EconCurrents

Headlines:
Markets Turmoil Amid ‘Russia Invades’ Reports & Bullard’s Bond Bloodbath.
Despite Turmoil, Stocks Seeing Largest Ever Inflows In 2022.
Inflation worries will continue to haunt investors next week, say, analysts.
Biden sends 3,000 more troops to Poland amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Oil Prices Spike (WTI 91.77) On Rumors Russia Is Preparing To Invade Ukraine. Oil prices are soaring after media outlets began to report that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent. PBS has said that according to officials, the U.S. believes Putin has decided to invade Ukraine and communicated those plans to the Russian military.

U.S. Rig Count See Massive Climb On Higher Oil Prices. The number of active drilling rigs in the United States rose by 22 this week, the 16th straight weekly increase to the number of oil and gas rigs in the United States, and the largest single-week rise since February 2018.

Oil jumps amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Oil prices jumped amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia, with the U.K. advising British nationals to leave Ukraine immediately.
NASDAQ closes down sharply at 2.8%, while the S&P 500 closes down 1.9% on fears of a Russian attack on Ukraine. The red equities trading volume is fractionally higher than yesterday.

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

Headlines:
Consumer goods giant Unilever will raise prices again as the cost of raw materials climbs.
Bond Report: Aggressive Treasury selloff gives 2-year rate its biggest daily gain since 2009 and lifts 10-year yield above 2%.
U.S. consumer prices have risen at the fastest rate since 1982.

There are whispers of an emergency FED rate hike as soon as tomorrow that spooked investors, inspiring today’s selloff on fears the Fed will be more aggressive to contain surging inflation. With the punditry obsessing over the March FOMC meeting, where odds earlier today hit 100% of a 50bps rate hike before easing modestly (and more than six hikes for all of 2022).

WSJ markets alert: 10-year Treasury yield touches 2% for the first time since 2019. After hot ‘Blowout’ inflation data, inflation has soared to its highest rate in four decades. U.S. inflation leads traders to largely price in a half-point March rate hike by the Fed.

Kellogg may raise prices again in 2022 as it sees ‘double-digit cost inflation,’ says CEO. “Our goal is to cover all of those input costs with pricing and productivity, and we think we’re in very good shape to do that,” the Kellogg CEO said Thursday.

Inflation eroded pay by 1.7% over the past year. Workers have seen their hourly pay jump at about the fastest clip in 15 years. But high annual inflation has eaten into those raises.

Bullishness across commodity markets is overwhelming. Goldman’s Jeffrey Currie summed it up earlier this week by saying, “This is a molecule crisis. We’re out of everything, and I don’t care if it’s oil, gas, coal, copper, aluminum. You name it; we’re out of it.”

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

Headlines:

Breakthroughs could speed up nuclear fusion development.
CVS faces its next challenge: growing sales as demand for COVID vaccines fades.
Powergrid Q3 results: profit declines 2% to Rs 3,292.97 crore; revenue up 3%.
Traders buy bonds, stocks, crypto, & commodities ahead of CPI ‘event risk.’

Wall Street gaped higher at the opening and traded mostly sideways, retaining its upward trend as investors put aside rate hike fears. NASDAQ jumps for the second straight day and gains 2% as tech stocks rebound from the January slide. Gold remained in a tight range around 1833. Dogecoin recovers fractionally to $0.1600

The green SPAC bubble is bursting. Over the past few years, investors have been pumping money into electric vehicle startups and other young green tech companies at a record clip, with many EV startups going public via the so-called SPAC deals.

The money wagered on the Super Bowl will reach over $1 billion this year. A surge in betting popularity and more states offering online betting are likely contributing factors in the Super Bowl sports betting boost.

Disney parks business roars back as the company beats earnings expectations and stock soars. Disney stock traded over 8% as results top estimates.

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

Headlines:

Optimism over Iran nuclear deal drags oil prices down.
Super Bowl to have the hugest audience yet — and record bets, too.
Bitcoin & Stocks Dump’n’Pump as rising rate-hike odds crush credit.
Record-high seizure of $5bn in stolen Bitcoin.

Wall Street opened lower for the first hour and traded sideways as it tried to shake off a slow start to the week. Gains highlighted the DOW’s 372-point close as shares of Amgen Inc., and American Express rose. Peloton, Pfizer, Nvidia, GM are very active, and the DOW turns positive for February.

Peloton founder John Foley calls recent events ‘humbling,’ as cycle maker looks to redefine itself. “We own it. I own it. And we are holding ourselves accountable,” Peloton founder John Foley. “That starts today.” Meet Peloton’s new CEO, an ex-Spotify exec taking the helm amidst major cuts and investor pressure. Barry McCarthy is taking the Peloton CEO reins from founder John Foley.

10-year Treasury yield hits the highest level since 2019 as it marches toward 2%. Treasury yields march to multiyear highs on Tuesday, with the 10-year rate climbing to levels not seen since July 2019 and some expecting it may soon hit 2%.

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

Headlines:

Feds will spend $1 billion to spur farmers and ranchers to fight climate change.
Peloton deal could be a major coup for Apple.
Bitcoin & Bullion Surge, Stocks Purge, As EU Credit Crisis Risk Re-Emerges.
It’s “too soon to go all-in” on buying the dip.

S&P 500 and NASDAQ ending closing lower to start the week as tech struggles, Meta drops 5%. Also, Bitcoin rises to its highest level in a month, bouncing from January lows.

After hitting a peak of $3.45 per gallon last week, the national average U.S. gasoline prices are expected to calm down significantly this week due to price cycling.

Earlier today, the small rocket builder Astra is attempted to launch its first mission from Florida on Monday but aborted after engine ignition. Astra shares dropped 14% after aborting and postponed the rocket launch attempt.

Frontier and Spirit to merge, creating the fifth-largest airline in the U.S. in a $6.6 billion deal. The airlines have agreed to join, making it the fifth-largest airline.

Consumer debt growth tumbles 50% amid a sharp slowdown in credit card usage decline in student loans after a shocking consumer credit report, which saw the biggest increase in history driven by a surge in revolving credit.

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

Headlines:

U.S. rig count rises for 15th straight week as WTI nears $93.
Gas prices have climbed to the highest level in more than seven years, sending prices soaring to 2014 high.
Cryptos Jump, Stocks Slump As Bonds & The Dollar Dumps.
Tesla Stops Scheduling Solar Roof installs Due To “Supply Chain Issues.”

After the opening bell, U.S. stocks wavered across the unchanged line after a reported mixed batch of tech earnings. But the strong growth reporting pushed equities higher, halving yesterday’s loss. Investors saw enough reason to jump ship as the major indexes sharply declined in the last 15 minutes of trading time. However, today’s snap earnings sparked a stock rally that’s so big it made investors nervous.

U.S. jobs growth is stronger than expected as the economy shrugs off Omicron. Employers added 467,000 jobs in January, far better than most analysts had predicted. January Jobs Report Shock: 467,000 New Jobs Added, Big December Revision; Wages Surge.

Bond Report: 2-year Treasury yield posts biggest daily jump since March 2020 after strong January jobs report. The 2-year Treasury yield notched its biggest one-day climb in almost two years after January’s nonfarm payroll report showed an unexpected gain of 467,000.

The last few months looked like a dismal slowdown in the economic recovery, but the newest jobs report showed they were a whole lot better than we thought

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

Headlines:

U.S. rig count rises for 15th straight week as WTI nears $93.
Gas prices have climbed to the highest level in more than seven years, sending prices soaring to 2014 high.
Cryptos Jump, Stocks Slump As Bonds & The Dollar Dumps.
Tesla Stops Scheduling Solar Roof installs Due To “Supply Chain Issues.”

After the opening bell, U.S. stocks wavered across the unchanged line after a reported mixed batch of tech earnings. But the strong growth reporting pushed equities higher, halving yesterday’s loss. Investors saw enough reason to jump ship as the major indexes sharply declined in the last 15 minutes of trading time. However, today’s snap earnings sparked a stock rally that’s so big it made investors nervous.

U.S. jobs growth is stronger than expected as the economy shrugs off Omicron. Employers added 467,000 jobs in January, far better than most analysts had predicted. January Jobs Report Shock: 467,000 New Jobs Added, Big December Revision; Wages Surge.

Bond Report: 2-year Treasury yield posts biggest daily jump since March 2020 after strong January jobs report. The 2-year Treasury yield notched its biggest one-day climb in almost two years after January’s nonfarm payroll report showed an unexpected gain of 467,000.

The last few months looked like a dismal slowdown in the economic recovery, but the newest jobs report showed they were a whole lot better than we thought.

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

Headlines:

Texas braces for cold snap as natgas pipelines freeze; power blackout concerns mount.
Amazon stock soars 18% in late trading after earnings top estimates.
U.S. oil prices top $90 a barrel for the first time since 2014.
Ford reports mixed fourth-quarter results as chip shortage eases.

Wall Street began today’s session opening sharply down. But, an adage says all gaps will be closed, so there is hope the Bull Run will continue later. Unfortunately, the session beginning got worse as the day rolled on, taking the tech equities with it.

Amazon reports a 9% sales increase in the fourth quarter and a big profit gain on Rivian stake. Also, in the news, Facebook stock plummets 26%, on pace for its biggest one-day drop ever. CNBC ProSantoli: Facebook’s fall is like ‘Marlboro Friday’ in 1993.

Economic releases today:

• US Census reported that December 2021 inflation-adjusted manufactured goods new orders have had no growth year-over-year. Since July 2021, there has been little inflation-adjusted growth in this sector.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 4th quarter 2021 year-over-year growth has grown 2.0% whilst labor costs have increased by 3.1%. The bottom line is that labor costs are increasing faster than productivity. The NFIB’s Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg stated “Reports of owners raising compensation continues at record-high levels to attract applicants to their open positions.”

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