27Aug2021 Pre-Market Commentary: It's Jackson Hole Day And Futures Are Going Nowhere, DOW Up 80 Points, Nasdaq Up 0.3%, WTI Crude 68.87, Bitcoin 47400

Written by Gary

Stock futures are higher ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s speech at J-Hole (SPY +0.3%). Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Big Lots, Hibbett Sports, Peloton, Gap.

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.
	The Future Of Oil Is Offshore Brazil and its tiny neighbors Guyana and Suriname have recently risen to prominence with major oil discoveries despite what most would see as an unfavorable environmentthe energy transition seems to be moving ahead at full speed and oils days should be numbered. Only they arent. And the future of oil appears to be offshore. Brazil will come to account for a quarter of global offshore oil output by 2025, a recent report by GlobalData said. This would mean South Americas largest country would be supplying some 1.3 million
	Which U.S. States Are Most Dependent On Fossil Fuels? Last week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered its starkest warning yet about the deepening climate emergency, saying a key temperature limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius could be broken in just over a decade in the absence of immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. U.N. Secretary-General, Antnio Guterres, has described the report’s findings as a “code red for humanity,” saying they “must sound a death knell” for fossil fuels. Back in April, the Biden Administration announced aggressive new
	Could Bidens Fuel Efficiency Plan Split The Left? Fuel efficiency standards in the United States just got tighter–almost 10% tighter. Automakers are already burdened by a shift in focus on electric vehicles. Will tougher fuel efficiency standards satisfy those supportive of Bidens green agenda, or will they fracture off a segment of Bidens supporters who think the standards didnt go far enough? The convenient development of high gas prices in the United States over the summer may have generated support for high fuel efficiencies, as drivers struggle to fill up at $3+ per
	The Permian Is Set To Thrive Through 2025 The Permian Basin looks strong until at least 2025 despite challenges from Biden’s alternative energy push, with oil output climbing steadily after its dip during the 2020 pandemic, as companies rush to consolidate their assets while demand remains high. We are seeing the number of mergers and acquisitions in the oil-rich region of the USA level out as companies vie for the best position while demand and oil prices are at their highest in years. Firstly, Callon Petroleum announced on 5th August it would be acquiring Primexx Energy Partners
	Oil Majors Interested In Buying Indias Third-Largest Refiner BPCL Large oil companies from the Middle East and Russia are interested in joining the bids of U.S. investment funds for buying the majority stake in Indias third-biggest oil refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), from the government, the Press Trust of India reported on Thursday, citing industry sources. The Indian government is looking to sell its entire 53-percent stake in BPCL in what could be the biggest privatization deal in the country. Russias largest oil producer, state-controlled Rosneft, as well as some of the
	Its Only A Matter Of Time Before China Makes A Move On Afghanistan While the world looks on with growing concern at the political play unfolding in Afghanistan with the takeover of the Taliban, another sidebar to this developing story that is slowly creeping into public consciousness is the vast treasure-trove of minerals in that country, and how the Taliban government will exploit it. One estimate by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) given years ago had pegged the worth of Afghanistans untapped mineral resources at U.S. $1 trillion. Some Afghan officials have said the actual figure could be three times
	Dodge to resurrect ‘Fratzog’ logo for new electric vehicles The Fratzog ” a made up word by a designer ” was initially used by Dodge from 1962 through 1981.
	A race against Covid: How Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech developed vaccines in record time The teams at Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech recount the historic race to develop Covid-19 vaccines in a newly released documentary by CNBC.
	Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Big Lots, Hibbett Sports, Peloton, Gap and others These are the stocks posting the largest moves before the bell.
	5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday U.S. stock futures rose ahead of Fed Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech Friday morning.
	Peloton says it has been subpoenaed by DOJ, DHS over reporting of treadmill injuries Peloton said Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have subpoenaed the fitness equipment maker.
	Housing, jobs and free calls: How businesses are supporting Afghan refugees Airbnb, Verizon, Walmart, and others are rushing to support the thousands of refugees that have been evacuated from Afghanistan in recent days.
	Vaccine inequality could cost the global economy trillions, report finds The world economy could lose $2.3 trillion because of delayed vaccinations, with developing nations losing the most, the Economist Intelligence Unit said.
	Tesla files to become an electricity provider in Texas Tesla has also built several utility-scale energy storage systems around the world, but typically hasn’t functioned as the retail electricity provider there.
	Covid ” not vaccination ” presents biggest blood clot risk, large study finds The risk of rare blood clotting is significantly higher as a result of catching Covid-19 than it is from being vaccinated against the virus, a major study has found.
	Texas Gov. Abbott to deploy 2,500 more out-of-state medical staff to battle delta Covid surge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday the state will get 2,500 more medical personnel from across the country to help battle this summer’s Covid surge.
	Peloton is slashing the price of its Bike by hundreds of dollars to $1,495 Peloton announced Thursday it’s lowering the price of its less expensive Bike product to $1,495, starting today.
	Peloton shares fall after cycle maker posts disappointing earnings and outlook, cuts Bike price Peloton reported Thursday that revenue growth in its fiscal fourth quarter tapered off dramatically from the prior quarter.
	Ford to cut F-150 pickup truck production due to chip shortage Ford is once again cutting production of its F-150 pickup truck and two other vehicles next week due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips.
	Jackson Hole’s Virtual Reality Jackson Hole’s Virtual Reality By Philip Marey, Senior US Strategist at Rabobank Yesterday the S&P500 closed 0.58% lower and this morning the 10 year US treasury yield is about 2 bps lower than before the Kabul airport attack, but the timing of the market movements suggests that this was not the decisive factor behind it. Hawkish comments from Fed speakers, the anticipation of Powell’s speech of Jackson Hole today, and perhaps even the somewhat disappointing jobless claims may have played a role in the cautious sentiment in the markets. Meanwhile, the second estimate of US GDP in Q2 (6.6%) did not differ much from the first estimate (6.5%). Yesterday also saw the release of the accounts for the ECB’s July meeting, and they were somewhat hawkish sounding. As our ECB-watcher Bas van Geffen noted, the policy discussion mainly focused on the new rates guidance, with limited reference to the other instruments. In fact, “there was general agreement to defer the discussion on the APP forward guidance to a future meeting.” That said, asset purchases were discussed as part of the new guidance: “it was remarked that a recalibration of the interest rate forward guidance could be erroneously perceived by market participants as necessarily implying a longer period of net asset purchases owing to the link between rate guidance and forward guidance on the asset purchase programme (APP).” With the accounts further noting that “[the new forward guidance on rates] did not necessarily imply œlower for longer interest rates if it ultimately succeeded in anchoring inflation expectations at the target” […] if credible, should reduce the extent to which other instruments needed to be deploy …
	It’s Jackson Hole Day And Futures Are Going Nowhere It’s Jackson Hole Day And Futures Are Going Nowhere US equity futures are trading where they were on Monday evening, having flatlined in a narrow, boring 20-points range on either side of 4480 for the past week, as virtually nobody wanted to take on any major new positions ahead of Jackson Hole. Well, the good news is that in less than 3 hours, J-Powell’s much overhyped speech at J-Hole where he will barely – if at all – mention the taper is almost behind us which hopefully should unlock some volatility in markets. At 700am, S&P futures were up 12.50 or 0.3% to 4479, Dow futures were up 80 to 0.22% and Nasdaq futures were up 50 or 0.33%. TreasuryÂ yieldsÂ dipped, the dollar was flat and bitcoin was flat around $47,500. Traders are awaiting Jay “BRRR” Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium as a now-revering surge in delta variant cases and faster inflation paint a mixed picture for the US central bank. Four of the Fed’s leading hawks are pushing for tapering to begin this year –
	‘This Ends The Debate’ – Israeli Study Shows Natural Immunity 13x More Effective Than Vaccines At Stopping Delta ‘This Ends The Debate’ – Israeli Study Shows Natural Immunity 13x More Effective Than Vaccines At Stopping Delta Dr. Anthony Fauci and the rest of President Biden’s COVID advisors have been proven wrong about “the science” of COVID vaccines yet again. After telling Americans that vaccines offer better protection than natural infection, a new study out of Israel suggests the opposite is true: natural infection offers a much better shield against the delta variant than vaccines. The study was described by Bloomberg as “the largest real-world analysis comparing natural immunity – gained from an earlier infection – to the protection provided by one of the most potent vaccines currently in use.” A few days ago, we noted how remarkable it was that the mainstream press was finally giving voice to scientists to criticize President Biden’s push to start doling out booster jabs. Well, this study further questions the credibility of relying on vaccines, given that the study showed that the vaccin …
	Fed Up With The Fed’s Abuse Of Power Fed Up With The Fed’s Abuse Of Power Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, One phrase describes the Fed’s pillaging of the nation to benefit the few at the expense of the many: abuse of power. To confess that the fate of the entire global economy now rests on the mumblings of a fossilized Politburo fanatically devoted to making the rich richer is to 1) state the obvious and 2) admit the extreme fragility of the global financial system.Â That it has come to this– all global markets soar or collapse in unison based on the addled spew of the fossilized Politburo’s chairman–is overwhelming evidence that 1) the system is broken and 2) the fossilized Politburo has way too much power and 3) the fossilized Politburo is abusing its power by enriching the already-rich, decade after decade, to the detriment of the bottom 90% and systemic stability. Let me translate the incoherent ramblings …
	Contactless card limit to rise to Â£100 in October The limit per transaction will increase from Â£45 to Â£100, but the move has led to fears of a rise in crime.
	BA warns of serious cost problems when furlough ends The airline tells staff its wage bill will increase steeply when the government scheme ends.
	Fruit picker shortage spreads to Christmas workers The Entertainer toy chain warns a lack of warehouse staff will hit the firm ahead of its key season.
	Vijaya Diagnostic Centre IPO: Grey market signals little upside Marketmen tracking grey market moves said activity may pick up pace early next week. The Rs 1,894 crore Vijaya Diagnostic Centre IPO would open on Wednesday and close on Friday.
	Moody’s assigns Ba3 rating to Adani Green Energy’s proposed USD notes According to Moody’s scale of ratings, obligations rated Ba are judged to be speculative and subject to substantial credit risk.
	Billionaire-backed stock picker says bubble talk is for boomers People who are œsay maybe 10 years older than me, so in their 50s, they probably were in the market at the time, and they got burnt, Yiu said in an interview at his Mayfair office. œThey still think that tech today is the same thing as what happened then, and is going to go bust.
	Rail Week Ending 21 August 2021 – Year-over-Year Growth Continues To Slow Written by Steven Hansen Week 33 of 2021 shows the same week total rail traffic (from the same week one year ago) slowed according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data.
	Financial Crime: Medical supplier allegedly took $12 million for masks and gloves and used it to buy a Boca Raton mansion, prosecutors say Brian Sperber has been charged with pocketing over $12 million for life-saving PPE and never delivering.
	Metals Stocks: Gold edges higher as market awaits Powell’s Jackson Hole speech Gold futures tilt into positive territory Friday morning, ahead of a keynote speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as a part of a Jackson Hole symposium of global central bankers, which could set the tone for financial assets throughout the remainder of 2021.
	Futures Movers: Oil prices rise as tropical storm threatens Gulf of Mexico Oil and natural-gas futures rise Friday, as Tropical Storm Ida forms in the Caribbean and takes aim at the U.S. Gulf Coast.