19 August 2022 Market Close & Major Financial Headlines: Wall Street’s Three Main Indexes Gapped Down At The Opening And Traded Sideways For Today’s Session, GM To Reinstate Quarterly Dividend, 10-Year Treasury Yield Hits Highest In Month

Erdogan To Meet With Putin: We Don’t Want Another Chernobyl

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking after holding talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, says he plans to discuss the issue of Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Talking to journalists on his return to Turkey from Ukraine on August 19, Erdogan called the situation around the Zaporizhzhya station — Europe’s largest nuclear plant — “a threat for the world.” Erdogan added that Zelenskiy said during their talks in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv the day before

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Geopolitics/International/Erdogan-To-Meet-With-Putin-We-Dont-Want-Another-Chernobyl.html

Berkshire Cleared To Purchase Up To 50% Common OXY Stock

US Regulators approved on Friday Berkshire Hathaway to purchase up to 50% of the common stock in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY). The regulatory filing submitted by FERC on Friday shows that Berkshire Hathaway (BHE) currently owns an 18.72% stake in Occidental as of July 22. It had requested approval to purchase up to 50% of the common stick in secondary market transactions. Occidental also owns OxyChem, and an 894 MW gas-fired power project known as the Taft Cogeneration Facility in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO)

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Berkshire-Cleared-To-Purchase-Up-To-50-Common-OXY-Stock.html

Demand Fears Fail To Keep Oil Prices Under $90

Bearish sentiment has taken hold of oil markets recently as fears of demand destruction and rumors of a new nuclear deal pushed prices down. Strong inventory draws in the U.S. have since sent prices back up, but downward pressure persists. Oilprice Alert:This month’s Intelligent Investor column, now available for Global Energy Alertmembers, compares two of the most promising Canadian oil stocks on the market. If you’re an investor in the energy space then now is the time to sign up for Global Energy Alert. Friday, August 19th,

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Demand-Fears-Fail-To-Keep-Oil-Prices-Under-90.html

France Prefers LNG Terminals To New Gas Pipeline

New LNG terminals in northern and eastern Europe would be a better option to alleviate the European gas crisis than a new natural gas pipeline from Spain to France, the French energy transition ministry said on Friday. A new gas pipeline between Spain and France would take years to become operational and would cost at least $3.01 billion (3 billion euros), the French ministry said in a statement carried by Reuters. As such, a pipeline could be too late to ease the gas crisis in Europe, France says. Such a project would take many years to

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/France-Prefers-LNG-Terminals-To-New-Gas-Pipeline.html

Venezuela Halts Oil Shipments To Europe, Demands New Concessions

The writing is on the wall for Europe in terms of this coming winter It’s going to get ugly. With natural gas imports from Russia cut by 80% through Nord Stream 1 along with the majority of oil shipments, the EU is going to be scrambling for whatever fuel sources they can find to supply electricity and heating through the coming winter. Two sources that were originally suggested as alternatives were Iran and Venezuela. Increased Iranian oil and gas exports to the west are highly dependent on the tentative nuclear deal, but as

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Venezuela-Halts-Oil-Shipments-To-Europe-Demands-New-Concessions.html

Judge Deals Blow To Michigan’s Attempt To Shut Down Line 5

A judge in Michigan has sided with pipeline operator Enbridge in a case that Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer pursues to have the Line 5 oil pipeline from Canada to the United States shut down. Judge Janet Neff ruled this week that the case should be heard in a federal court, not in a state court as the Michigan Governor wanted. This is the second time in several months that Judge Neff has sided with Enbridge over the long-standing dispute between the company and the state of Michigan over the pipeline. Line 5 carries crude oil and natural gas

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Judge-Deals-Blow-To-Michigans-Attempt-To-Shut-Down-Line-5.html

Walmart expands abortion coverage for its employees in the wake of Roe v Wade decision

The retailer is the nation’s largest employer with about 1.6 million employees.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/walmart-expands-abortion-coverage-for-employees-after-roe-v-wade.html

Here’s why HBO Max is pulling dozens of films and TV series from the streaming platform

HBO Max is pulling 36 TV shows and movies to cut costs and shift its strategy.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/heres-why-hbo-max-is-pulling-dozens-of-films-and-tv-series-from-its-streaming-platform.html

GM to reinstate quarterly dividend and increase share buyback program to $5 billion

GM is reinstating a quarterly cash dividend and increasing the size of its opportunistic share repurchases to $5 billion of common stock.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/gm-to-reinstate-quarterly-dividend-ups-share-buybacks-to-5-billion.html

What are ‘ghost guns’? A federal crackdown is coming on untraceable firearms, and dealers are rushing to sell them

With new federal regulations set to take effect on so-called ghost guns, makers of the untraceable firearms are racing to offload inventory.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/what-are-ghost-guns-dealers-rush-to-sell-untraceable-firearms-as-crackdown-nears.html

Amazon’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ begins a new era of streaming for the NFL

Amazon is developing new broadcast technology for “Thursday Night Football” to win over fans while also preparing for initial frustration.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/amazon-thursday-night-football-new-era-nfl-streaming.html

U.S. Open ticket prices surge ahead of Serena Williams’ final tournament

The first three nights of the U.S. Open are sold out, according to the U.S. Tennis Association.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/us-open-ticket-prices-surge-ahead-of-serena-williams-final-tournament.html

Delta, the NFL, and the U.S. Air Force are turning to this app to prepare for extreme weather

Tomorrow.io aims to tell customers how extreme weather will affect them while there’s still time to prepare.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/delta-nfl-air-force-use-tomorrowio-to-prepare-for-extreme-weather.html

What this week’s retail earnings tell us about consumers and our stocks that depend on them

We analyzed those quarterly results to understand better how Americans are feeling about inflation and the economy.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/what-this-weeks-retail-earnings-tell-us-about-costco-amazon-and-apple.html

Cineworld shares plummet more than 60% on bankruptcy reports

Shares of British cinema chain Cineworld Group plunged Friday on reports that it is preparing to file for bankruptcy.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/cineworld-shares-plummet-more-than-60percent-on-bankruptcy-reports.html

Starbucks operating chief to depart as company eliminates role under ‘reinvention’

Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver is departing the company after two decades with the coffee chain.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/18/starbucks-operating-chief-to-depart-as-coffee-chain-eliminates-role-under-reinvention.html

China issues first national drought emergency amid scorching temperatures

China is suffering from its worst heatwave in six decades as temperatures in dozens of cities surpass 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/china-issues-first-national-drought-emergency-scorching-temperatures-.html

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Bed Bath & Beyond, Cineworld, Foot Locker, Wayfair and more

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

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/19/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-midday-bed-bath-beyond-foot-locker-and-more.html

Take a look at Ford’s futuristic vision for its luxury Lincoln brand

Ford on Thursday unveiled the Model L100, a sleek, futuristic concept car to showcase the company’s vision for its Lincoln luxury brand.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/18/take-a-look-at-fords-futuristic-vision-for-its-luxury-lincoln-brand.html

How The US Made Inflation Worse

Not a bad primer video from CNBC on the Fed’s policy mistakes, which we all are now, literally, paying for.

I would add that monetary policy is a black box, mainly because we can’t define the money supply, much less measure it.  Using your brokerage account to write checks to pay for gas and groceries, for example, shouldn’t it be counted as part of the money supply?  Ditto for crypto, among others

Money Quotes: The two following money quotes from the video above could have been lifted straight from the Global Macro Monitor.

“If we were actually measuring inflation in a consistent manner, the peaks in the seventies and eighties are actually much more similar to the peak today than we would have initially thought.”See our post,  Today’s Inflation Rate And Nolan Ryan’s Fastball

“So I think at this point the Fed has to stick to its guns, even if that means taking speculators down.  And that really is what has scared the Fed in the past.  The Federal Reserve is supposed to make monetary policy in the whole of the public interest, not just th …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/how-us-made-inflation-worse

The Squeeze Is Over: Goldman Prime Sees A Flood Of New Hedge Fund Shorts

The bear market rally from the mid-June lows was triggered by three key drivers: gradual bullish reversal by the systematic crowd, accelerating buybacks, and a sudden retail frenzy back into the market. But the real catalyst for the meltup was the “apocalyptic” bearish positioning by institutional and hedge fund investors, who were forced to FOMO chase the “most hated rally” higher, accelerating the meltup as they did. This unprecedented bearish bias prompted none other than Michael Hartnett to correctly turn bullish in mid-July citing “Record Pessimism”, “Full Investor Capitulation.”

But far more remarkable was Hartnett’s bearish reversal earlier this week, when the BofA chief investment officer correctly timed the spoos peak to within half a tick, urging clients (and ZH readers) to short at 4,328 (which was also the 200DMA). This is what happened then.

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/squeeze-over-goldman-prime-sees-flood-new-hedge-fund-shorts

As US Announces New $800M Ukraine Arms Package, Here’s The Total List Since War’s Start

In a Thursday CNN interview Ukrainian Defense Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk described a stalemated battlefield situation with Russia, while also urging more Western arms to be urgently sent. “The war is in a situation where the Russians cannot move anywhere further because of the weapons the West provided us. We managed now to make them stop,” Zagorodnyuk said.

“But unfortunately at the same time we don’t have enough weapons for a proper, serious, fully-fledged counter-offensive,” he added. Yet a battlefield stalemate is where things can get dangerous fast, as is the case with the ongoing standoff at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. As we detailed earlier President Putin has warned his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a Friday phone call that Ukraine forces’ “systematic shelling” risks a “large-scale catastrophe” at the Zaporizhzhia plant, based on his words in the Kremlin call readout.

But the West still appears to be holding out hope that ramped up arms shipments, including increasingly heavier and longer-range weapons, can tip the scales against the superior and larger Russian forces. This is at least the logic in Washington, despite little evidence the unprecedented defense aid packages have significantly halted or dented the Russian offensive.

Politico reports Friday: “The U.S. will announce a new military aid package for Ukraine on Friday …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-announces-new-800m-arms-ukraine-arms-package-heres-list-all-start-war

FBI Raid Targeted Docs Trump Collected To “Exonerate” Himself From Russiagate Hoax; Report

Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

A report in Newsweek citing U.S. intelligence officials has claimed that one of the main purposes of the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago was to find documents that President Trump had collected and intended to use as proof to put to bed once and for all the Russian collusion conspiracy theory.

Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)The report states that Trump intended to “weaponise” the documents as part of his campaign for 2024.

The article notes that “The sought-after documents deal with a variety of intelligence matters of interest to the former president, the officials …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/report-fbi-raid-targeted-docs-trump-collected-exonerate-himself-russiagate-hoax

Cineworld shares plunge on bankruptcy fears

The heavily indebted cinema chain, which also owns Picturehouse, has been hit by poor audiences.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62607998?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Why more people are working from home on Fridays

While there are benefits to ending the week at home, Friday after work drinks could be fizzling out.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62560520?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Growing share of under-30s pay unaffordable rent

The proportion of under-30s spending a third of their pay on rent is at a five-year high, data suggests.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62525269?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Tech View: Nifty50’s indecisive candle on weekly chart a cause for concern

“At this point, the only solace for bulls is the fact that some buying emerged as the index entered into the bullish gap area present between 17,764 and 17,724 levels, registered on August 14, which was defended at least on a closing basis. Therefore, if the bulls fail to defend 17,710 levels in the ensuing week, more weakness is likely,” he said.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/tech-view-nifty50s-indecisive-candle-on-weekly-chart-a-cause-for-concern/articleshow/93662950.cms

All-time high after rallying 35% in a month, can this Tata Group stock rise more

The Tata group company reported an 86.25 percent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 637 crore for the June quarter. This is on a 34.15 per cent rise in revenue from operations at Rs 3,995 crore. The basic chemical segment logged a 41 percent YoY growth while specialty products saw 17 percent growth for the quarter.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/at-all-time-high-can-this-tata-group-stock-deliver-further-returns/articleshow/93654831.cms

Did Nifty companies pass Q1 test with flying colors? Here’s the Street view

ICICI Securities said Nifty EPS in the June quarter came in at Rs 177 per share, down 14 percent QoQ. “Major disappointment came in from the oil & gas sector wherein marketing margins came in lower than estimated. However, capital goods, metals and mining and pharma space surprised on the positive side.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/did-nifty-companies-pass-q1-test-with-flying-colours-heres-the-street-view/articleshow/93658587.cms

Bond Report: 10-year Treasury yield hits highest in month as Fed’s Barkin says officials will do what it takes to fight inflation

U.S. bond yields rise Friday, sending the 10- and 30-year maturities up for a third straight week.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C06575-04D4-B545-7112-3C4D221D9B92%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

: Survivors of gender-based violence need money to stay safe — but have a median of $0 in savings, new report says

‘Having $0 in savings means having absolutely no safety net to fall back on and no ability to safely plan for the future.’

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C06575-04D4-B545-7112-D2E0021FA54A%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

The Margin: HBO Max quietly pulls 200 ‘Sesame Street’ episodes to save money, angering parents and fans

Viewers shared their dismay on Twitter: ‘You have to be a special kind of evil to remove episodes of Sesame Street of all things’

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C06575-04D4-B545-7112-E36A61F98E46%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1