10Dec2021 Market Close: Wall Street Sneaks Higher As Inflation Rises

Meme-Coins Are Exploding As Bitcoin Stumbles

Seasoned cryptocurrency traders are, perhaps, no stranger to the excessive volatility that comes with the territory. But events in cryptoland sometimes seem to push their limits. For instance, back in January, a lesser-known crypto coin known as Dogecoin rallied more than 800% in the space of a month after Tesla Inc.s (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, through a series of cryptic tweets, encouraged his followers to “hodl” DOGE. And now cryptoland is at it, again. A week ago, Singapore-based Terraform Labs’ native digital token Terra soared 50%

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Meme-Coins-Are-Exploding-As-Bitcoin-Stumbles.html

Oil Prices Rise As Omicron Fears Fade

Oil markets are beginning to show signs of recovery following news that the demand impact of Omicron may not be as significant as originally thought. Friday, December 10, 2021 Oil markets at large heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 might not be that much of a potent demand disruption factor as previously feared. With demand being largely stagnant and global crude inventories still well below the 5-year average, Brent trading slightly above $75 per barrel and WTI at $72 per barrel seem to have found a temporary

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Prices-Rise-As-Omicron-Fears-Fade.html

Russia Says OPEC+ Deal Brings Investment Back To Oil Industry

The OPEC+ interventions on the market in recent years have helped the oil industry to see the beginning of the return of confidence and investments, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Russian TV channel Rossiya 24 in an interview on Friday. We positively assess the joint actions since 2016. They allowed us to return investments and restore confidence in the industry. This is a strategically longer period for planning our activities, Novak told Rossiya 24 in an interview to mark the fifth anniversary of the first OPEC+

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russia-Says-OPEC-Deal-Brings-Investment-Back-To-Oil-Industry.html

U.S. Rig Count Ticks Higher On Crude Price Recovery

The number of active drilling rigs in the United States this week rose by 7, according toBaker Hughes. The total rig count rose to 576a figure that is 238 up from this time last year. Active rigs are still hundreds less than the 790 active rigs that were drilling in the pre-covid world. The U.S. oil rig count rose by 4 to 471 while gas rigs rose by 3 to 105. Miscellaneous rigs held at zero. The EIA’s estimate for oil production in the United States for the week ending December 3, the last week for which there is data, rose 100,000

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Rig-Count-Ticks-Higher-On-Crude-Price-Recovery.html

Travel Stocks Take A Hit As UK Enacts New Measures To Curb Omicron

Travel stocks led London markets lower yesterday as investors took flight from the sector after the UK government launched tougher Covid-19 restrictions this week. The capitals premier FTSE 100 index dipped 0.22 percent to close at 7,321.26 points, reversing some of this weeks gains. The mid-cap FTSE 250, which is more aligned to the health of the UK economy, lost 0.35 percent to finish at 23,148.04 points. Travel and leisure stocks weighed down London markets as the outlook for the sector was clouded by the government enacting its

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Travel-Stocks-Take-A-Hit-As-UK-Enacts-New-Measures-To-Curb-Omicron.html

House Democrats Reintroduce Bill To Ban Fracking, Oil Exports

Two House Democrats reintroduced this week a bill targeting a ban on fracking, halting new fossil fuel power plants, and ending U.S. oil and gas exports, just as a group of Republicans introduced a bill aimed at protecting Americas energy security. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Senior Chief Deputy Whip and Chair of the Energy and Commerce Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee, and Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragn (D-CA) reintroduced this week their so-called Future Generations Protection Act of 2021, which, they say,

Read more at: https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/House-Democrats-Reintroduce-Bill-To-Ban-Fracking-Oil-Exports.html

Omicron detected in Florida and Texas as it takes root in 25 U.S. states

Several southern U.S. states, including Texas, Georgia, Louisiana and Florida, have all confirmed cases of the highly mutated omicron variant of Covid-19.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/omicron-detected-in-florida-texas-and-other-states-as-it-takes-root-across-the-us-.html

Investor group led by Trillium urges Starbucks to respect union vote, proceed ‘expeditiously’

Trillium holds about $48 million worth of Starbucks shares.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/investor-group-led-by-trillium-urges-starbucks-to-respect-union-vote-.html

AMC Entertainment shares slump 9% as insiders continue to sell the movie theater operator’s stock

Shares of AMC Entertainment slumped more than 9% on Friday after CEO Adam Aron and CFO Sean Goodman sold significant portions of the stock.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/amc-shares-slump-as-ceo-adam-aron-cfo-sean-goodman-sell-stock.html

New CDC data shows first-known omicron Covid patient in U.S. had symptoms starting Nov. 15

The change in the infection timeline means the omicron Covid variant arrived in the U.S. earlier than first thought.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/new-cdc-data-shows-first-known-omicron-patient-in-us-had-symptoms-starting-nov-15.html

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Costco, Oracle, Peloton and more

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

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-midday-costco-oracle-peloton-and-more.html

Not going back to the office? How to turn your work clothes into cash

If you’re hoping to part with your work wardrobe because your future includes less time in an office, there are a number of selling and donating options.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/not-going-back-to-the-office-how-to-turn-your-work-clothes-into-cash.html

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul imposes statewide mask mandate amid spread of omicron Covid variant

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issues a statewide mask mandate for all indoor public places unless businesses or venues have implemented a vaccine requirement.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/ny-gov-kathy-hochul-imposes-statewide-mask-mandate-amid-spread-of-omicron-covid-variant.html

Peloton selloff continues as ‘Sex and the City’ reboot adds to exercise company’s image issues

The company has struggled with slowing sales and public relations’ crises, including the voluntary recall of its treadmill.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/peloton-selloff-continues-as-sex-and-the-city-reboot-adds-to-image-issues.html

Supreme Court allows lawsuit challenging Texas abortion ban to continue but keeps law in effect for now

The constitutional right to abortion enshrined in the Roe v. Wade decision is under attack in several cases considered by the Supreme Court this term.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/supreme-court-issues-opinion-on-texas-abortion-law-challenges.html

Why Bill Gates invested in this tiny start-up that helps turn lithium into batteries

Mangrove Lithium claims it can retrieve 90% of the lithium from the base rock or brine. Current technologies get around 50%.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/bill-gates-invested-in-mangrove-lithium-for-burgeoning-ev-market.html

5 things to know before the stock market opens Friday

U.S. stock futures rose Friday despite a key report showed the highest consumer inflation reading in nearly 40 years.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/5-things-to-know-before-the-stock-market-opens-friday-dec-10.html

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Chewy, Lululemon, Beyond Meat, Peloton & more

These are the stocks posting the largest moves before the bell.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/stocks-making-the-biggest-moves-premarket-chewy-lululemon-beyond-meat-peloton-more.html

Poor neighborhoods are hotter than rich ones — especially during heat waves

That’s the overriding finding from the New York City component of a national project to map urban heat islands.

Read more at: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/10/urban-heat-mapping-project-in-nyc-finds-poor-neighborhoods-hotter.html

Omi-Gone? Stocks Soar As Scariant & CPI Send Bonds, Bitcoin, & The Buck Lower On The Week

Omi-Gone? Stocks Soar As Scariant & CPI Send Bonds, Bitcoin, & The Buck Lower On The WeekIt has been two weeks since the deadly (no one has died anywhere in the world) new COVID variant – Omicron – and only The Dow has managed to shrug off the constant fearmongering and panicky policy-making to ‘slow the spread’ of this “mild” virus…

Small Caps are notably ugly since Omicron was unleashed on the world. But this week saw the S&P rip to its best week since February as Goldman’s melt-up appears to have come true…

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/omi-gone-stocks-soar-scariant-cpi-send-bonds-bitcoin-buck-lower-week

U.S. Officials Consider Banning Exports To Chinese Chipmaker SMIC

U.S. Officials Consider Banning Exports To Chinese Chipmaker SMICThrowing another wrench in the gears of the global semiconductor SNAFU and geopolitical tensions with China is a new report that U.S. officials are considering banning exports to Chinese chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).

SMIC had been taking advantage of a regulatory loophole to buy U.S. technology, but the Defense Department has introduced a proposal to block exports, Reuters reported Friday morning.

Meanwhile, some Commerce Department officials are trying to stop the Defense Department’s proposal.

SMIC was added to a U.S. blacklist last year, the report says. As a result it is supposed to be denied “access to advanced manufacturing equipment from U.S. suppliers”. The blacklisting is due to potential ties between SMIC and the Chinese military.

Recall, last month

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-officials-consider-banning-exports-chinese-chipmaker-smic

Biden’s Full Plate: Ukraine, Taiwan, Tehran

Biden’s Full Plate: Ukraine, Taiwan, TehranAuthored by Pat Buchanan,

One day after warning Russian President Vladimir Putin he would face “severe” economic sanctions, “like ones he’s never seen,” should Russia invade Ukraine, President Joe Biden assured Americans that sending U.S. combat troops to Ukraine is “not on the table.”

America is not going to fight Russia over Ukraine.

“The idea that the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia invading Ukraine is not in the cards,” said Biden. “We have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO allies,” but “that obligation does not extend to … Ukraine.”

Anti-interventionists who have opposed bringing Ukraine into NATO may just have kept America out of a confrontation or war with Russia.

Yet hard negotiations lie ahead on the two demands Putin has made a condition of keeping his 100,000 troops on his side of the border.

First, there must be legal guarantees Ukraine will not be brought into NATO. Second, the U.S. and NATO must not arm Kyiv with offensive weapons that would present an intolerable threat to Russia.

Meeting these conditions would seem an easier proposition than getting them written into an agreement acceptable to Kyiv.

How, for example, does Biden get the Ukrainians to accept a U.S.-Russia deal that says their country can never be a member of NATO?

Russian military pressure on Ukraine, however, is but one of several crises where America finds itself at the center.

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/bidens-full-plate-ukraine-taiwan-tehran

And Just Like That, Inflation Is About To Disappear?

And Just Like That, Inflation Is About To Disappear?Earlier this year, when inflation was still “transitory” two Fed chairs, Powell and Bernanke, made comments which we joked only make sense if the definition of inflation is changed:

*POWELL:FOMC PREPARED TO ADJUST POLICY IF EXPECTATIONS GO BEYOND

by changing definition of PCE and CPI

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 28, 2021

BERNANKE: COMMODITY PRICES WON’T ADD TO INFLATION GOING FORWARD

Why? Are we changing the definition of CPI again

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 25, 2021

Sadly, our feeble attempts at humor were not unjustified, and as any economic history buff knows the US dramatically changed how it calculates consumer inflation back in the 1980s, an event extensively covered by AllianceBernstein former chief economist Joseph Carson on this website in the past (see “Consumer Price Inflation: Facts vs. Fiction”) with the most important difference being that while the CPI of the 1970s included house price inflation, the current measure does not. Instead, home price pressure …

Read more at: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/and-just-inflation-about-disappear

LV= members reject sale to private equity firm Bain Capital

Members have rejected the £530m deal and so the insurance firm remains as a mutual.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59607693?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

US inflation hits highest level for nearly 40 years

Prices rose 6.8% in the year to November with the cost of fuel, used cars and food rising fastest.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59573145?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

Economic growth stutters before impact of Omicron

The UK’s economy slowed further in October despite strong growth in health services and used car sales.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59605111?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

You might not be able to recover your investment in CarTrade even after a year

Going by the views of the first analyst to start coverage on the stock, you might not recover your investment even after a year.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/you-might-not-be-able-to-recover-your-investment-in-cartrade-even-after-a-year/articleshow/88205304.cms

Bitcoin on pace for fourth consecutive weekly drop from record

The largest cryptocurrency by market value has long been touted as an inflation hedge, in part because of its fixed supply. Bitcoin was little changed after rising as much as 4.4 per cent to $50,101 in New York trading on Friday.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-on-pace-for-fourth-consecutive-weekly-drop-from-record/articleshow/88212884.cms

Market Movers: What triggered the late rally in state-owned banks?

While the amendment itself is not significant, a key point in the note reportedly was that the new bill would allow the government to reduce its stake in PSU banks to below 50 per cent.

Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/market-movers-what-triggered-the-late-rally-in-state-owned-banks/articleshow/88210068.cms

Bond Report: Long-dated Treasury yields post biggest weekly jump in months as U.S. inflation at highest level in nearly 40 years

Yields on U.S. government debt were mixed on Friday following the consumer inflation reading for November.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-77DE-1A81165EE494%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

Market Snapshot: S&P 500 trades near record high after hottest CPI in nearly 40 years

U.S. stock benchmarks climb Friday, heading toward a gain for the week, with the S&P 500 index trading near its record high, as investors digested data that showed consumer prices in November rose by the most in nearly four decades ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary-policy meeting next week.

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-77DE-476C2CF48781%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1

: ‘Representation at the table’: Can state and local governments attract the next generation of Black talent?

‘Intentional policy choices’ have made the state and local sector a strong employer of Black Americans for decades. Will that continue?

Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-77DF-EBDB2CE0281E%7D&siteid=rss&rss=1