20Apr2022 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: Markets Mixed Today With Tesla Reporting Expectation Beating Earnings

U.S. Banks Set To Write Off $15 Billion In Russian Assets

As earnings season starts off, all eyes are on major U.S. banks who have emerged from the pandemic into a brand new reality that has Russias war on Ukraine as its centerpiece, flanked by sanctions, withdrawals, inflation, and talk of recession. U.S. banks were among the first Western banks to exit the Russian market following the invasion in late February. Even though U.S. banks started winding down their presence in Russia after Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014, according to the Bank for International Settlements Russian entities

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Banks-Set-To-Write-Off-15-Billion-In-Russian-Assets.html

U.S. To Become Worlds Top LNG Exporter This Year

Five years after the United States became a net exporter of natural gas on an annual basis, the countrys natural gas exports both by pipeline and as liquefied natural gas (LNG) have grown by leaps and bounds. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has forecast that the United States will surpass Australia and Qatar to become the worlds top LNG exporter this year, with LNG exports continuing to lead the growth in U.S. natural gas exports and average 12.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2022.The United States currently

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-To-Become-Worlds-Top-LNG-Exporter-This-Year.html

New Tech Is Accelerating The Wind Energy Revolution

Wind energy production is steadily increasing, with several innovative projects being established around the world. While some countries continue to invest in traditional wind developments others look for innovative new projects, as wind energy and other renewables appear set to overtake fossil fuels in several parts of the world within the next decade. Wind energy production overtook coal and nuclear output in the U.S. in March, according to the Energy Information Administration. It was the first time that wind energy output surpassed both

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Wind-Power/New-Tech-Is-Accelerating-The-Wind-Energy-Revolution.html

U.S. Energy Exports Enjoy Record Week Amid Ukraine Crisis

The U.S. exported the most oil and petroleum products in history last week as countries across the world continue to work to replace Russian supplies in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The United States crude and petroleum exports surged to an all-time weekly high of 10.6 million b/d during the week ending April 15, with the countrys exports outweighing its imports by the most ever in government data going back to 1990. Unlike its EU counterparts,

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-Energy-Exports-Enjoy-Record-Week-Amid-Ukraine-Crisis.html

Institutional Investors Just Cant Quit Coal

Almost everyone environmentalists, policymakers, financial institutions, and fossil fuel magnates alike agree on one thing: its time to ditch coal. And thats a list of people who dont agree on pretty much anything at all. Its clear that coal needs to go. The fossil fuel is infamously dirty and emits the highest amount of carbon dioxide of any commonly used fossil fuel. Its the single biggest contributor to global warming. And its not even cheap anymore. As the renewable energy industry has

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Institutional-Investors-Just-Cant-Quit-Coal.html

Germany Pledges To Halt All Russian Oil Imports By End Of Year

In Germanys most definitive statement yet regarding Russian oil and gas imports, the German Foreign Minister has pledged that the country will cease importing Russian oil entirely by the end of 2022. While Germany will only gradually stop Russian natural gas imports, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Wednesday that by this summer, the country will halve Russian oil imports and zero them out by years end, and then gas will follow. Thats a large commitment from Germany, which relies on Russian

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Germany-Pledges-To-Halt-All-Russian-Oil-Imports-By-End-Of-Year.html

Starbucks alleges baristas union intimidated workers in new complaints with the labor board

Workers United has filed dozens of complaints against Starbucks with the NLRB.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/starbucks-files-nlrb-complaints-against-baristas-union.html

Relief, confusion and disappointment as masks come off on planes

Flight attendants have faced the brunt of public opposition to the mandate and are experiencing a particular relief now that enforcement can ease.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/relief-confusion-and-disappointment-as-mask-mandate-ends.html

DOJ announces $150 million in Covid health fraud, bogus vaccination prosecutions nationwide

The prosecutions are the latest criminal cases related to people exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic with fraudulent health billings and fake vaccine cards.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/doj-accuses-2-in-california-of-144-million-covid-testing-fraud.html

Supreme Court rejects challenge to SALT limit from New York, New Jersey

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge from New York and other states to overturn the $10,000 limit on the federal deduction for state and local taxes.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/supreme-court-rejects-salt-limit-challenge-from-new-york-new-jersey.html

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Netflix, M&T Bank, Baker Hughes, IBM and more

These are the stocks posting the largest moves in midday trading.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-midday-netflix-mt-bank-baker-hughes-ibm-more.html

FAA keeps zero tolerance policy for unruly travelers even after judge scraps mask mandate

Disputes over masks account for more than 70% of unruly passenger reports.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/faa-keeps-zero-tolerance-policy-for-unruly-passengers-amid-optional-masking.html

Airline start-up Breeze adds cross-country flights from Westchester in battle for suburbanite travelers

The announcement comes a month after the airline said it would double its network.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/jetblue-founders-breeze-airways-plans-cross-country-flights-from-westchester.html

Novavax says vaccine targeting Covid and flu shows promising results in early data

Novavax plans to move forward with a phase two trial this year to confirm the dosing levels, and a phase three during the 2023 flu season at the earliest.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/novavax-says-vaccine-targeting-covid-and-flu-shows-promising-results-in-early-data.html

Legacy media has disrupted Netflix. The consequence may be mutually assured destruction

Instead of legacy media shares soaring as they imitate Netflix, the industry has brought Netflix down to a degree.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/legacy-media-disrupted-netflix-with-streaming-offerings-now-it-risks-similar-fate.html

Impossible Foods could be at risk of losing a key patent in legal battle with Motif FoodWorks

Impossible sued Motif in March, claiming that the start-up’s heme-based beef alternative too closely imitates its own version.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/impossible-foods-patent-at-risk-in-legal-battle-with-motif-foodworks.html

New York Gov. Hochul warns of ‘rising tide’ of Covid cases as omicron subvariants drive spike in infections

New York will also keep in place its mask requirements for public transit and other similar settings, at least for now, Hochul said.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/ny-gov-hochul-warns-omicron-subvariants-driving-spike-in-covid-infections.html

Options traders bet on big post-earnings gains for Tesla

Options traders are betting Tesla will hit the gas when it’s quarterly results hit the wire as the EV stock continues to be a wildly popular options target.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/options-traders-bet-on-big-post-earnings-gains-for-tesla.html

What we learned from the Biden, Harris tax returns, according to experts

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have released their 2021 tax returns. Here are a few key takeaways, according to experts.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/20/what-we-learned-from-biden-harris-tax-returns-according-to-experts.html

Tesla Soars On Blowout Q1 Results, Warns Supply Chain Challenges Will Persist For Rest Of 2022

Tesla Soars On Blowout Q1 Results, Warns Supply Chain Challenges Will Persist For Rest Of 2022As previewed earlier, analysts are expecting a revenue increase of 142% from a year ago and, with consensus calling for earnings per share of $2.27 from $17.92 billion in sales. That compares with earnings of $2.54 a share and sales of $17.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. Automotive gross profit margin is expected to be about 28.5% and regulatory credit sales are expected to be about $312 million. Operating profit is estimated to be $2.6 billion. A summary of what to expect:

Adjusted EPS: $2.27

Revenue: $17.92 billion

Automotive gross margin: +28.5%

Gross margin: 25.9%

Capex: $1.67 billion

Cash and cash equivalents: $18.60 billion

Customer deposits: $878.2 million

We already know actual the deliveries: recall, for Q1 2022 the company reported earlier this month a record 310,048 deliveries. The results slightly exceeded expectations, which stood at an average of 309,158 deliveries. Tesla said the record was “despite ongoing supply chain challenges and factory shutdowns”.

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/tesla-soars-blowout-q1-results-warns-supply-chain-challenges-will-persist-rest-2022

Tech Wrecks As Bond Bid Sparks Major Curve-Flattening

Tech Wrecks As Bond Bid Sparks Major Curve-FlatteningMajor divergence in US equities today as Nasdaq puked (after NFLX collapsed) and the rest, led by The Dow and Small Caps, managed gains (with late-day weakness erasing S&P’s positive returns)…

Of course everyone was focused on today’s carnage in NFLX (biggest volume since Oct 2013, 2nd worst daily loss since IPO – Oct 2004 previous) with over $56 billion in market cap being wiped away, leaving the company smaller than $100 bn total market cap…

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/tech-wrecks-bond-bid-sparks-major-curve-flattening

“We Hope You Enjoyed Your Ride Through Fantasy-Land, Now Watch Your Step As You Exit…”

“We Hope You Enjoyed Your Ride Through Fantasy-Land, Now Watch Your Step As You Exit…”Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

What’s Your Plan A, B, And C?Nothing unravels quite as dramatically as systems which are presumed to be rock-solid and forever.

Here’s the default Bullish case for stocks and the economy: let’s call it Plan Zero.

1. The economy and equities can grow forever (a.k.a. infinite growth on a finite planet in a waste-is-growth Landfill Economy)

2. Higher energy costs have near-zero effect on the economy and stocks.

3. The Federal Reserve will deliver a soft landing which reduces inflation back to near-zero while the economy and stocks continue lofting higher.

4. Higher food costs and global food scarcities have near-zero effect on the economy and stocks.

5. Supply chains unraveling has near-zero effect on the economy and stocks.

6. Deglobali …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/we-hope-you-enjoyed-your-ride-through-fantasy-land-now-watch-your-step-you-exit

Clinton Lawyers Scramble To Keep Fusion GPS Docs Secret In Sussman Case

Clinton Lawyers Scramble To Keep Fusion GPS Docs Secret In Sussman CaseAuthored by Techno Fog via The Reactionary,

The battle over documents and e-mails in the Michael Sussmann case just got hotter.

Back in August 2017, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee, explaining how his firm was retained to gather “lots of facts about Donald Trump.” He admitted that Fusion GPS met with reporters leading up to the 2016 election to spread opposition research against then-candidate Trump.

The context of Perkins Coie’s retention of Fusion GPS was further explained in a book co-authored by Simpson and Fusion …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/legal-advice-clinton-lawyers-scramble-keep-fusion-gps-docs-secret

Germany to stop Russian oil imports by end of this year

Germany currently gets a quarter of its oil and 40% of its gas from Russia

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61164894?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Russian oligarch lambasts country’s ‘massacre’

Businessman Oleg Tinkov is one of the most high profile Russians to publicly condemn the war.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61163546?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Rail worker strike would be ‘biggest’ in history, says RMT

The RMT union claims Network Rail’s plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs will make accidents more likely.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61163549?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Rich investors turn aggressive in picking tech startups from unlisted market

According to Kristal.AI, the minimum ticket size of such deals is about $25,000.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/rich-investors-turn-aggressive-in-picking-tech-startups-from-unlisted-market/articleshow/90954310.cms

Market movers: Jhunjhunwala sells stake in SAIL; Inox Wind crashes 4%

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has sold some or all of his stake in Steel Authority of India (SAIL), the latest shareholding data released by the company shows.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/market-movers-jhunjhunwala-sells-stake-in-sail-inox-wind-crashes-4/articleshow/90962021.cms

These 30 stocks dropped up to 17% in just 5 sessions. Do you own any?

Yes Bank, Happiest Minds, Mastek, Tata Teleservices and Vodafone Idea tanked a dozen per cent each, whereas Tata Elxsi, HDFC Bank, Persistent Systems, KPIT Technologies, Tata Power dropped 11 per cent each in the last five sessions.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/these-30-stocks-dropped-up-17-in-just-5-sessions-do-you-own-any/articleshow/90955815.cms

EVs can store power for our homes and the grid — Why ‘vehicle-to-everything’ technology is a must-follow investing theme

The Biden administration joins private sector to push “vehicle-to-everything” technology. V2X is a growth area for EVs, as well as chips and other tech.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-7C2E-45F02404C33A%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

Christmas in July: Hasbro moves up inventory purchases to make sure there are enough toys for the holidays

Hasbro says that it has taken steps to move up inventory purchases to make sure items are available for the holidays.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-7C27-F7D073A1AAE7%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

Bond Report: 10- and 30-year Treasury yields pull back from three-year highs amid pause in bond selloff

The 10-year Treasury yield posts its biggest drop in almost three weeks on Wednesday, slipping from its highest level in more than three years.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-7C25-BFE17F3AF8D1%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1