The DOE Is Betting Big On A Geothermal Game-Changer In Utah

A huge experiment to produce electricity using enhanced geothermal energy is taking place underground in Utah. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is funding an experimental pilot project drilling well over a mile deep into the Earth’s crust to access a continuous heat source for clean energy production. While the technology is in its infancy and there are questions about whether enhanced geothermal could ever be cost-competitive with other forms of clean energy production, the DOE is convinced that it’s a good enough idea…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Geothermal-Energy/The-DOE-Is-Betting-Big-On-A-Geothermal-Game-Changer-In-Utah.html

EIA Raises Brent Spot Price Forecast

The Energy Information Administration raised its outlook for Brent crude oil spot prices for this year and next, according to the agency’s Short Term Energy Outlook published on Tuesday. The EIA sees Brent crude oil prices averaging $82.62 per barrel this year—an upward revision of some $4 per barrel, the STEO showed. For next year, the EIA predicts Brent will average $86.48 per barrel, an upward revision of some $2 per barrel, or 3.6%. For August, the EIA sees Brent crude averaging $85 per barrel. “Crude oil prices have increased…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/EIA-Raises-Brent-Spot-Price-Forecast.html

Siemens Energy Reassesses Wind Strategy After £1.9 Billion Setback

Siemens Energy on Monday said problems recently unveiled at its wind turbine unit would cost it £1.9bn (€2.2bn), well short of worst-case estimates but still casting doubt over whether it will keep the struggling business. The charges will inflate Siemens Energy’s net loss more than six-fold in 2023 to £3.9bn (€4.5bn), the company said, as it published third-quarter results showing a record order backlog of £91.3bn (€106bn) euros due to strong demand. The group also cut its sales outlook, and issued a new,…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Siemens-Energy-Reassesses-Wind-Strategy-After-19-Billion-Setback.html

U.S. And China Locked In Underwater Tug-of-War

Via the Jamestown Foundation In May 2018, the World Bank opened bidding to “all eligible firms from any country” on a $72.6 million submarine fiber-optic cable system that sought to enhance the Internet infrastructure of three Pacific island nations: the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, and Nauru (World Bank, May 1, 2018). Companies like Japan’s NEC, France’s Alcatel Submarine Networks, and China’s HMN Tech leapt into the procurement frenzy. HMN Tech, formerly known as Huawei Marine Networks, submitted…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/International/US-And-China-Locked-In-Underwater-Tug-of-War.html

Crude Inventories To Sink To 8-Year Low This Year: Nuttall

Inventories of crude oil will reach an 8-year low by the end of this year, Eric Nuttal, partner and Senior Portfolio Manager at Ninepoint Partners, told BNN Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. While persistent fear of China’s stuttering crude oil demand and the boogeyman of high interest rates are periodically dragging down oil prices, the recent price rally in crude oil has been fairly substantial. “When you boil it all down, our measurement of the health of the oil market comes down to oil inventories—globally,” Nuttall explained.…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Crude-Inventories-To-Sink-To-8-Year-Low-This-Year-Nuttall.html

Will The Steel Price Slide Help Drive The Auto Industry Forward?

Via Metal Miner Compared to other metal industries, components of the automotive industry still remain somewhat strong, despite the Automotive MMI (Monthly Metal Index’s) sideways movement over the past seven months. Pent-up consumer demand still runs strong in the industry. However, it still continues to battle high interest rates and falling steel prices due to slumping demand. There could potentially be a swing to the upside in the long-term should the Fed begin lowering interest rates. However, most experts don’t anticipate that…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Metals/Commodities/Will-The-Steel-Price-Slide-Help-Drive-The-Auto-Industry-Forward.html

Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet Throws Support Behind OPEC+ Cut Extension

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet, or Council of Ministers, showed its support for what it considers to be precautionary measures taken by OPEC+ to stabilize the oil market, Saudi Arabi media said on Tuesday. It said it would continue to boost OPEC+ precautionary efforts to support the stability of the oil markets, Kingdom officials said. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, said last week that it would extend its 1 million barrel per day production cut through the month of September, past its original deadline at the end of August.…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Saudi-Arabias-Cabinet-Throws-Support-Behind-OPEC-Cut-Extension.html

Iraq Unwilling To Resume Crude Exports From Kurdistan To Turkey

It is easy to lose sight of the wood for the trees sometimes in the complex world of global oil. And perhaps no subject in that world involves so many different intricate moving parts as the extraordinary relationship between the Federal Government of Iraq (FGI), based in Baghdad, and the government of Iraq’s northern semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan (KRG), centred in Erbil. It is only when something such as the suspension of major flows of oil from Kurdistan to Turkey occurs, as began on 25 March, that many analysts start trying to unravel…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Iraq-Unwilling-To-Resume-Crude-Exports-From-Kurdistan-To-Turkey.html

Glencore Combats Profit Plunge With Buyback Boost

Glencore suffered a sharp drop in pre-tax profits in the first six months of trading this year as the boom in commodity prices finally eased. The Swiss mining giant attributed the downturn to the normalisation of wholesale costs, after bumper trading following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which saw energy prices climb to record highs. In particularly lower coal pricing combined with inflationary impacts on production have eaten into the company’s profits. Energy buyers turned to coal when gas prices soared in a bid for cheaper supplies,…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Glencore-Combats-Profit-Plunge-With-Buyback-Boost.html

America’s Credit Downgrade: A Sign Of The Times Or Tip Of The Iceberg?

Last week, Fitch Ratings downgraded the US’s long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+. While the downgrade won’t significantly impact the US government’s ability to borrow, it should serve as a wake-up call because there is a much bigger problem looming on the horizon: a market-driven downgrade of the US dollar. The bond market got pummeled last week with four losing days before a rally on Friday driven by a weaker-than-expected jobs report. That rally wasn’t enough to recover all the losses, and yields finished the week…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Finance/the-Markets/Americas-Credit-Downgrade-A-Sign-Of-The-Times-Or-Tip-Of-The-Iceberg.html

Equinor Gets Approval To Electrify LNG Export Project By 2030

Norway’s government has approved a project by energy major Equinor and its partners for the future operation of Snøhvit and Hammerfest LNG, including electrification of the plant from 2030. The government approval entails onshore compression from 2028 and electrification of the plant from 2030, Equinor said in a statement on Tuesday.    Compared to the operator’s application, the Norwegian authorities have postponed the start of electrification by two years, from 2028 to 2030. The plant will continue to run on gas turbines…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Equinor-Gets-Approval-To-Electrify-LNG-Export-Project-By-2030.html

China Becomes Bearish Factor For Oil Prices Again

Brent crude fell below $85 per barrel on Tuesday as poor import/export data from China weighs on oil markets. Chart of the Week- China has become the most important bearish factor weighing on oil prices recently, with July export-import data showing the Asian country’s economy is struggling to outgrow its post-COVID woes. – Overseas exports of Chinese goods have recorded the worst month-on-month decline since February 2020 last month, down 14.5% in dollar terms, with weak consumer spending and investment growth aggravating the outlook. -…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/China-Becomes-Bearish-Factor-For-Oil-Prices-Again.html

From Unknown To Unstoppable: New Traders Redefine Russia’s Oil Landscape

Little-known and newly-incorporated trading companies have handled large volumes of Russian crude oil and products since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the withdrawal of Western firms from trades with Russia’s oil.  The little-known oil trading companies that have mushroomed are incorporated in jurisdictions outside of Europe and are often notoriously opaque in their management and dealings.   Some of those companies are said to have some representatives in common, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg. …

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/From-Unknown-To-Unstoppable-New-Traders-Redefine-Russias-Oil-Landscape.html

Explorer Oil India Books Higher Profit As Costs Fall

Upstream firm Oil India reported on Tuesday a higher after-tax profit for the quarter ending June 30 compared to the same period last year due to lower costs offsetting a decline in revenues which fell amid lower oil and gas prices. Oil India’s profit for the first quarter of the 2023/2024 fiscal year increased by 4% year over year and stood at $194.6 million (16.13 billion Indian rupees). That was due to a decline of 26.5% in total expenditure, which more than offset the drop in revenues of 22%. The realized crude oil prices for Oil India…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Explorer-Oil-India-Books-Higher-Profit-As-Costs-Fall.html

New Drilling Data Reignites Suriname’s Oil Dream

After five commercial oil discoveries in Surname’s offshore Block 58, the government in Paramaribo was optimistic the tiny, impoverished country was on track to enjoy an oil boom on the scale of neighboring Guyana. That was dealt a blow after TotalEnergies, which with a 50% interest, is the operator of Block 58, was dealt a massive blow after the supermajor chose to delay the final investment decision (FID), which was expected during 2022 or 2023. This decision occurred because drilling results did not match seismic data, while…

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/New-Drilling-Data-Reignites-Surinames-Oil-Dream.html

Cloud stocks falter as Datadog trims 2023 revenue expectations

Organizations continue to look carefully at opportunities to save money on software given economid conditions, and that’s hurting cloud stocks.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/cloud-stocks-falter-as-datadog-trims-2023-revenue-expectations.html

Credit card balances jumped in the second quarter and are above $1 trillion for the first time

Credit card debt 30 or more days late rose to 7.2% in the second quarter, up from 6.5% in Q1 and the highest rate since the first quarter of 2012.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/credit-card-balances-jumped-in-the-second-quarter-and-are-above-1-trillion-for-the-first-time.html

Apple is planning to move the button to hang up a call in new iPhone software

Apple’s iOS 17 will include one of the biggest revamps to the iPhone’s phone app in years.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/apple-moves-button-to-hang-up-or-end-call-in-ios-17-beta.html

Moody’s cuts ratings of 10 U.S. banks and puts some big names on downgrade watch

Moody’s on Monday cut the credit ratings of a host of small and mid-sized U.S. banks and placed several Wall Street big names on negative review.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/moodys-cuts-ratings-of-10-us-banks-and-puts-some-big-names-on-downgrade-watch.html

These stocks had the biggest earnings surprises because of A.I.

RBC Capital Markets is praising some companies that experienced the biggest profit surprises due to AI in the second-quarter earnings season.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/these-stocks-had-the-biggest-earnings-surprises-because-of-ai.html

Elon Musk’s X aims to win back advertisers with new brand safety technology deal

X said on Tuesday that it signed an exclusive partnership with the ad-tech firm Integral Ad Science for brand safety technology.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/elon-musks-x-aims-to-win-back-advertisers-signs-deal-with-ias.html

As credit card debt tops $1 trillion for the first time, ‘a huge test’ for cardholders is coming

Total credit card debt hit a new high of $1.03 trillion, according to the New York Fed. High balances may stress cardholders as student loan payments resume.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/managing-student-loan-payments-as-credit-card-debt-tops-1-trillion.html

PayPal explains the vision for its dollar-pegged stablecoin: CNBC Crypto World

CNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what’s ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today’s show, Jose Fernandez da Ponte of PayPal discusses the rollout of the firm’s dollar-pegged stablecoin.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/08/08/paypal-explains-vision-for-dollar-pegged-stablecoin-crypto-world.html

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried still faces campaign finance charges, prosecutors say

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that they are still planning to charge FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried with campaign finance violations.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/ftxs-bankman-fried-still-facing-campaign-finance-charges-prosecutors.html

Banks hit with $549 million in fines for use of Signal, WhatsApp to evade regulators’ reach

Wells Fargo, a relatively small player on Wall Street, racked up the most fines Tuesday, with a total of $200 million in penalties.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/regulators-hit-wall-street-banks-with-549-million-in-penalties-for-record-keeping-failures-.html

Electric Cadillac Escalade to test GM’s EV strategy, cash machine

GM has called the Escalade IQ, which is expected to share little to nothing with the traditional models, the “reinvention of an icon.”

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/gm-electric-cadillac-escalade-ev-strategy.html

Ohio voters flock to the polls with abortion rights at stake in GOP-backed rules change

A GOP-backed effort to make it more difficult to amend the constitution comes ahead of a fall referendum to enshrine abortion rights in Ohio.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/ohio-voters-flock-to-the-polls-with-abortion-rights-at-stake.html

Mortgage credit availability sinks to decade low

The MBA’s monthly index measuring credit availability dropped in July to the lowest level since 2013, indicating lending standards are tightening even further.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/08/mortgage-credit-availability-sinks-to-decade-low.html

Quartet Of Carnage Crushes Stocks; Bonds, Bitcoin, & Black Gold Bid

Futures suffered a quartet of carnage into today’s US open included a disappointing night of economically-sensitive EPS prints (UPS, CBT, CE, IFF); Chinese trade data bombed, with exports showing the worst decline (-14.5% YoY in July) since Feb 2020, while imports too were crunched (-12.4%) – reflecting weak domestic demand, and iterating ongoing issues with lack of consumption and investment growth in China; Italy’s surprise windfall profits tax on banks has spooked EUR banks and broad index; and Moody’s cuts 10 US banks (including “super regionals” Capital One, PNC Financial Services Group and Fifth Third Bancorp) on the increased cost of funding and office exposure.

But apart from that, everything is awesome in Bidenomics-land… as ‘hope’ leads (‘soft’ survey data rising as ‘hard’ economic data slides)…

Source: Bloomberg

FedSpeak was ‘on message’ – high(er) for long(er)…

0820ET *HARKER: FED MAY BE …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/quartet-carnage-crushes-stocks-bonds-bitcoin-black-gold-bid

Kids Almost Never Transmitted COVID In Schools; Major New Study Finds

Authored by Alex Berenson via ‘Unreported Truths’ Substack,

The research should end what’s left of the pathetic rear-guard effort to defend school closures – or any mitigation measures like making kids wear masks…

Children almost never passed Covid infections in school, a study published Friday reveals.

In fall 2021, in four Massachusetts school districts with 18,000 children, researchers found 44 potential cases of in-school transmission.

You read that right.

18,000 students. 34 schools. Four months. And 44 Covid infections – including no infections of teachers or other staff members.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, as parents pressed with increasing urgency to reopen classrooms, teachers unions and Democratic politicians warned in-schoo …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/kids-almost-never-transmitted-covid-schools-major-new-study-finds

Peter Thiel And Rebekah Mercer May Invest in Tucker Carlson’s New Media Empire

Tucker Carlson recently told journalist and author Chadwick Moore: “I really do think the cable news business has a limited future.”

Since leaving Fox News in April, Carlson’s widely popular Twitter show has attracted tens of millions of views, if not more, underscoring his point that legacy cable news is dying.

A new report from CNBC details two GOP megadonors, Peter Thiel and Rebekah Mercer, are considering investing in Carlson’s new media empire with Twitter as its backbone.

People familiar with the matter said Mercer has spoken with Carlson about investing in the unnamed media company. They added that Theil is very interested after hearing new details about the venture.

“It was unclear Monday whether Thiel or Mercer had officially moved ahead with a financing plan,” the people said.

Carlson and his team’s funding efforts to attract GOP megadonors are a great sign that the ex-Fox News anchor’s new media empire could be set to liftoff.

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/peter-thiel-and-rebekah-mercer-may-invest-tucker-carlsons-new-media-empire

The Clock Has Now Started On ‘Negative Market Gamma’

We just had a long period of calm in the market, but now it is as or more important than ever this year to be monitoring market gamma levels.

We just had the first negative market gamma reading of the quarter on Thursday, and then an even stronger negative market gamma reading on Friday.

The longer the market remains trapped in negative market gamma territory, the more dangerous it gets because there is more opportunity for fragility (from declining liquidity and shock absorbing gamma) to meet a burst of systematic market risk or other kind of momentum event.

So far, the equity indices have been drifting up this evening since the Sunday futures gap, with volatility futures moving down. At 9pm EST on Sunday, ES is up about 0.3% and NQ is up about 0.5%. However, we will need a stronger recovery than this to get the market out of trouble.

On Friday, the options market (as shown here …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/clock-has-now-started-negative-market-gamma

Premium Bonds: Chances rise of winning leading prizes

National Savings and Investments is the latest provider to make savings deals more attractive.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66438764?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Italian banks hit with surprise windfall tax

The potential one-off tax on the profits banks earn from higher interest rates has seen shares plummet.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66440335?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Zoom denies training AI on calls without consent

The company updates its terms of service after a backlash from worried users.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66430429?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Ahead of Market: 10 things that will determine D-Street action on Wednesday

Continuous foreign fund outflows and weak trend in Asian and European markets also played spoilsport for the domestic markets

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/ahead-of-market-10-things-that-will-determine-d-street-action-on-wednesday/articleshow/102544298.cms

Tech View: Nifty stuck in tight range. What traders should do on Wednesday

India VIX was up by 2.03% from 11.10 to 11.32 levels. Volatility inched higher and caused some discomfort to the bulls, but is hovering at overall lower zones

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/tech-view-nifty-stuck-in-tight-range-what-traders-should-do-on-wednesday/articleshow/102537592.cms

Block deal: ICICI Pru MF, Nippon India MF buy in Inox Wind

Promoters Inox Wind Energy and Devansh Trademart have sold 4.5% and 2.8% stake each in Inox Wind through block deals at a weighted average price of Rs 208 a piece

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/block-deals-today-icici-pru-mf-nippon-india-mf-buy-in-inox-wind-goldman-sachs-hsbc-pick-up-stake-in-360-one-wam/articleshow/102543361.cms

Market Snapshot: Dow falls 150 points after weak China data, Moody’s downgrade on regional banks

U.S. stocks traded lower Tuesday, resuming a pullback as investors shunned assets viewed as risky following weak China international trade data for July and weighed the threat of a credit-rating downgrade on major U.S. banks.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C06575-04D4-B545-7243-90B7821A9E04%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

Futures Movers: Oil prices bounce back after dipping on China data disappointment

Oil futures book gains Tuesday, erasing losses seen earlier in the session after disappointing international trade data from China sparked worries over demand.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C06575-04D4-B545-7243-522740B1FA3D%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

Financial Face-Off: Cats vs. dogs: Which pet makes better financial sense?

In honor of International Cat Day, how does the cost of owning a cat compare to owning a dog?

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-7BB9-0041D1FF42B1%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1