Posts by Gary Hall

Quick View of the markets today:

• The Dow gained 0.7%,
• Nasdaq up 1.3%,
• S&P 500 up 0.7%,
• WTI crude oil modestly declined $3 to $99.04,
• gold declined $35 to $1,900,
• Bitcoin rose 2.0% to $40,311,
• 10-year U.S. Treasury declined 7 basis point to 2.83%

The NFIB reported today that inflation is now small business’s single most important problem displacing labor quality. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) three month moving average improved in March 2022 – and the index continues to expand above its historical trend (average) rate of growth

As usual, we have included below the headlines and news summaries moving the markets today including:

• Russia Ramps Up Attacks On Ukraine Rail Lines To Thwart NATO Arms Shipments
• SpaceX’s Starlink to provide Wi-Fi on Hawaiian Airlines flights with free service for passengers
• Financial Markets Brace For Stagflation As Global Growth Optimism Sinks
• The Margin: Twitter’s board accepts Elon Musk’s offer — and users are either celebrating ‘free speech’ or saying ‘RIP Twitter’
• Europe Buys Abu Dhabi Crude To Replace Russian Barrels

Quick View of the markets today:

• The Dow closed down 2.8%,
• Nasdaq off 2.6%,
• S&P 500 down 2.8%,
• crude oil modestly declined over $2 to $101.21,
• gold declined over $13 to $1,935,
• Bitcoin fell $1,644 to $39,508,
• 10-year U.S. Treasury declined 1 basis point to 2.90%

Today there was no safe haven for your money except cash. So many negative forces now acting on the market lead by the expected impact of the Fed’s increases to the federal funds rate which will impact borrowing. The war in Ukraine and the covid lockdowns in China are having a negative impact to world trade.

As usual, we have included below the headlines and news summaries moving the markets today including:

• Bearish Sentiment Drags Oil Prices Lower
• The Netherlands Plans To End Russian Oil And Gas Purchases By The End Of The Year
• U.S. Rig Count Inches Higher As Oil Rally Halts
• Florida Gov. DeSantis signs bill revoking Disney’s special district status
• Bond/Stock Bloodbath Leads To Worst Start To A Year On Record

Quick View of the markets today:

• The Dow closed down 1.0%,
• Nasdaq off 2.1%,
• S&P down 1.5%,
• crude oil unchanged at $103.90,
• gold unchanged at $1,953,
• Bitcoin modestly declined to $41,209,
• 10-year U.S. Treasury rose 6 basis points to 2.90%

The World Bank now estimates the destruction in Ukraine to buildings and infrastructure has reached $60 billion. Fed Chairman Powell said today that a half-point federal funds interest rate increase is on the table for the coming FOMC meeting which ends 04 May.

As usual, we have included below the headlines and news summaries moving the markets today including:

• Russia’s Largest Chemical Plant Engulfed In Flames Hours After Mystery Fire At Military Research Facility
• Food Prices Are Soaring As Russia’s War In Ukraine Persists
• The Aerospace Industry Is Grappling With A Titanium Supply Shortage
• CNN+ will shut down April 30, just one month after launch

Quick View of the markets today:

• The Dow closed up 0.7%,
• Nasdaq off 1.2%,
• S&P down 0.1%,
• crude oil unchanged at $102.60,
• gold up marginally to $1,953,
• Bitcoin rose to $41,253,
• 10-year U.S. Treasury off 0.08% to 2.84%

Netflix was in the news today after losing subscribers for the first time in over 10 years – and shares lost over 30% today.

As usual, we have included below the headlines and news summaries moving the markets today including:

• U.S. Banks Set To Write Off $15 Billion In Russian Assets
• U.S. To Become Worlds Top LNG Exporter This Year
• Germany Pledges To Halt All Russian Oil Imports By End Of Year
• 10- and 30-year Treasury yields pull back from three-year highs amid pause in bond selloff

Quick View of the markets today:

• The Dow closed up 1.5%,
• Nasdaq unchanged,
• S&P up 1.6%,
• crude oil up marginally to $102.63,
• gold off marginally to $1,952,
• Bitcoin at $40,848,
• Treasury yields up with the 10-year U.S. Treasury hitting 3% for the first time in three years,

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today that the global economic recovery will “slow significantly” this year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – downgrading their forecasts for global GDP growth to only 3.6% in 2022.

As usual, we have included below the headlines and news summaries moving the markets today including:

• Oil Dips As IMF Slashes Economic Growth Forecasts
• Netflix estimates 100 million households are sharing passwords and suggests a global crackdown is coming
• Russia Tells Azov Fighters Trapped In Giant ‘Fortress’ Steel Plant: “Lay Down Arms Or We’ll Level Everything”
• Get Ready For The Next Supply Chain Shockwave

 

Wall Street fluctuated back and forth on Thursday’s closing line to finally bid for the green in the last half hour, with the BTFDers trying their best to avoid a down market. Alas, they failed with their bid. Tomorrow may see green!

Today’s roller-coaster ride was on fractionally low red volume as investors watched the Fed’s precarious decisions regarding a possible recession and obvious rescission. Unfortunately, some analysts are trash-talking those who see daylight ahead and do not realize it is a train headlight they see. According to some, the real inflation rate is 13% based on today’s data, not the 1950’s figures.

One such analyst, Wells Fargo stock strategist Chris Harvey, said last week that despite “daily calls for a recession from anyone with a megaphone, we do not expect one of the next 12 months. Rather, stagflation likely will prevail.”

We will let you decide!

 

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• Commodities Soar As Bonds, Stocks, & Bitcoin Rollercoaster Wildly
• The Fed Is Walking A Tightrope Between Recovery And Recession
• Florida judge overturns CDC mask mandate for planes and public transit
• Florida Judge Overturns Cdc Mask Mandate For Planes And Public Transit
• Natural Gas Surges To Highest Level Since 2008 As Russia’s War Upends Energy Markets

These and other headlines and news summaries moving the markets today are included below.

Today ends a shorter week for Wall Street as it heads into the Easter weekend, ending the trading week at the closing bell. In addition, the U.S. stock markets will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday.

The equities open higher this morning only to slip downward with NASDAQ sharply off session highs. Bank earnings share Wall Street’s fall today, inflation fears, and the Ukraine war continues to shake investors. Now, investors are digesting a flurry of mixed quarterly reports from Wells Fargo (WFC), Goldman Sachs (G.S.), Morgan Stanley (M.S.), and Citigroup (C).

This morning’s financial report showed Initial Jobless Claims 09/APR rose to 185K from 167K. Moreover, the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Prel APR rose to 65.7 from 59.4. Adding to this are the super-high gas prices and the highest inflation in forty years that held back consumer spending as March retail sales slowed from their February levels.

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• How Will Chinas New Lockdowns Impact Commodity Prices?
• Sustainable Recovery Spending Could Be Derailed By Commodity Price Spikes Following Ukraine War
• Retail Sales Rose 0.5% In March Amid Inflation Jump; Import Prices Hit 11-Year High
• Morgan Stanley Earnings Top Estimates Fueled By Trading Revenue Gains
  The Fed Just Disengaged Its Volatility Suppression Machine
• The Ratings Game: Elon Musk Says Twitter Shareholders Should ‘Love’ His Buyout Offer, But Wall Street Doesn’t Seem To Agree

These and other headlines and news summaries moving the markets today are included below.

Global equities rose today despite inflation scares and the continuing war in Ukraine. U.S. equities finished near session highs as bond yields slip, and Fed’s Waller says inflation may have peaked – NOT! Stocks rally on mostly positive earnings, snapping a 3-day losing streak for the S&P 500, closing up 1.1%.

Salient notes from the Labor Department’s report:

“Gasoline prices skyrocketed 48%, and one analysts says, breakfast cereal is the new reserve currency because cereal prices jumped 9.2%. Not outdone, meat prices have spiked even more to a scary 14.8%. Men’s jackets, suits, and coats will cost you 14.5% more, and airline fares rose 10.7%. Think again about buying a used car. Prices have spiked 35% over the past year.”

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• India Faces Coal Shortage, Again
• U.S. Energy Grid Faces Huge Problems Amid Push To Electrify Everything
• Jamie Dimon Sees ‘Storm Clouds’ Ahead For U.S. Economy Later This Year
• Russian Oligarch Roman Abramovich Has $7 Billion In Assets Frozen In Jersey In Latest Ukraine Fallout

These and other headlines and news summaries moving the markets today are included below.

The last hour of trading saw the three major Wall Street indexes slip perceptibly down from morning highs to close deep into the red. The markets gapped up at the opening into the green only to slide with lower highs and lower lows. Although the closing numbers are not as drastic as some past sessions have been, they mark the penetration of solid support. The next support for the DOW appears to be at 33,500. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has lost more than $1 trillion in market value in just the past five trading sessions.

Analysts blame the fall on the CPI, reporting a whopping 8.5% Y/Y for March. Today, stocks fell after an early morning bounce gave way to selling as investors weighed the latest U.S. inflation data. The report showed another sharp increase in prices as inflation hit a 41-year high. (Inflation Rate rose to 8.5% from 7.9%) However, there are signs price hikes could slow down soon, say some analysts.

“It’s going to be ugly,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “It’s a perfect storm – Russian invasion, surging oil prices, China locking down, further disruptions to supply chains, wage growth accelerating, unfilled positions. Just a kind of scrambled mess leading to painfully high inflation.”

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• Oil Prices Rise As Chinese Demand Begins To Rebound
• Airfare Surged 20% Over Pre-Pandemic Levels In March As Inflation Hit Vacations
• Giant Undersea Cables Set To Give The U.K. And Germany Their First Direct Energy Link
• Pentagon Treats Azov Claims Of Russian Chemical Attack With Caution After the U.K. Amplified Them
• Mood On Wall Street Is Apocalyptic, Yet Nobody Wants To Sell: Here’s Why
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana Crash Up To 30% In A Week

These and other headlines and news summaries moving the markets today are included below.

Wall Street Stocks extended losses in its final hour of trading today, emphasizing investors’ fears of deepening inflation and the inability of the Federal Reserve to control it. The DOW closed lower on losses for shares of Microsoft and American Express. The indexes were pulled lower largely by technology shares as U.S. Treasury yields marched higher.

Bitcoin fell below $40,000 as investors assessed global macro risks, inflation, and a possible recession. Bitcoin could dive to as low as $30,000 by June, considering its strong correlation with tech-heavy equities, according to Arthur Hayes, co-founder of crypto exchange BitMEX. But, Mr. Hays says, “as long as bitcoin trades above its fair valuation of $38,000, there shouldn’t be a crash.”

A summary of headlines we are reading today:

• Oil Sands Financing From Canadian Banks Doubles
• Russian Oil Exports Rebound, But Struggle To Find Buyers Outside Asia
• Oil drops, Brent crude falls below $100 as China lockdowns spark demand fears
• JPMorgan’s Resident Permabull Marko Kolanovic Says “Take Profits”

These and other headlines and news summaries moving the markets today are included below.