23Aug2021 Pre-Market Commentary: Crude-oil Futures Jump 3%, WTI Crude 64.14, DOW Up 166 Points, Nasdaq Up 0.3%, Bitcoin 50300, Dogecoin $0.323

Written by Gary

The biggest premarket movers: Boeing, Coinbase, Pfizer, BioNTech (SPY +0.4%). Bitcoin tops $50,000 and futures rise as jackson hole looms.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are mixed. The DAX is higher by 0.06%, while the CAC 40 is leading the FTSE 100 lower. They are down 0.43% and 0.07% respectively.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Big Oil Looks To Woo Investors Back With Massive Dividends Big Oil is coming off yet another blockbuster season, posting the second consecutive quarter of stellar top-and-bottom line growth. According to the latest FactSet data, the energy sector’s Q2 2021 revenue growth rate of 24.9% came in way higher than Wall Street’s estimate of 19.4% while the sector reported earnings of $15.9 billion compared to a loss of -$10.6 billion in Q2 2020 marked the biggest Y/Y improvement of any of the S&P 500’s 11 market sectors. Interestingly, the Big Oil duo of ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX)
	Will Big Oil Use High Oil Prices To Go Green? Estimate-beating profits and solid cash positions were marks of the first half of the year for Big Oil majors and for their smaller rivals, too. A strong rebound in fuel demand pushed oil prices so high that clean energy proponent President Joe Biden had to reach out to OPEC+ to ask for more oil. According to Wood Mackenzie, this is the best time for Big Oil to accelerate its decarbonization efforts. “It’s incredibly rare for an industry to get decades-long notice that its business is under threat,” the consultancy wrote in a report titled CO?mmit
	Biofuel Feedstock Shortage Hinders Green Shipping Ambitions The worlds largest shipping company, A.P. Moller Maersk A/S, aims to have net-zero carbon dioxide emissions from its own ocean operations by 2050 as the industry responsible for around 3 percent of global CO2 emissions looks to boost sustainable seaborne transportation. Yet, the ambition of Maersk, and that of other shipping firms, clashes with the scarcity of feedstock for biofuels, amid limited availability of the key ingredient for producing biofuelsused cooking oil. The problem with running ships on green fuels
	Nord Stream 2 Could Crush European Natural Gas Prices We recently wrote about Europe’s soaring, record gas prices as Russian nat gas supplies have been suspiciously low, amid growing concerns about Europe’s inventory levels as the winter approaches.The price uptrend was finally broken yesterday – if only for the time being – when as Bloomberg’s Stephen Stapczynski explains, Dutch nat gas futures prices (TTF) plummeted by 10% after data suggested Nord Stream 2 started flowing. But that data turned out to be incorrect, and prices quickly rebounded recovered.But then European nat gas prices plunged once
	China Wants Huge New Green Hydrogen Plant Operational In 2023 China offers promise for clean energy in a world dominated by fossil fuel-driven hydrogen projects through its new green hydrogen mega-plant. China is planning a huge green hydrogen project using solar and wind power for its Inner Mongolia region. A cluster of plants will be constructed in the cities of Ordos and Baotou, expected to use 1.85 GW of solar power and 370 MW of wind power to produce approximately 66,900 tonnes of green hydrogen every year, according to the Hydrogen Energy Industry Promotion Association. If used for Fuel cell electric
	Brazil Discusses Gas Pipeline From Vaca Muerta Shale With Argentina Brazil is in talks with Argentina about potentially building a $5-billion natural gas pipeline from the Argentinian Vaca Muerta shale play, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said during his weekly live broadcast. “We are in negotiations with Argentina. Gas from Vaca Muerta. It will happen one day, because it is not easy to start importing gas, you need pipelines,” Bolsonaro said, as carried by Reuters. A pipeline is estimated to cost $3.7 billion in Argentina and another $1.2 billion in Brazil, as per Reuters estimates. Bolsonaro didn’t say how
	Branson’s Virgin Orbit to go public through a SPAC at $3.7 billion valuation Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is preparing to go public, announcing on Monday that it will merge with a SPAC to list on the Nasdaq.
	Fast-food wages climbed 10% in latest quarter, the largest jump in years, report says Wages for hourly limited-service restaurant workers climbed 10% in the second quarter compared with a year ago, according to a new report.
	Target to add more than 100 Disney shops to stores as holiday season approaches The retailer has added destinations like a mini Disney store or an Ulta Beauty shop to draw foot traffic and encourage shoppers to browse.
	‘Free Guy’ outpaced a key box office metric this weekend, adding $18.8 million to domestic tally “Free Guy” added another $18.8 million domestically over the weekend, a 34% drop from its opening tally.
	QR codes have replaced restaurant menus. Industry experts say it isn’t a fad Restaurants have replaced their physical menus with QR codes, a change that many in the industry believe will stick around long after the pandemic.
	Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Boeing, Coinbase, Pfizer, BioNTech and more These are the stocks posting the largest moves before the bell.
	5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday Dow futures were higher Monday after the 30-stock average broke a three-session losing streak.
	U.S. weighs ordering commercial airlines to provide flights for Afghanistan evacuation efforts The Biden administration has told commercial U.S. airlines that it could order them to help in the Afghanistan evacuation.
	Expedia travel searches for Germany leap 10-fold after ‘travel lane’ announced in Singapore Interest in travel between Singapore and Germany shot up after a so-called vaccinated travel lane between the two was announced.
	National parks are booming. That may ruin your next trip A boom in national park tourism has led to overcrowding in popular parks. Officials are turning to timed entry and reservation systems as a fix.
	Full approval for Pfizer Covid vaccine could come from FDA on Monday, report says The FDA could grant the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine full approval on Monday, The New York Times reported late Friday.
	CDC recommends travelers with high risk of Covid complications avoid cruises The CDC updated its guidance Friday asking travelers with high risk of severe Covid-19 illness to avoid taking cruises, regardless of their vaccination status.
	Here are the country’s cheapest airports to park at ” and where rideshares and transit are better bets Upgraded Points analyzed airport parking data to compile a list of the 10 cheapest U.S. airports to park at in 2021.
	Bulls Charge Toward Jackson Hole Bulls Charge Toward Jackson Hole Authored by Michael Lebowitz via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, European Manufacturing Indexes were generally weaker than expected but it didn’t take the wind out of the sails of the U.S. Equity markets. They look to continue Friday’s gains, up a quarter to half a percent this morning. After dipping below $62 on Friday, oil is back up to $64 in early trading.
	Putin Worried That Terrorists “Disguised As Refugees” Are Flowing Out Of Afghanistan Putin Worried That Terrorists “Disguised As Refugees” Are Flowing Out Of Afghanistan Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday offered his detailed and blunt perspective on what he sees as the lasting negative security fallout to Russia and the region from the rapid collapse of the Afghan national government and ongoing crisis.Â “Our Western partners are persistently raising the question of placing refugees in Central Asian countries before obtaining visas to the United States or other countries,” he said before a meeting of officials of the ruling UnitedÂ RussiaÂ party. He explained this presents the potential for the spread of terrorism, given anyone can now flow out of the war-torn country “disguised as refugees”.Â Image: Moscow Times/Kremlin.ru “Who are these refugees? How can we tell? There may be thousands, or even millions,”Â Putin posed. “The border is a thousand kilometers – they will get on everything, a car, even a donkey, and …
	Bush Era NSA Head Says Its A “Good Idea” To Send Unvaxx’d Trump Supporters To Afghanistan Bush Era NSA Head Says Its A “Good Idea” To Send Unvaxx’d Trump Supporters To Afghanistan Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News, Former head of the NSA and the CIA during the George W. Bush presidency, General Michael Hayden, declared that he thinks it would be a œgood idea to send unvaccinated supporters of President Trump to die in Afghanistan. Hayden, who infamouslyÂ declared that the Fourth AmendmentÂ œchanged on September 11, 2001, and went on toÂ oversee mass surveillanceÂ of Americans at the NSA while the invasion of Afghanistan was implemented, made the comments on Twitter. Hayden responded to a post stating œCan we send the MAGA wearing u …
	Futures Rise As Jackson Hole Looms, Dollar Slides, Bitcoin Surges Futures Rise As Jackson Hole Looms, Dollar Slides, Bitcoin Surges US stock-index futures gained along with global equities as concerns about China’s crackdown faded and as investors sought to take advantage of last week’s market weakness after Dallas Federal Reserve President RobertÂ KaplanÂ said on Friday he’s open to adjusting his view that the central bank should start tapering its asset-purchase program sooner rather than later if the delta variant persists and hurts economic progress. Bond yields rose as demand for havens eased. Commodities also rallied after China announced no new cases suggesting the Delta scare is ending; The dollar was weaker and Bitcoin surged above $50,000, the highest level since mid-May. At 7am ET, Emini S&P futs were up 15 points or 0.34% to 4,452; Dow futures rose 158 points or 0.45% and Nasdaq futures were 40 points higher or 0.27%. Oil shares led the pack, as investors returned to riskier assets after a sharp selloff last week on worries about a slowing pace of U.S. economic growth. Oil majors Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil, Schlumberger N …
	UK recovery slows as staff shortages plague firms August has seen an “abnormally large slowdown” in economic activity, says a closely watched survey.
	Covid: Government warns Covid test firms over misleading prices More than 80 Covid test firms are issued with warnings and could be taken off the government’s website.
	Gambling: Poorer UK towns found to have the most betting shops, study shows Areas with the highest number of betting shops per capita include Glasgow, Liverpool and Middlesbrough.
	Gold ETFs log Rs 61 crore outflow in July as investors prefer equity, debt funds Despite the negative flows in the category, the number of folios went up to 19.13 lakh in July from 18.32 lakh in the preceding month, data with Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed.
	Nuvoco Vistas makes strong comeback after flop listing. What should investors do now? According to analysts and market experts, investors should hold Nuvoco Vistas stock for a longer period.
	Ujjivan SFB tumbled 32% in six days. Here’s what analysts said Chugh’s exit came in the backdrop of exit of multiple board members and management executives at Ujjivan SFB. That included the CFO’s resignation a month ago.
	July 2021 CFNAI Super Index Moving Average Index Improves Written by Steven Hansen The economy’s rate of growth accelerated based on the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) 3 month moving (3MA) average – and the economy is above the historical trend rate of growth.
	Need to Know: Facebook’s been one of the strongest FAANGs this year. Here’s why it’s just been downgraded. Arete Research, an independent research service focusing on the tech sector, said it’s time for a breather in the second-best performer of that group.
	Futures Movers: Oil jumps 3% in bid to snap 7-day losing streak as dollar retreats Oil futures begin the week with a bounce, rising Monday after the U.S. benchmark suffered its biggest weekly drop since October.
	FA Center: This financial adviser helps people rebound from hard times. She knows what that’s like ‘We shed the shame and embarrassment so that it’s all about the future,’ financial adviser Stacie Rasmussen tells clients.