17May2021 Market Close: Wall Street Stock Markets End Lower Today But Off Low As Tech And Communication-services Stocks Slump, DOW Closes Down 54 Points, Nasdaq Down 0.4%, Gold 1866, Silver 28.18

Quick Rise In U.S. Natural Gas Prices To Boost Coal Demand

U.S. coal-fired power generation is set for a short-term recovery this summer as higher prices of coals main fossil fuel competitor, natural gas, will discourage parts of gas-fired electricity generation. Natural gas prices are rising this year, and traded above $3 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) early on Monday, compared to less than $2 / MMBtu at this time last year. Reduced natural gas production and record-high American exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have fueled a rally in natural gas prices since the start of the year.

Iran Is Planning An Oil Export Boost

Iran is preparing to boost production and exports of crude oil as talks on the nuclear deal with the United States continue to progress, government officials said, as quoted by Bloomberg. According to the report, Iran could return to a production level of 4 million bpd in as little as three months. Whats more, it could add to that figure millions of barrels of crude currently in storage, the report said. At the moment, the National Iranian Oil Company is preparing fields for greater production, even though a deal is not certain at all. Even

Australias Refiners Receive Government Aid To Boost Fuel Security

Australias government will provide US$1.5 billion (AUS$2 billion) in payments to its last two refiners to ensure that they stay open until 2030 and supply the country with domestically-produced fuels, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday. Australia will soon find itself with just two operating refineries, compared to eight operational sites 20 years ago. Due to its geographical position, Australia has lost the competition in the refining business as small and old refineries cannot rival the booming oil processing capacity in Asia,

Gulf Countries Are Rushing To Unload Non-Essential Oil Assets

For decades, evidence has been piling up which proves mankinds influence on climate change. Although the global economy remains largely driven by fossil fuels, the energy transition has gained traction in recent years. The changing tide can also be seen in countries that are heavily invested and dependent on the fossil fuel industry. This includes the hydrocarbon-rich Arab states of the Middle East that are gradually taking into account a carbon-free future. These states seem to realize that they wont be able to depend on their oil

Chinese Refiners Ramped Up Crude Processing In April

Chinas refinery throughput increased by 7.5 percent annually in April, signaling a sustained recovery in crude processing, although the volumes were lower than the record-highs seen last November, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics cited by Reuters. Last month, refinery throughputs averaged 14.09 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 13.1 million bpd in April of 2020 and slightly up from 14.08 million bpd processed in March 2021, when throughput jumped by 20 percent compared to March 2020. The average crude processing

Oil Markets Optimistic As Air Travel Starts To Recover

The number of global commercial flights has more than doubled since this time last year, while U.S. traveler throughput has jumped six-fold since May 2020, suggesting that global jet fuel demand is starting to lift off. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been screening more than 1 million passengers at American airports every day since the middle of March. Most recently, 1,850,531 passengers traveled on May 16, up from just 253,807 passengers on the same day last year. Yesterday’s figure is still off the 2,620,276 passengers

Biden warns states with low Covid vaccination rates may see cases rise again

Biden said it would be a needless “tragedy” to see Covid cases rise among those who do not get vaccinated.

All eyes on Walmart+: Investors want to know if service is creating more loyal customers

The big-box retailer will report its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday and share how sales have fared as Covid-19 cases fall in the U.S.

UAE is in talks with UK about ‘red list’ travel ban, should be off list ‘soon,’ Emirates chairman says

The U.K. Foreign Office currently “advises against all but essential travel to the whole of the UAE based on the current assessment of COVID-19 risks.”

New York to adopt new CDC mask guidance for fully vaccinated people Wednesday, Gov. Cuomo says

New York state will adopt the CDC’s new mask guidance for fully vaccinated people starting Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

U.S. Covid cases, deaths fall further amid easing of mask requirements

U.S. Covid case counts fell further over the weekend, with the nationwide average at about 33,200 new cases per day, the lowest level since late June.

WHO says pandemic is far from over despite high vaccination rates in some countries

The global pandemic isn’t over yet despite high Covid vaccination rates in some countries, the head of the World Health Organization warned.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb says ‘nobody is going to be wearing’ Covid masks by June

Former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday he expects by next month the prevalence of Covid is going to be “sufficiently low in this country.”

Target, CVS, Starbucks and other retailers ease mask mandates for fully vaccinated customers

Target, CVS and Starbucks joined a growing list of retailers and restaurants that will ease mask requirements for fully vaccinated customers.

Biden to say U.S. will send 20 million Pfizer, Moderna or J&J vaccine doses abroad by end of June

Those plans come after the White House said it would send 60 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine to countries in need

Michael Burry of ‘The Big Short’ reveals a $530 million bet against Tesla

Michael Burry is long puts against 800,100 shares of Tesla or $534 million by the end of the first quarter.

Long working hours are killing 745,000 people a year, research finds

Long working hours are killing hundreds of thousands of people every year, according to a study by the WHO and the International Labour Organization.

Summer travel is returning: Here’s who’s booking and where they’re going

Travel searches are surging, and bookings aren’t far behind. But it isn’t happening uniformly across continents. Here’s who is booking and where they’re going.

Tech firm Genius Sports wins data partnership with NBA’s Basketball Africa League

Genius Sports’ new deal with the NBA’s league in Africa could allow the sports data company to test second- and third-screen viewing presentations.

Gold Glows As Cryptos Collapse After Musknado; Dollar, Bonds, & Stocks Sink

Gold Glows As Cryptos Collapse After Musknado; Dollar, Bonds, & Stocks Sink

Black Gold and the barbarous relic were both bid today as crypto, stocks, bonds, and the dollar all slipped lower (and Lumber entered a bear market).

Big-Tech’s dead-cat-bounce from last week is over as it underperformed again today as Small Caps recovered from an early drubbing at the open to get back into the green (all reversing on a dime at around 1345ET…

Oil prices (WTI) jumped back above $66, but is testing a critical resistance (and though it’s a little tricky to see, that is 3 lower highs)…

Cuomo To Bag $5.1 Million For Pandemic Leadership Book

Cuomo To Bag $5.1 Million For Pandemic Leadership Book

New York Mayor Andrew Cuomo (D) will receive $5.1 million for his memoir detailing his ‘leadership’ during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the New York Times.

In addition to earning $3.12 million last year, state officials announced on Monday that his contract for the book also included another $2 million to be paid over the next two years – dwarfing his governor’s salary of $225,000.

The disclosure is a slap in the face for New York families who lost loved ones due to Cuomo’s nursing home debacle.

What’s more, the NY Gov. was negotiating his fat book deal while several of his aides were feeding deliberately false data to the DoJ and suppressing a Health Department report that threatened to disclose a far higher number of nursing home deaths, according to the

Megadrought Nightmare: No Water For Crops, Horrific Wildfires, Colossal Dust Storms And Draconian Water Restrictions

Megadrought Nightmare: No Water For Crops, Horrific Wildfires, Colossal Dust Storms And Draconian Water Restrictions

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

The megadrought that has almost the entire western half of the country in a death grip is starting to become extremely painful. In some areas, irrigation water is being totally cut off for farmers, and that is going to result in a totally lost year for many of them. Without water, you simply cannot grow crops, and irrigation water is the difference between success and failure for multitudes of western farmers. Scientists are also warning that this upcoming wildfire season could be even worse than last year due to the bone dry conditions. For me, it is difficult to imagine a wildfire season that is any worse than what we experienced in 2021. But this is what they are telling us. This megadrought has already been going on for many years, and experts are giving us very little hope that things will improve any time in the foreseeable future. In fact, CBS News is reporting that this current drought is in danger of evolving into a œpermanent drought ¦

Extreme drought across the Western U.S. has become as reliable as a summer afternoon thunderstorm in Florida. And news headlines about drought in the West can seem a bit like a broken record, with some scientists saying the region is on the precipice of permanent dr …

Lumbear Market

Lumbear Market

While some commodities have successfully halted last week’s post China-crackdown rout, such as copper and Iron Ore…

… others have been less lucky, most notably lumber which until last week had become the posted child of the current inflationary euphoria when something snapped, and after six consecutive days of declines, Lumber is now in a (Lum)bear market, down 23% in one week from its May 10 record high of $1,733.50 when it almost caught up to an ounce of gold, but not quite.

UK hit by Cadbury 99 Flake shortage

A surge in demand at ice cream van windows has led to a shortage of the crumbly chocolate treats.

Bill Gates left Microsoft amid affair investigation

Microsoft has said that it investigated Mr Gates’ attempt in 2000 “to initiate an intimate relationship”.

Lockdown easing fails to lure back shoppers

Despite UK hospitality venues trading more freely, fewer people have been visiting shops than last week.

Retail frenzy builds up in midcaps & smallcaps: Should you join the party?

While the demand outlook remains cloudy for the next 1-2 quarters due to the second wave of Covid-19, FIIs are pulling money out of largecaps, making them more volatile.

First-mover advantage is great, but could Bitcoin end up the MySpace way?

The basic gist is that while being the first mover is great, history shows that if something comes along that’s better, then that first-mover advantage can only get you so far.

Federal Bank acknowledges uncertainties despite drop in provisions

A 57 per cent fall in provisions year-on-year helped profits in a big way in the quarter ended March. CEO Shyam Srinivasan said the bank is ready to make more provisions if required during the current fiscal.

TaxWatch: American families will finally get their Child Tax Credit money ” here’s when the first payment will arrive

The payments will reach more than 65 million children, according to senior administration officials.

: Ryanair posts biggest annual loss in its 35-year history, but airline sees recovery ahead

Ryanair slumped to its biggest annual loss in its 35-year history, but it said it is likely to break even in the coming year, as COVID-19 vaccination programs help ease travel restrictions

: Britons’ freedom to hug overshadowed by spread of Indian strain of coronavirus

Concerned about the spread of an Indian variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on the population to exercise œa heavy dose of caution as restrictions ease further on Monday.