lending standards for credit cards and autos were the loosest on record. This was not lost on US consumers who after suffering through a miserable 12 months in which they dutifully repaid their credit card debt like total idiots who acted responsibly (instead of doing what US corporations are doing and loading up on even more debt to ensure they all get bailed out during the next crisis), in March aggregate consumer credit surged by $25.8BN, smashing expectations for the 2nd month in a row (
	It’s Not Just Soaring Inflation: Here Are The 4 Main Themes On This Quarter’s Earnings Calls It’s Not Just Soaring Inflation: Here Are The 4 Main Themes On This Quarter’s Earnings Calls By now everyone – except a very special group of idiots residing at the Marriner Eccles building and their media propaganda lackeys – is aware that inflation in the US is soaring to the point where some such as BofA, are speculating that the US is facing a period of “transitory” hyperinflation (if BofA is right it would be remarkable, as it would be the first ever case in human history of “transitory” hyperinflation that does not result in a monetary reset). Those most aware of the soaring prices – in addition to those who have to pay them – are corporations themselves, who as we profiled earlier this week, have been hit with surging input costs and have been quietly and not so quietly passing them on to consumers. As Goldman notes, rising prices and the implications of rising input costs for profit margins was among the primary topics of discussion in many of the just concluded Q1 earnings calls, including those of ALLE, AVY, CAG, CARR, CAT, CHD, CL, CLX, CMG, CTAS, F, FAST, FBHS, FCX, GPC, GWW, HAL, IEX, IP, KHC, KMB, KO, LKQ, LW, MAS, MHK, NWL, ORLY, PH, PNR, SHW, SNA, TAP, TFX, TXT, WHR. But it’s not just inflation. As Goldman writes in its latest quarterly Beige Book publication, in which the bank gathers anecdotal evidence of fundamental and thematic trends from the earnings transcripts of S&P 500 companies, there were three other themes in addition to inflation, namely the COVID recovery; buybacks; and labor trends (incidentally, of the companies that have already …
	Covid: Travel firms reject ‘overly cautious’ green list The UK will be ‘left behind’ if other countries open up travel more quickly, the industry says.
	US jobs figures fall far short of expectations Employers hired 266,000 people last month, figures show, despite a $1.9tn stimulus package.
	Virgin Media customers left waiting longest on phone Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile had the longest average customer call waiting times, Ofcom has found.
	Fed’s super-easy policy likely to stick after weak jobs report “I hoped to see a stronger report today,” Richmond Federal Reserve president Thomas Barkin said in webcast comments to a West Virginia business group.
	InterGlobe Aviation to explore options to increase liquidity According to a regulatory filing, the board “decided that the company should continue to explore all options to increase its liquidity, including by way of a QIP”.
	Crypto pros are getting tired of $79 billion Dogecoin joke The Dogecoin frenzy is reaching fever pitch as Elon Musk prepares to host Saturday Night Live with speculation he’s poised to talk up his beloved token.
	30 April 2021 ECRI’s WLI Growth Rate Marginally Improves Written by Steven Hansen ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward was little changed and remains well into expansion.
	March 2021 Headline Wholesale Sales Improved and Inventories Grow Written by Steven Hansen The headlines say wholesale sales were up month-over-month with inventory levels growing. Our analysis shows improvement in the rate of growth for the rolling averages.
	: Europe divided on merits of patent waivers for COVID-19 vaccines French President Emmanuel Macron rallied to the U.S. position and said he was œabsolutely in favor of patent waivers in the current context. Germany and Switzerland have voiced their opposition to the measure.
	Cryptos: Dogecoin price’s ‘make-or-break’ moment looms with Elon Musk set to host ‘Saturday Night Live’ Elon Musk is a rallying point for dogecoin holders on sites like Reddit, and his coming appearance on ‘SNL’ is a hotly anticipated moment inside and outside crypto markets, which had previously centered on bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptos in the world.
	: Under-40s to be offered alternative COVID-19 vaccines to AstraZeneca’s People under the age of 40 in the U.K. will be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, where possible, due to an “extremely small risk” from rare blood clots.