Written by Gary
Delta variant, supply-chain chaos threaten to derail strong back-to-school shopping season (SPY -0.1%). Bonds, black gold, & bullion dumped as bitcoin jumps to 3-month highs.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | A New Wave Of Populism Is Sweeping Latin AmericaA left turn? Perus polls closed on the 6th of June, but it took over a month for an official victor to be announced. Now, Pedro Castillo of the socialist Free Peru party has officially been elected. A confirmation of Castillos victory supports the idea that Latin Americas political left may be experiencing a resurgence. Castillos victory follows the strong result for Luis Arce of Bolivias Movement for Socialism party in October last year, which itself followed victories for left-leaning politicians like Mexicos |
| Senate Democrats Aim For $3.5-Trillion Clean Energy, Social BillResources to accelerate the energy transition and boost U.S. clean energy manufacturing and transportation are part of a $3.5-trillion budget resolution Senate Democrats announced on Monday, with a view of discussing the legislation in the Senate this fall. Environmental programs, incentives for more clean energy, tax breaks for families, and more resources for education and healthcare are part of the budget resolution. At its core, this legislation is about restoring the middle class in the 21st Century and giving more Americans the opportunity |
| Trouble Is Brewing At The Worlds Largest Copper MineLME trading volumes, along with prices, traded sideways for the first three weeks of the month and picked up the pace toward the end of the month, signaling an uptrend. Prices reached $9,856/mt before closing the month. Prices and trading volumes have dropped since. SHFE prices behaved similarly to LME prices, trading sideways the first three weeks of the month and climbing the last week. The SHFE price closed the month at CNY 71,180/mt. Just like the LME, prices dropped the first week of August. Trading volumes on the SHFE were unusually lower |
| France Pressures Iran To Rejoin The Nuclear DealFrench President Emmanuel Macron has urged Iran to resume talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers but Iran’s new hard-line president, Ebrahim Raisi, says that Iran’s “rights” must first be guaranteed. Macron “called on Iran to quickly resume negotiations in Vienna to reach a conclusion and to put an end, without delay, to all nuclear activities that violate the agreement,” the French presidency said on August 9 after Macron spoke by phone with Raisi, who took office last week. According to the Iranian presidency’s website, Raisi |
| China’s Oil Imports Rebound In JulyAfter falling to a 2021 low in June, crude oil imports to China began to recover last month as refineries exited maintenance season. Average daily imports stood at 10.07 million bpd, or, according to Reuters, 41.24 million barrels for the month in total. Yet this was still lower than the rate of imports a year earlier: in July 2020, China bought 51.29 million tons of crude. Yet the July number was a distinct improvement on June, when imports averaged 9.77 million bpd, or a total 40.14 million tons. Over the first half of the year, Chinese oil imports |
| Saudi Aramco To Raise Oil Output Capacity by 550,000 Bpd By 2025Saudi Aramco plans to have 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) more in oil production capacity by 2025 when the expansion projects on two major oilfields are complete, Saudi Arabias state-owned oil giant said on Sunday. Aramco, which reported yesterday a jump in Q2 net profit amid rallying oil prices like all international oil majors, also updated the market on its projects to boost production capacity. The Saudis are aiming for 13 million bpd of production capacity, up from 12 million bpd now. In its earnings report on Sunday, Aramco said that |
| The Covid delta variant isn’t the only reason ‘The Suicide Squad’ underperformed at the box officeWhile many were quick to blame the Covid delta variant, it’s not the only factor in “The Suicide Squad’s” paltry performance. |
| Covid vaccine mandates sweep across corporate America as delta variant spurs actionThe U.S. government may not require that everyone get Covid vaccines, but large employers are stepping into the void. |
| DraftKings to buy Golden Nugget Online for $1.56 billion, as gaming’s M&A streak continuesDraftKings will acquire Golden Nugget Online in an all-stock deal worth $1.56 billion. |
| Delta variant, supply-chain chaos threaten to derail strong back-to-school shopping seasonShoppers have gown more anxious to visit stores, while some are cutting back spending, according to a new survey from First Insight. |
| Pentagon to require all service members to get Covid vaccine by mid-SeptemberThe Pentagon on Monday said it would seek to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for service members no later than the middle of September. |
| The world is nowhere near the end of the Covid pandemic, says famed epidemiologist Larry BrilliantThe delta variant of Covid-19 is extremely contagious, noted epidemiologist Larry Brilliant. Relatively few worldwide have gotten the coronavirus vaccine. |
| SpaceX is buying satellite data start-up Swarm, in a rare acquisition by Elon Musk’s space companySwarm will become “a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX upon consummation of the Proposed Transaction,” the start-up wrote in a FCC filing Aug. 6. |
| For Buffett, Berkshire, beating BlackRock ESG may be as hard as beating S&P 500Berkshire Hathaway is one of the best companies of the 20th century. Can it be one of the leaders of the 21st without adopting the market’s new ESG mantra? |
| Coinbase could jump up to 16% after earnings this week, trader saysCoinbase could jump 12-16% after its Tuesday earnings report, Blue Line Capital founder and president Bill Baruch says. |
| Crude falls on surging Covid cases, following worst week since October for oilOil prices were under pressure on Monday following a week of steep losses as rising Covid cases spark fears of a demand slowdown. |
| Norwegian Cruise Line can require Florida passengers to show proof of Covid vaccination, federal judge rulesThe court’s decision clears the way for Norwegian Cruise Line to require customers to show proof of vaccination. |
| Jeffrey Epstein victims fund awards almost $125 million to about 150 peopleA fund set up to compensate victims of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein awarded almost $125 million to about 150 individuals. |
| Bonds, Black Gold, & Bullion Dumped As Bitcoin Jumps To 3-Month HighsBonds, Black Gold, & Bullion Dumped As Bitcoin Jumps To 3-Month Highs The biggest headline of the day was the bloodbath in bullion overnight. Gold prices puked $100 back below $1700 as ‘someone’ decided Sunday evening was the perfect time to get best execution on their $4 billion notional sell orders… but the precious metal rallied back above $1700 and held some of those gains (although it was still an ugly day)…
How that felt for paper gold owners, after the recent rebound… We do note however that while paper gold plunged, physical premiums barely budged… |
| Biden’s Band-Aid Eviction MoratoriumBiden’s Band-Aid Eviction Moratorium Authored by David Waugh via The American Institute for Economic Research, Last May, while teasing a run for the governor of Texas, eccentric actor Matthew McConaughey famously quipped, œI’m not interested in going and putting a bunch of Band-Aids on that are gonna be ripped off as soon as I’m out. The sentiment McConaughey captures with this statement is remarkable. He recognizes the difference between the long term and the short term. Thoughtful forward thinking vs. temporary band-aids. If only there were more McConaughey’s in office today! Unfortunately for us, we are stuck with the usual suspects: career politicians and their armies of band-aid deploying bureaucrats. Now back to the present. Yesterday the Biden administration revived its unconstitutional band-aid ban on evictions. Biden directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a new eviction moratorium ” stalling evictions for 60 days in œcounties with heightened levels of community transmission. Based on current CDC case data and a statement from Senate Majo … |
| “Peak Everything”: We Just Had The Best Quarter In History And It’s All Downhill From Here“Peak Everything”: We Just Had The Best Quarter In History And It’s All Downhill From Here Q2 earnings season is almost over and after the last busy earnings week, 444 S&P 500 companies (90% of index earnings) have reported.
The stats are simply stunning (or they would be if the earnings growth was organic): thanks to trillions in stimmies, 2Q EPS is now tracking $52.29 – a 15% beat to consensus – almost double (+90%) from last year and +27% vs. 2Q19, slightly better than last quarter’s +25% 2-yr growth rate. Financials, Communication Services, and Consumer Discretionary led the EPS beat, while revenues are tracking a 4% beat, led by Energy. Revenues are also solid, tracking a 4% beat relative to expectations, up +23% YoY or +11% vs. 2Q19, largely in line with last quarter’s 2-yr growth rate. Remarkably, according to Bank of America, 80%/86%/72% of companies beat on EPS/sales/both, which represents the highest in post-reg FD history. |
| “No One Believes In Fiat Currencies Any More”, Barrick Gold CEO Fears EM Economies “In Dire Straits”“No One Believes In Fiat Currencies Any More”, Barrick Gold CEO Fears EM Economies “In Dire Straits” Following the overnight chaos in the precious metals markets, Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow appeared on CNBC to remind investors that “this is a long-term business,” adding that “gold prices go down and they go up and sometimes not in that order.”
“Fundamentally,” Bristow remarked,
Asked on crypto adoption and whether it is stealing mind share from the barbarous relic, Bristow says “there’s no comparison with gold,” pointing out that unlike crypto, “gold acts as a stabilizer against volatility in a portfolio while the deltas in crypto are enormous.”
|
| Greensill: David Cameron ‘made $10m’ before company’s collapseA letter indicates the former PM received millions from shares in the controversial collapsed firm. |
| Anger at overflowing Covid test drop boxesProvider Randox says it is increasing collections but the tests for UK arrivals are branded “pointless”. |
| Deliveroo: German rival buys stake in delivery platformDelivery Hero’s comments about Deliveroo send its shares soaring to new heights since going public. |
| Group debt, share pledge serve as major overhang for Chemplast, investors may waitThe promoter stake will shrink to 55 per cent after the IPO from 100 per cent reflecting the urgency to reduce debt. While business prospects look good, share pledges and group level debt would be an overhang. |
| NSE to soon open trading in US-listed stocks through NSE-IFSC platformThe offering will be in the form of unsponsored depository receipts. IFSCA has facilitated the same under the Regulatory Sandbox, the stock exchange said. |
| Market Movers: Sona Comstar sees a chaandi rally; IRCTC gets back on trackThe newly-listed automotive parts maker is a pure-play on the upcoming electric vehicle market and according to brokerage firm Nomura Securities India, the stock is the place to be as the global auto fleet gets revamped in the coming years. |
| June 2021 Headline JOLTS Job Openings At Series HighWritten by Steven Hansen The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) can be used as a predictor of future job growth, and the predictive elements show that the year-over-year growth rate of unadjusted private non-farm job openings year-over-year rate of growth marginally slowed but continues at very high levels.
|
| The Margin: Want to be on ‘Nailed It!’ or ‘Queer Eye’? Netflix is hosting the largest reality TV casting call everReality stardom is just a 60-second video away. Here’s how to apply. |
| Mark Hulbert: As gold prices fall, there’s still not enough gloom to trigger a buy signalGold has plunged $100 over the past week. |
| The Wall Street Journal: Uber and Lyft price at records even as drivers returnDrivers are returning to Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. after the companies spent big on incentives to address a pandemic-driven labor shortage. That shift isn’t bringing down fares from record highs, new data show. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
Current Commodity Prices
Commodities are powered by Investing.com
Current Currency Crosses
The Forex Quotes are powered by Investing.com.
To contact me with questions, comments or constructive criticism is always encouraged and appreciated:
