26Aug2021 Pre-Market Commentary: First-time U.S. Jobless Claims Rose By 4,000, DOW Up 13 Points, Nasdaq Down 0.3%, WTI Crude Lower 67.44, Bitcoin Slides 47200

Written by Gary

U.S. stock futures are coiled ahead of j-hole as china slumps, bitcoin slides (SPY -0.1%). The biggest premarket moves: Coty, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Smucker.

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.
	Oils Comeback Is Lifting Commodity Prices After taking a beating over the past few weeks, oil prices have been surging on rising demand optimism, a major production outage in Mexico, and the first full U.S. regulatory approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. October crude and Brent were up 3% to $67.47/bbl and $70.83/bbl, respectively, a day after a 5% surge by both benchmarks snapped a seven-day losing streak after China claimed to have brought its coronavirus cases down to zero and opened up the Ningbo port, one of the busiest in the world, after a two-week shutdown. About two weeks ago,
	LNGs Position As A Bridge Fuel Remains Strong When earlier this month analysts sounded the alarm for Europes energy security because of the looming shortage of liquefied natural gas, the culprit behind the situation was identified as stronger demand for the superchilled fuel from Asia. But demand is always just one side of the story. The supply of liquefied natural gas globally has tightened in recent months amid rising demand because of planned maintenance operations and outages, Reuters Clyde Russell noted in a recent column. Russell points to Australia and the
	U.S. Clean Energy Sector Welcomes $3.5 Trillion Budget Deal U.S. clean energy associations hailed the Houses vote on Tuesday to approve a budget resolution to advance the $3.5 trillion Congressional budget deal, which has earmarked resources to accelerate the energy transition and boost U.S. clean energy manufacturing and transportation. The U.S. House of Representatives approved in a party-line 220-212 vote the budget resolution on Tuesday, paving the way for Democrats to advance the social and clean energy agenda of President Joe Biden. The vote in the House of Representatives allowed them to consider
	Frackers See Light At The End Of The Tunnel In Oil Markets Recovering global oil demand and drilling activity has made oilfield services firms optimistic about the sectors prospects not only in the immediate future but also in the medium term. Oilfield service providers reported second-quarter earnings that beat analyst forecasts. But more importantly, companies specializing in different segmentsfrom fracking to offshore drillingexpressed confidence that the oil services industry now faces a solid recovery in the coming quarters and even years, despite the recent Delta
	Power Sector Emissions Soar As Electricity Demand Rebounds Global emissions from power generation bounced back above pre-pandemic levels as the growth in clean power generation wasnt enough to meet soaring electricity demand, climate and energy think tank Ember said in a report on Wednesday. CO2 emissions from the power sector globally were 5 percent higher in the first half of 2021, compared to the first half of 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Embers estimates. Electricity demand also rose by 5 percent globally. Early last year, power demand was 3 percent lower than in
	Could Venezuela Become Latin Americas Afghanistan? The Biden administration, along with U.S. intelligence and military agencies, was stunned by the gains made by the Taliban which saw them seize the Afghan capital Kabul and take power earlier this month. The rapid collapse of the U.S.-backed government and its security forces was a complete surprise for Washington. The early July 2021 assassination of Haitis president, allegedly by Colombian mercenaries, along with six week-long violent anti-government demonstrations in long-time U.S. ally Colombia also caught the Biden administration off
	Here are the top 10 beach destinations for wealthy investors The Nomad Beach Index ranks the top beach destinations worldwide for wealthy entrepreneurs and investors looking for sunny second residences ” and lower taxes.
	Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Coty, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Smucker and others These are the stocks posting the largest moves before the bell.
	UK car production plummets to lowest level since 1956 amid chip shortage, worker absences U.K. car production plummeted to a new low last month, marking the worst July performance for the industry since 1956, according to a trade group.
	5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday U.S. stock futures were flat Thursday after two key before-the-bell economic reports. The S&P 500 on Wednesday crossed 4,500 for the first time ever.
	Australia’s Qantas hopes to resume international flights by Christmas, CEO says Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told CNBC he expects the first flights out of Australia would be to highly vaccinated destinations like Singapore.
	Blockbuster movies create booms for tourism ” and headaches for locals Blockbuster hits old and new like “The Godfather” and “The Lord of the Rings” can lead to a massive influx in tourism. But problems often follow.
	Finding Covid origins requires ‘radical and complete transparency,’ Singapore’s foreign minister says The WHO said in February that Covid-19 “most likely” originated in animals before spreading to humans. China has rejected a second phase of investigation.
	Ulta shares rise after beauty retailer posts 60% gain in revenue as makeup sales recover Shares of Ulta Beauty rose in extended trading after the retailer posted second-quarter results that topped analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines.
	ESPN cancels Rachel Nichols’ show, pulls her from NBA coverage following race controversy Rachel Nichols has faced backlash after suggesting former colleague Maria Taylor got a job hosting NBA coverage because she is Black.
	Washington state officials say they’re short on hospital staff and running out of ICU beds as Covid resurges No ICU beds are available in the state of Washington amid a Covid resurgence, putting non-Covid patients who need immediate care at risk, officials said.
	Dick’s Sporting Goods, other retailers crack code of driving up profits Retailers from Nordstrom to Target have spoken about fewer promotions and more curbside pickup, which have boosted profitability.
	Global electric power demand surges above pre-pandemic levels Carbon dioxide emissions from the global electric power sector surged past pre-pandemic levels to record highs in the first half of 2021, new research found.
	Shares of Nordstrom tank after reporting revenue that fell short of 2019 levels Nordstrom stock plummeted more than 17% after the company reported earnings that were not as impressive as those of other retailers.
	Total Number Of Americans On The Dole Rebounded Back Above 12 Million Last Week Total Number Of Americans On The Dole Rebounded Back Above 12 Million Last Week Initial jobless claims rose very modestly last week from 349k to 353k, but remains very close to post-COVID-lockdown lows… Source: Bloomberg However, while continuing claims fell very modestly last week from 2.865mm to 3.862mm, it was worse than the 2.777m expected. The number of Americans on Pandemic emergency aid has dropped notably as handouts have been suspended in various states, but over 8.6 million remain on that dole (with over 10 million job openings)…
	Texas Gov Issues New Ban On Vaccine Mandates As FDA Fully Approves Pfizer Jab Texas Gov Issues New Ban On Vaccine Mandates As FDA Fully Approves Pfizer Jab President Biden isn’t going to like this. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday barring any state or local mandates requiring people to be vaccinated against COVID, before calling on Texas legislators to vote it into law during the ongoing special legislative session. The order was intended to fill a loophole, since he previously banned vaccination requirements for jabs under emergency use authorization. He also banned state and local mask mandates. “Vaccine requirements and exemptions have historically been determined by the Legislature, and their involvement is particularly important to avoid a patchwork of vaccine mandates across Texas,” Abbott said in a statement released along with his executive order. Nine counties, dozens of school districts and the city of El Paso have already defied Gov. Abbott’s mask mandate ban, and some of …
	How To Identify A Bubble: Wall Street Says It’s Not A Bubble How To Identify A Bubble: Wall Street Says It’s Not A Bubble Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, The post-bubble-crash phase is already being prepared: ‘no one could have seen this coming’ – except anyone who paid attention to anything other than self-interested shills. It’s really pretty simple to identify a speculative bubble of epic proportions in stocks: if Wall Street says it’s not a bubble, it’s a bubble.Â As I explained inÂ The Smart Money Has Already Sold, from the long view the entire game of “investing” (wink-wink) boils down to one dynamic: Wall Str …
	Futures Coiled Ahead Of J-Hole As China Slumps, Bitcoin Slides Futures Coiled Ahead Of J-Hole As China Slumps, Bitcoin Slides S&P futures continue to trade as if paralyzed in a tight 20-point range on dismal volumes just below 4,500 for the 3rd day in a row, and overnight they are fractionally in the red although off session lows, with the Nasdaq 100 down 0.2% and S&P 500 -0.1% amid a retreat in tech shares and commodities as markets remained on edge ahead of Friday’s Jackson Hole virtual gathering where Chairman Jay Powell is expected to speak at 10am and give clues on the upcoming taper. The dollar rose, yields were unchanged at 1.34%, oil dipped and bitcoin slumped. Wall Street’s main indexes notched their latest record high on Wednesday but Asia’s session had been far more bumpy: Asia saw its first post-COVID outbreak interest rise in South Korea overnight, while Chinese markets tumbled after the country’s most indebted property developer Evergrande warned of a 39% slump in profits, Japan suspended Moderna’s COVID vaccine, while the mood of Germany’s consumers was darkening again. Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks fall, track …
	Food firm in ‘drastic’ action amid driver shortage Wholesaler Country Range says it is buying smaller vans to get round the lack of HGV drivers.
	Sports Direct owner’s new boss offered potential Â£100m bonus Michael Murray, Mike Ashley’s future son-in-law, must more than double the firm’s share price.
	NHS stops some blood tests due to vial shortages Doctors across the country are being asked to delay tests due to a nationwide shortage of blood test tubes.
	Multifold jump in Q1 sales and profit fail to lift these 5 BSE500 stocks Shares of NBCC (India) and NMDC fell 16-17 per cent since July 1 despite reporting a 2-3 times jump in year-on-year Q1 sales. Ircon International, Dixon Technologies (India) and Bajaj Auto also declined despite logging in strong year-on-year numbers for the June quarter.
	HDFC Bank lists $1-bn AT-1 bonds on IFSC exchanges “The primary listing of HDFC AT 1 bond demonstrates the competitiveness of both the IFSC exchanges –India INX and NSE IFSC internationally,” Manoj Kumar, Executive Director, IFSCA said.
	Here is what HNIs’ most bullish stock bets of 2021 delivered so far Seven of these stocks have beaten the index returns by delivering up to 128 per cent return year-to-date. These include SAIL, IDFC, Dish TV, Ircon International, Dishman Carbogen Amcis and JK Paper.
	Economic Report: Jobless claims rise for first time in five weeks to 353,000, but still near pandemic low The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits in late August rose for the first time in five weeks, but new jobless claims remained near a pandemic low and suggest the economy is still doing pretty well despite a surge in coronavirus cases. Initial jobless claims in the states increased by 4,000 to 353,000.
	Need to Know: It’s been the wrong year to sell in May and go away. The bull market seems ‘unstoppable,’ experts say Asset prices could be lifted by the Jackson Hole address even in the absence of surprises, says one strategist.
	The Fed: Fed’s George backs tapering bond buys ‘sooner rather than later’ Kansas City Fed President Esther George said Thursday that she supports the Fed starting to slow down asset purchases sooner rather than later.