Written by Gary
SP 500 jumps for a second day, Nasdaq hits all-time high amid bitcoin’s comeback (SPY +0.5%). Stocks & bonds jump as Powell pontificates, cryptos dump’n’pump.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Oil Rally Unlikely To Be Derailed By Supply Side RisksDespite trading at above $74, Brent prices retreated following the comments made by the chairman of the Federal Reserve which gave a boost to the US dollar. The Federal Reserve seems to have realised that inflation levels may end up higher than previously anticipated, as shown by the historical lows of the bond yields, weakening US dollar, and significant rise in equity markets. The comments made last week, made by Jerome Powell suggested that inflation may not end up as being transitory and that the Fed, which is still concerned |
| BP Claims High Oil Prices Will Benefit Its StrategyHigh oil prices will benefit BPs strategy of reducing its exposure to oil and gas while simultaneously rewarding shareholders, chief executive Bernard Looney told Reuters on Tuesday. High oil prices are very good for our strategy and our shareholders will benefit from that, especially through our buyback programme, Looney said in an interview at the Reuters Events: Global Energy Transition conference. Since taking over from Bob Dudley as CEO at BP in early 2020, Looney has unveiled a strategy to make the UK-based supermajor |
| Oil Prices Fall As OPEC+ Looks To Boost ProductionOil prices soared on Monday as optimism around demand grew, but rumors that OPEC+ is considering boosting its oil production in August sent prices lower on Tuesday morning Chart of the Week – Coal stockpiles declined by 16 million tons in February 2021, the largest inventory decline since July 2011.- Typically, coal stocks decline in the summer months, when coal demand surges.- Rising natural gas prices in late 2020 and early 2021 have also increased coal demand, with coal generation up 16% |
| Engine No. 1 Reaches Beyond Exxon With New ETFActivist investor Engine No.1 will soon launch its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) as it extends its efforts to improve the environmental and social impacts of large U.S. corporations beyond supermajor ExxonMobil. Engine No.1s first ETF will be named Engine No. 1 Transform 500 ETF and will trade under the ticker VOTE, the activist investor said on Tuesday, nearly a month after winning three board seats at ExxonMobil demanding that the U.S. oil giant start preparing for creating long-term value in the energy transition. The ETF |
| Is The Green Hydrogen Hype Warranted?When you imagine a clean energy future, what does it look like? For most people, the idea conjures images of spinning fields of wind turbines and massive solar farms. But while wind and solar are excellent and increasingly efficient and affordable forms of clean energy production, they have their limitations. The first and most commonly known drawback to wind and solar is that these forms of energy production are variable, which is to say that they cant produce power inconsistent quantities around the block. Wind and solar power both |
| Iran Kickstarts Production At Giant Offshore OilfieldIran has started pumping oil at a giant new reservoir at the offshore Abuzar oilfield in the Gulf, Irans oil ministry news service Shana reported on Tuesday. The Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) announced it had achieved first oil from the Asmari reservoir of Abuzar oilfield, which is located southwest of the Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. The Asmari reservoir could produce between 6,000 bpd and 10,000 bpd of crude oil, with the drilling of five to eight wells, Javad Rostami, Head of Petroleum Engineering at IOOC, said. |
| Amazon and Walmart dominate apparel sales, but are after more fashion cloutThe two retail giants have been expanding beyond basics to add more fashion-forward options. |
| Eyeglass retailer Warby Parker confidentially files for initial public offeringEyeglass retailer Warby Parker said Tuesday it has confidentially filed for a stock market listing in the United States. |
| 3-D technology can help grow online home goods sales, Wayfair co-founder saysImagine one day you had a 3-D model of your home to make it easier to shop for furniture. Wayfair hopes that will become a reality someday. |
| ‘It’s out of control.’ Airlines, flight attendants want stiffer penalties for unruly passengersLawmakers and flight crews have become alarmed about a spike in disruptive and sometimes violent passengers on planes. |
| Fauci declares delta variant ‘greatest threat’ to the nation’s efforts to eliminate CovidDelta, first identified in India, now makes up about 20% of all new cases in the United States, up from 10% about two weeks ago, Fauci said. |
| Music venues and theaters are still waiting on government’s small businesses aidThe Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program got off to a glitchy start, and applicants say there continue to be problems. |
| Peloton reportedly venturing into wearables market with digital heart rate armbandPeloton is venturing into the wearables market by working on a digital heart rate armband, according to a Bloomberg News report. |
| Krispy Kreme looks to raise as much as $640 million through IPOKrispy Kreme is looking to raise between $560 million to $640 million through an initial public offering this year. |
| McDonald’s will launch its loyalty program nationwide in JulyMcDonald’s first-ever U.S. loyalty program will launch nationwide on July 8. |
| First day of Amazon Prime Day draws most online spending so far in 2021, Adobe saysThe first day of Amazon’s 48-hour Prime Day event is expected to have driven the most online sales in a 24-hour period so far this year, according to new data. |
| Tide partners with NASA to create detergent for astronauts and help save water on EarthTide to Go is going to outer space. Tide detergent is partnering with NASA to keep astronauts’ spacesuits clean, even if they travel to Mars. |
| Target unveils sustainability goals, pledging to keep its products out of landfills, create net-zero emissions by 2040Target said it is responding to growing consumer demand for more sustainable products and practices from companies. |
| Chipotle tweaks its loyalty program to offer more redemption optionsSince Chipotle Rewards debuted two years ago, it has added 22.9 million consumers to its ranks. |
| Stocks & Bonds Jump As Powell Pontificates, Cryptos Dump’n’PumpStocks & Bonds Jump As Powell Pontificates, Cryptos Dump’n’Pump US equity markets extended yesterday’s rational exuberance, accelerating higher as Powell faced Congressional hearings and promised ‘to the moon’ for everything (actually he pretty much said nothing…which is exactly what the market was hoping for). Interestingly, the moment Powell’s hearing ended, some selling arrived. Nasdaq outperformed on the day and the Dow lagged…
For context, here is the market’s performance since the FOMC statement hit last week. The Nasdaq is the leader with Dow and Small Caps underwater and S&P holding modest gains… |
| “Out Of Order!” Colorado Mayor Bans Pledge Of Allegiance, Then Snaps At Meeting Attendees Who Recite It Anyway“Out Of Order!” Colorado Mayor Bans Pledge Of Allegiance, Then Snaps At Meeting Attendees Who Recite It Anyway The Mayor of Silverton, Colorado snapped at attendees of a trustee meeting recited the Pledge of Allegiance in defiance of his announcement last week that it would no longer be allowed at the start of meetings due to “direct and indirect threats, inappropriate comments in and out of public meetings, and the general divisiveness this is creating in our community.”
“We already discussed this as a board, and any other unilateral decisions we need to know about?” asked Silverton Trustee Molly Barela, to which Fuhrman replied: “If you’d like to find somewhere in the code, something that doesn’t permit me to do this, then I welcome that discussion at our next meetings.” “Out of order!” exclaimed Mayor Shane Fuhrman (who just took his website offline) after one of the trustees challenged his “unilateral” decision, according to a video posted by |
| Department Of Labor Proposes Change To Tipping RulesDepartment Of Labor Proposes Change To Tipping Rules By Heather Lalley of Restaurant Business, The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday announced a proposed change to the tip credit which would limit the amount of non-tip producing work an employee can perform. Under the proposed rule change, an employer can only claim the tip credit when workers do tasks that are part of their tipped job.
But if a worker is doing tasks that support œtip-producing work for a substantial amount of time, defined as more than 20% of all hours worked or 30 straight minutes, that employee is no longer doing a job that’s part of a tipped occupation, the DOL said.
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| America’s Largest Landlord Just Got Bigger: Blackstone Buys 17,000 Houses For $6 BillionAmerica’s Largest Landlord Just Got Bigger: Blackstone Buys 17,000 Houses For $6 Billion Wall Street won’t rest until it become the biggest – and perhaps only – landlord in the US. At least that’s the impression one gets by observing the behavior of the two Wall Street “black” giants, Blackrock and Blackstone. As a reminder, the WSJ sparked widespread outrage recently when it exposed what most industry insiders had known for a long time, namely that Blackrock (and other institutional investors) have been ravenously gobbling up US real estate. Now it’s Blackstone’s turn. On Tuesday, the WSJ reported that Blackstone – which already is not only America’s largest landlord but also the world’s largest real estate company with a $325 billion portfolio – has agreed to buy single-family rental company Home Partners of America for $6 billion, betting the demand for suburban housing will stay hot even as the pandemic eases. Home Partners owns more than 17,000 houses in the United States; the company buys, rents out and eventually offers its tenants a chance to buy them. Now all those functions will be done by the largest US private equity firm. Sin … |
| Millions become millionaires in Covid pandemicSoaring stock markets and property prices help boost the wealth of the wealthy, research suggests. |
| Bitcoin tumbles below $30,000 on China crypto-crackdownThe cryptocurrency slides to its lowest value for five months after China tells banks to stop supporting transactions. |
| Weetabix workers suspend strike action at Northamptonshire sitesUnite calls off strikes and says talks with management at the cereal manufacturer will continue. |
| Once an admirer, Naseem Taleb now says Bitcoin is worth zeroThe noted author said that Bitcoin can neither be a short-term or long-term store of value, cannot operate as a reliable hedge against inflation. |
| Hunt for deep value stocks to beat market in next 2-3 years: Raamdeo Agrawal“I don’t think we can invest based on whether they (central banks) want to stop bond buying or double it up,” says Raamdeo Agrawal |
| Where the world’s richest 1% are gaining wealth the fastest‹The richest 1% in eight of the 10 nations boosted their share of the wealth last year, primarily due to interest rates cuts following the Covid-19 outbreak, Credit Suisse said.i |
| The Fed: Climate change’s impact on jobs and inflation is already a factor in Fed policy, says DalySan Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said climate change is affecting both employment and prices, which places it under the Fed’s policy purview. |
| : This is the most expensive city in the world for expats working abroadHong Kong has been replaced by a city that may surprise you. |
| : EU opens probe on Google’s digital advertising businessCompetition watchdog will investigate whether Google is distorting competition by favoring its own business. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
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