28Jul2021 Midday Update: Wall Street Mixed At 1 ET, DOW Down 110 Points, Nasdaq Up 0.6%, WTI Crude Creeps Higher 72.22, Bitcoin Slips 40000

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Bovespa gained 1.21%, while the IPC led the S&P 500 lower. They fell 1.14% and 0.06% respectively.

Value Of Saudi Oil Exports Jumps 147% In May

Higher oil prices and higher exports resulted in a 147-percent jump in the value of Saudi Arabias oil exports in May 2021 compared to May 2020, data from the Kingdoms General Authority for Statistics showed on Wednesday. The value of oil exports increased by US$9.5 billion (35.8 billion Saudi riyals)or by 146.7 percent year over yearto stand at US$16.1 billion (60.5 billion riyals) in May 2021, the official data from the worlds top oil exporter showed. The jump in oil exports was the main driver of the rise in

Exxon Makes Another Major Oil Discovery Offshore Guyana

ExxonMobil and its partner Hess Corporation have made another significant crude oil discovery offshore Guyana, the U.S. supermajor said on Wednesday. The Whiptail discovery in the Stabroek Block adds to more than a dozen discoveries on the block and the previous recoverable resource estimate of approximately 9 billion oil-equivalent barrels. Whiptail, located southeast of Uaru and west of Yellowtail discoveries, could form the basis of another future development in the Stabroek Block, Exxon and Hess said. Whiptail is a significant new oil

Russia Was Worlds Second-Largest Oil Producer In H1 2021

Russia was the worlds second-largest producer in the first five months of this year after the United States, data from Rosstat, the state statistics bureau, has revealed. The country produced an average of 10.18 million barrels daily between January and May, TASS reported, citing Rosstat data. This compared with 11.18 million bpd for the United States. Saudi Arabia remained third, producing consistently below 9 million barrels daily over March, April, and May. Russia was one of the big winners from the latest OPEC+ deal adjustments, which

Oil Prices Boosted By Falling Crude Inventories

Crude oil prices rose today after the Energy Information Administration reported an inventory draw of 4.1 million barrels for the week to July 23. This compared with a build of 2.1 million barrels reported for the previous week and a draw of 4.728 million barrels reported by the American Petroleum Institute for the week to July 23. Analysts had expected the EIA to report a crude oil inventory draw of 3.43 million barrels for the week to July 23. In gasoline, the EIA estimated an inventory draw of 2.3 million barrels for last week, with production

Senators Accuse Interior Dept Of Deliberately Delaying Restart Of Oil Leasing

Republican Senators have accused Interior Secretary Deb Haaland of defying a ruling by a federal judge to restart oil leases, issued in response to a temporary suspensiona pause, as it was termedof these leases by President Biden earlier this year. The pause is effectively defying the federal judges order to continue, said Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as quoted by Bloomberg. Technically, I suppose, you could say the pause is still in place,

Global Gasoline Demand Could Flatten As Delta Variant Spreads

Resurging COVID infections in many major oil-consuming markets, including the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia, could stagnate the recovery in road fuel consumption globally in the coming weeks, analysts tell Reuters. Estimates from the United States point to record gasoline consumption for 2021 this past week, but analysts fear that the rising number of Delta variant infections could put the brakes on the demand rebound well before the summer travel season ends. According to GasBuddy data, weekly U.S. gasoline demand in the week to July

NYC to Offer $100 Incentive for Vaccination Starting Friday

Starting Friday, New York City will pay $100 to anyone who goes to a city-run vaccination site for their first Covid vaccine dose, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Ford reinstates mask mandates at facilities in Missouri and Florida

Ford’s move follow General Motors last week reinstating a mask mandate at a plant in Missouri due to an increase in cases in the area.

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Alphabet, Starbucks, Boeing and more

These are the stocks posting the largest moves in midday trading.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren shoots down a key reason investors buy bitcoin, calls for tighter regulation

“The idea that they’re somehow a protection or a hedge, I don’t think that’s going to be borne out over time,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren told CNBC on Wednesday.

Get vaccinated or fired ” Ken Langone says his businesses will mandate it after full FDA approval

œYou have an obligation to your fellow man to protect him as well as yourself, billionaire businessman Ken Langone told CNBC on Wednesday.

Pelosi’s office calls GOP leader McCarthy ‘moronic’ for objecting to House mask mandate

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the House will adhere to the mask mandate recommended by the Capitol Physician’s office, and called House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy a “moron” for opposing the mandate.

WHO doesn’t recommend Covid booster doses right now, citing lack of data

If the WHO endorsed a booster shot, it would likely only be for select groups of recipients, like the elderly or other vulnerable people.

The ‘world’s most powerful tidal turbine’ starts to export power to the gridÂ

The O2 turbine weighs 680 metric tons and has a length of 74 meters.

Fully vaccinated U.S. and EU citizens will no longer have to quarantine when traveling to England

U.S. and EU travelers who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus will soon be allowed to visit England without having to quarantine.

UK Covid cases are now falling rapidly despite the easing of lockdowns, and it’s surprising the experts

Covid-19 cases in the U.K. fell for the seventh day in a row on Tuesday to 23,511 from 46,588 a week prior.

Elizabeth Warren makes fresh push for wealth tax – ‘Yes, Jeff Bezos, I’m looking at you’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren reignited her push for a tax on the accumulated wealth of the richest Americans by pointing at the Amazon founder.

Athleta’s latest salvo against Lululemon and Nike: Women’s wellness platform

Athleta is launching a platform for loyalty members offering workout content and spaces to discuss topics ranging from mental health to body positivity.

New Hong Kong Legislation Would Punish Companies Complying With US Sanctions

New Hong Kong Legislation Would Punish Companies Complying With US Sanctions

China’s latest US sanctions countermeasures focusing on Hong Kong and Macau said to be under preparation look to be the furthest reaching in terms of outright barring any foreign entity that complies with Washington.

The new laws for Hong Kong and Macau would proactively prevent foreign entities and individuals from complying with US-led sanctions by barring them, according to a new Wall Street Journal report Wednesday.

Hong Kong, via CNN

It follows the mainland’s “antiforeign sanctions law” unveiled in June, which precisely bars foreign companies that seek to conform with European and US anti-China sanctions, which Beijing at the time framed as ‘safeguarding’ Chinese businesses and entities.

According to details presented in the

FOMC Preview: Tapering The Tapering Talk As Fed Punts To September

FOMC Preview: Tapering The Tapering Talk As Fed Punts To September

Summary: as Newsquawk recaps, summarizing the broad sellside consensus going into today’s FOMC meeting, there is still not enough information for the Fed to cast judgement on whether the ‘substantial further progress’ threshold for pivoting towards tighter policy has been met. Indeed, the Fed is unlikely to get clarity on these questions until later this year, or even into next year. Accordingly, the July FOMC may be premature for the Fed to officially signal any taper timeline, or indeed what the configuration of the scaling-back of asset purchases will look like, especially since there are no new dots or projection materials due today.

Therefore, traders will be listening to the tone of the Fed statement and subsequent press conference from Chair Powell on whether new variants of the coronavirus are at a stage where Fed officials are concerned enough to push out normalizing policy. The Fed will likely continue to frame the recent upside in inflation as transitory, but any suggestion that it could be something more persistent would likely be a trading event.

* * *

With that in mind, earlier today we laid out one take why despite nobody expecting a “clear catalyst” from today’s FOMC meeting, the extremely flat curve means that the bias going into 2pm’s Fed announcement is for steepening: a modestly hawkish view. Taking the other side is Bloomberg commentator Vincent Cignarella who writes that while investors are betting the Fed will offer some clarity on taper talk wit …

CDC Director Hints At ‘Health Passes’, Warns COVID May Be “Few Mutations” Away From Evading Vaccines

CDC Director Hints At ‘Health Passes’, Warns COVID May Be “Few Mutations” Away From Evading Vaccines

Authored by Ivan Pentchoukov via The Epoch Times,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a teleconference on Tuesday that her biggest concern is that the CCP virus may be œjust a few mutations away from being able to evade vaccines.

œThe largest concern that I think we in public health and science are worried about is that virus and the potential mutations. We have a very transmissible virus which has the potential to evade our vaccines in terms of how it protects us from severe disease and death, Walensky said.

œRight now, fortunately, we are not there. These vaccines operate really well in protecting us from severe disease and death. But the big concern is the next variant that might emerge, just a few mutations potentially away, could potentially evade our vaccines.

‘Bipartisan’ Coalition Reach Agreement On $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill

‘Bipartisan’ Coalition Reach Agreement On $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill

A ‘bipartisan’ group of Senators on Wednesday have finally reached a deal on a $1.2 trillion “hard” infrastructure package, following ‘weeks of long nights and endless Zoom calls,’ according to Axios.

“We now have an agreement on the major issues,” said Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), lead GOP negotiator for a group of Republicans which includes Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) – not exactly the MAGA majority of the party.

While Axios suggests it will likely be ‘days’ before the group finishes writing the bill, Portman says he expects to have the text hammered out by Wednesday night.

In response, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Wednesday that the Senate could vote as early as Wednesday night to advance the proposal – the second time they’ll have done so on this procedural measure. Sch …

Housing market cools as stamp duty break withdrawn

UK house prices still rose by 10.5% compared with a year ago, Nationwide building society says.

Covid test plan a ‘pointless solution’ says Iceland boss

Supermarket boss says government scheme only fixes half the issue because it excludes store workers.

Cannabis part of the future says tobacco giant

British American Tobacco says its future lies in getting people to switch to nicotine alternatives.

Fed to stress patience on scaling back as virus threat lurks: Decision-Day Guide

The Federal Open Market Committee is all but certain to hold interest rates near zero at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday and repeat a vow to keep buying bonds at the current $120 billion monthly pace.

14 midcaps where fund managers upped stakes by over 100 bps in Q1

The biggest MF bet of the quarter was media firm Zee Entertainment that saw the institutional investor category hike stake by 443 basis points to 8.1 per cent from 3.67 per cent in the March quarter.

JM Financial initiates coverage on Zomato with ‘buy’, sees 28% upside

The brokerage opines that Zomato can churn out positive cash operating profit from 2024-25 provided its annual order volumes hit 1 billion and contribution margin rises to Rs 21 per order.

Key Words: ‘I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion’: Tom Daley after winning a gold medal in Tokyo

There are at least 168 athletes at the Tokyo Olympics who are publicly out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer or nonbinary. That figure is three times the number than at the last Olympics in 2016 and over seven times the number at the London Games.

: YouTube is as big as Netflix, and growing much faster

In raising his price target on Google shares to $3,200, Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler cited long-term advertising revenue growth driven by search and YouTube, as well as advertisers increasingly approaching YouTube as a “full-funnel solution.”

: Biden to tout manufacturing in Pennsylvania visit as Republicans say they’re ready to move ahead with infrastructure bill

President Joe Biden on Wednesday is due to tout American manufacturing in a visit to a truck plant in Pennsylvania, as Senate Republicans in Washington said they had reached agreement on major issues in infrastructure talks with Democrats.