13Dec2021 Market Close: Wall Street Markets Slip In Late Trading

Saudi Arabia: Hasty Energy Transition Will Lead To Oil Price Spikes

The energy transition and the shift toward renewable energy have to be managed very carefully in order to prevent a surge in oil prices as energy demand continues to rise, according to Saudi Arabias finance minister. We have very serious concerns that the world could run short of energy if we are not careful in managing the transition, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the finance minister of the worlds largest oil exporter, said on Monday, as carried by Bloomberg. In Saudi Arabia, we have an interest in maintaining demand.

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Saudi-Arabia-Hasty-Energy-Transition-Will-Lead-To-Oil-Price-Spikes.html

Can Egypt Become A Global LNG Power?

Egypts long-suffering LNG industry is finally experiencing some success as it takes advantage of European gas market constraints and exploits regional geopolitical developments. Cairos dream of becoming a global LNG player was derailed by a combination of the Arab Spring, conflict with Turkey, and then COVID demand destruction. Now, however, the countrys LNG industry is poised for major growth, with its largest producer, EGAS, having just offered a cargo on a free-on-board (FOB) basis for loading over December 28 and 29 from

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Can-Egypt-Become-A-Global-LNG-Power.html

S&P Global Platts: Energy Supply Will Catch Up With Demand In 2022

Oil and gas supply will grow faster in 2022 than it did in 2021 to the point of catching up and even surpassing energy demand growth, S&P Global Platts Analytics said on Monday in its newly-released 2022 Energy Outlook. While rebounding demand for oil and gas was the key theme this year, next year, the key theme in energy markets will be the rebound in supply, S&P Global Platts analysts said. Thanks to rising exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), higher oil and gas production from the U.S. shale patch, and the return of investment in

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/SP-Global-Platts-Energy-Supply-Will-Catch-Up-With-Demand-In-2022.html

Oil & Gas Investors Are Underestimating This Systemic Risk

When I started my career as a third-party reservoir engineer twenty-six years ago, plugging costs seemed optional to this neophyte. Salvage value probably covered abandonment costs, so they could be ignored. Any included costs were made irrelevant by discounting, and it was more than fair to assume that someone else would buy the asset (without consideration for asset retirement obligations) long before the time came to spend the money. All of these have slowly changed, and, in my observation, none of those assumptions can be relied on any longer.

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Gas-Investors-Are-Underestimating-This-Systemic-Risk.html

OPEC Sees Mild And Short-Lived Omicron Impact On Oil Demand

The impact of the Omicron COVID variant on global oil demand will be mild and short-lived, OPEC said on Monday, leaving its 2021 and 2022 demand growth forecasts unchanged. In its closely-watched Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), the cartel suggested today that recent fears of Omicron slashing oil demand significantly may be unfounded. The impact of the new Omicron variant is expected to be mild and short-lived, as the world becomes better equipped to manage COVID-19 and its related challenges. This is in addition to a steady economic outlook

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/OPEC-Sees-Mild-And-Short-Lived-Omicron-Impact-On-Oil-Demand.html

EU Could Start Joint Gas Buying To Avoid Future Supply And Price Crises

The leaders of the European Union member states are expected to discuss this week a new system to jointly buy natural gas in order to create strategic reserves to protect the countries and consumers from gas shortages and soaring energy prices. The European Commission, the EUs executive branch, has drawn up proposals for the creation of the new system and has circulated the document among EU member states ahead of a leaders summit on Thursday, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting the document it had seen. The proposals will

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/EU-Could-Start-Joint-Gas-Buying-To-Avoid-Future-Supply-And-Price-Crises.html

‘Dr. Oz Show’ canceled by Sony Pictures as recent New Jersey resident Oz runs for Senate out of Pennsylvania

Mehmet Oz, who is running as a Republican for the Senate in Pennsylvania despite recently living in New Jersey, has adopted ex-President Trump’s language.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/13/sony-cancels-dr-oz-show-due-to-his-senate-run-in-pennsylvania.html

Patek Philippe’s Tiffany Blue Nautilus watch fetches $6.5 million at auction

The sale cements the reputation of the Patek Philippe Nautilus Ref. 5711, which was discontinued earlier this year, as the ‘holy grail’ of sports watches.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/13/-patek-philippes-tiffany-blue-nautilus-watch-fetches-6point5-million.html

Hawaii’s ultra-luxury real estate market smashes records, as sales soar 600%. Here’s what’s selling

“The volume and the velocity of Hawaii’s real estate market have shattered every record and historical norm previously held,” said Hawaii Life CEO Matt Beall.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/13/hawaiis-ultra-luxe-real-estate-is-smashing-records-heres-whats-selling.html

Rivian R1T named MotorTrend’s truck of the year

Other finalists for MotorTrend’s truck of the year were the Ford Maverick, GMC Hummer EV and Hyundai Santa Cruz.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/13/rivian-r1t-named-motortrends-truck-of-the-year.html

Omicron can hit fully vaccinated, Oxford study says, as UK prepares for tidal wave of cases

Two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine are less effective at fighting Omicron than previous variants of the virus, scientists say.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/13/oxford-university-study-says-omicron-can-hit-the-double-vaccinated.html

Peloton fires back at its portrayal in ‘Sex and the City’ reboot with own parody ad: ‘He’s alive’

Peloton wants users to know its fitness equipment can improve one’s health — not lead to complications, which was implied in the reboot of “Sex and the City.”

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/12/peloton-fires-back-at-its-portrayal-in-sex-and-the-city-reboot-with-own-parody-ad.html

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says at least one patient has died with the omicron Covid variant in the UK

U.K. leader Boris Johnson has confirmed that at least one patient infected with the new omicron variant of Covid-19 has died in the country.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/13/prime-minister-boris-johnson-says-at-least-one-patient-has-died-with-omicron.html

Covid booster is ‘optimal care,’ but fully vaccinated definition stays put, Fauci says

Health officials will continue to evaluate whether the definition of fully vaccinated needs to change, Dr. Anthony Fauci said.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/12/covid-booster-is-optimal-care-but-fully-vaccinated-definition-stays-put-fauci-says.html

Abu Dhabi GP: Max Verstappen takes F1 title from Lewis Hamilton on final lap after late controversy

Verstappen becomes the first Dutchman to win the title and the second for Red Bull after Sebastian Vettel.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/12/abu-dhabi-gp-max-verstappen-takes-f1-title-from-lewis-hamilton.html

More than 80 killed in Kentucky after deadly tornadoes rip across several states

Death toll in Kentucky from the deadly storms is expected to exceed more than 100, said Governor Andy Beshear.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/12/more-than-80-killed-in-kentucky-after-deadly-tornadoes-rip-across-several-states.html

What devices like Apple, Google smartwatches are beginning to display about our health

Amid the rise in telehealth and digital health, devices like the Apple Watch and Fitbit Sense are moving beyond fitness tracking to collect more medical data.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/12/what-apple-google-smartwatches-are-learning-about-our-health.html

Bonds & The Dollar Jump As Stocks & Crypto Dump

Bonds & The Dollar Jump As Stocks & Crypto DumpEverything was awesome overnight. Equity futs were higher as traders anticipated yet another Santa Claus rally into year-end. And then UK PM BoJo fearmongered of a “tidal wave” of COVID cases coming and the first of someone who has the Omicron variant… and all hell broke loose in markets.

‘Bubble’ markets broke loose…

And this was overheard in mum’s basement across the nation…

All the major indices tanked at the US cash open, led by Small Caps. The selling pressure abated as Europe closed but the machines were unable to get back to even. The last 15 minutes saw selling pressure resume leaving Small Caps and Big-Tech down 1.5% on the day…

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/bonds-dollar-jump-stocks-crypto-dump

Collapse In Shimao Bonds Could Be “More Devastating Than Debt Crises At Evergrande And Kaisa”

Collapse In Shimao Bonds Could Be “More Devastating Than Debt Crises At Evergrande And Kaisa”Despite trading solidly higher out of the gate amid a boost in risk sentiment thanks to predictions that China will start adding fiscal stimulus in early 2022, Asian stocks limped into the red after a wave of selling swept through Chinese developers’ bonds and shares after the sudden plunge in a major property firm’s notes renewed concern over the health of the sector.

With the world eager to move on from the Evergrande drama, Bloomberg reports that Shimao Group Holdings dollar notes dropped as much as 12 cents on the dollar, with the selloff spreading to other company bonds including Sunac China Holdings and KWG Group Holdings. The selloff was so steep, trading was halted in six of Shimao’s yuan bonds after they plunged, with one falling more than 50%.

A Bloomberg Intelligence stock index of real estate firms slumped 2.8%, led by an 12% drop by Shimao. Property stocks were among the biggest losers in Hong Kong. Sunac plunged more than 7%, w …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/collapse-shimao-bonds-could-be-more-devastating-debt-crises-evergrande-and-kaisa

The Next Catalyst For Inflation: Significant And Persistent Increases In Labor Costs

The Next Catalyst For Inflation: Significant And Persistent Increases In Labor CostsBy Joseph Carson, former chief economist at AllianceBernstein

Significant and persistent increases in labor costs could be the next big surprise in the inflation cycle.  My research found that the most reliable signal on the labor market is the monthly change in the civilian unemployment rate. Since the spring, the record drop in the civilian unemployment rate indicates that the labor markets have far passed the point of demand and supply balance. That will force companies to continue increasing pay to maintain workers and attract new ones.

November’s unemployment rate of 4.2% is 1.8 percentage points below March.  Over that period, the jobless rate recorded monthly declines of 0.4 percentage points or more three times. Monthly drops in the jobless rate of 0.4 percentage points or more are rare. It’s even rarer to occur when the jobless rate is at or below 6%. It happened four times in the past 50 years, and three of those occurred since March. Also, the last time the jobless rate starting at 6% fell as much as it did in 2021 was 1950—over 70 years ago.

Press reports indicate that companies plan the most significant wage increases in 2022 in over a decade. Yet, with job openings at 11 million and exceeding the number of unemployed by 4 million, the odds are high that wage costs will surprise as much on the upside as commodity and freight costs did in 2021.

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Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/next-catalyst-inflation-significant-and-persistent-increases-labor-costs

California Looks To Stab Rooftop Solar Customers In The Back With Massive Incentive Rollback, New Fees

California Looks To Stab Rooftop Solar Customers In The Back With Massive Incentive Rollback, New FeesCalifornia regulators are eyeing sharp reductions in subsidies for residential solar systems in  what would be the first major reform to a program that helped jump-start the rooftop solar industry, according to Bloomberg.

As part of a proposed series of changes issued on Monday by a judge at the California Public Utilities Commission, residential solar customers would receive a much lower credit  for excess energy sent to the grid – with credits ranging from around 30 cents per killowatt-hour, to less than 10 cents depending on time of day.

The proposal would also stick solar owners with nearly $500 per year in grid-connection fees.

The proposed amendments will undoubtedly impact the business of bolting solar panels on roofs across the U.S., an industry valued at more than $13 billion a year. A deep cut to incentives would likely slow installations in the …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/california-looks-stab-rooftop-solar-customers-back-massive-incentive-rollback

Post Office scandal: Government to foot bill for postmasters’ compensation

The Department for Business said that the impact on postmasters’ lives “cannot be overstated”.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59629712?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

NatWest fined £265m after bin bags of cash laundered

The state-backed bank had pleaded guilty to failing to prevent money-laundering of nearly £400m.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59629711?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Bank of England: UK resilient but Covid fears remain

The Bank of England’s latest stability report says new variants could still have a big economic impact.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59636958?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

How following the ‘in thing’ can throw you ‘out’ of the market game

How often do we follow the herd onto the “in thing today”? We overlook data and intuitively know that the “in thing today” will not hold up in the long term, but we still follow the herd, confident that we will exit the wrong theme at the right time.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/how-following-the-in-thing-can-throw-you-out-of-the-market-game/articleshow/88261048.cms

Overlooked by IPO investors, Jhunjhunwala’s Star Health scores first ‘BUY’ rating

“We are of the view that investors should not be deterred by high valuations, which are rightfully anchored to Star Health’s early unassailable position in a high-growth industry,” says Avinash Singh, an analyst with Emkay Global, in a note with his co-author Shrishti Jagati.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/rejected-by-ipo-investors-jhunjhunwalas-star-health-scores-first-buy-rating/articleshow/88254261.cms

Amazon-backed grocer More Retail weighing India IPO at $5 billion value

The company is weighing a first-time share sale in Mumbai as early as June, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. More Retail could raise as much as $500 million in a listing, which would consist largely of new shares, one of the people said.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/ipos/fpos/amazon-backed-grocer-more-retail-weighing-india-ipo-at-5-billion-value/articleshow/88258271.cms

Bond Report: Treasury yields decline as investors await Fed meeting

Treasury yields fall Monday as investors await this week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-77E5-49481DA6EBA9%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

: Tesla slides into bear market territory as valuation falls below $1 trillion

EV maker’s valuation falls under $1 trillion after December losses mount.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-77E8-00AC3E0D4FFC%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

The Fed: 5 things to watch for when the Federal Reserve announces its policy decision Wednesday

Here are five things to watch for when the Fed concludes the two-day meeting on Wednesday.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-77E5-A525BEB3594F%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1