EconCurrents

Headlines:

Russia Struggles To Sell Its Oil After Ukraine Invasion
Ahead of State of the Union address, President Biden’s approval with Main Street is underwater
Stocks Slammed As Bonds, Bitcoin, Bullion, & Black Gold Soar
Ship Carrying 4,000 Luxury Cars Sinks Off The Azores (Is Your Bentley One Of Them?)

The DOW drops like a rock as the Ukraine-Russia invasion intensifies, WTI oil prices spikes 11% to $106 a barrel, a 7-year high. The U.S. buys 650K barrels a day from Russia, if you were unaware. Where are the sanctions on Russian Crude?

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) – said, “what good are sanctions when you’ve put us in a position where we’re forced to stuff their coffers buying 650,000 barrels a day at $100 each?…doh! It’s ridiculous. Totally ridiculous.”

USD moved higher, pausing at a resistance of 96.77 then slipping to 97.43. Gold high yesterday was 1942, but steady today in the 1940 range – silver down from 25.54 to 25.32.

Red volume yesterday was fractionally and higher than average. Today it is fractionally lower.
Bitcoin is down from a high of 44100 to 43900 – Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is up 14%. As the ruble plunges to less than a penny, dealings surge in Ukraine and Russian currency for bitcoin and stablecoins.

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

Headlines:

Safe Haven Assets Set To Shine As Ukraine Crisis Continues,
Crypto Jumps, Stocks Dump ‘n ‘Pump As Cracks Appear In Global Financial System ‘Plumbing,’
Wall Street’s Biggest Bear: We Are On Track For An Extremely Challenging March & April,
Shell To Sever Gazprom Links In Ukraine Crisis.
Bond Report: 2-Year Treasury Rate Marks The Largest Daily Drop-In Two Years As Putin Puts Nuclear Forces On Alert Amid Russian Sanctions.

Stock futures sank, cryptocurrencies held firm, Treasuries rallied, and oil spiked to begin what will be an interesting week of the trading week for investors. (If you are so inclined to gamble). The ongoing invasion in Ukraine has stoked increasing uncertainty over the outlook for global financial markets. Even Switzerland breaks its famous neutrality status to follow the E.U.’s sanctions over the Ruskies invasion of Ukraine.

The Ruble is rubble, global markets roll, and oil prices shoot skyward. A sitcom starring Comrade Putin and his Dedovshchina “Little Green Men.” They star in a reality sitcom about a mentally challenged creature trying to break out of self-imposed confinement.

The financial fallout resulting from the invasion of Ukraine is escalating rapidly. Increasingly more problematic with an intensification of violence and battles throughout the country. However, the U.S. stock markets seem to be waiting for the “other” shoe to drop. I won’t say trading is slowing, but the smart money seems to be waiting. I can’t blame anyone sitting on the sidelines now as the U.S. economy is in fair shape. In truth, I believe Ivan would have to launch a nuclear attack before the Global Market would rollover.

WTI crude hit a high of 100.45 then settled at a resistance of 95.68. This movement was attempted before but pushed back to the resistance line. Brent oil prices end above $100 a barrel on new escalating Russia sanctions. Rising crude prices are showing up at the gas pumps. The average gas price in the U.S. has jumped 10 cents, to $3.64/gallon, in the past two weeks.

The U.S. dollar high was at 0800 EST falling briefly to 96.78, finally settling at 97.00. Gold is considered a safe haven when trading in uncertain stock markets, and the precious metals reflect. Gold today rose to 1918, then fell to 1890, settling at 1909. Bitcoin started with a low of 41480, ranging higher to 41800, settling at 41700.

Today, red volume is considered below average, accounting for the relaxed sideways trading. The S&P 500 briefly saw green around 11 am only to sea-saw down at a leisurely pace. While off its session lows, the DOW barely halved its losses for the session.

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

Headlines:

Oil Prices Fall As Russia’s Energy Industry Avoids Sanctions.
U.S. Rig Count Gains For 18th Straight Week.
Delta Cuts Aeroflot Ties As Fallout From Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine Spreads In Air Travel.
Credit Suisse Rats On Morgan Stanley & Goldman In Federal “Block Trading” Probe
Russia-Ukraine U.S. Stock-Market Bounce Shows Investors Care ‘Not About War But Sanctions,’ Analyst Says.

Wall Street opened like a charging bull galloping head first towards the Matador, climbing nearly 800 points before rounding and closing at or near session highs. However, Wells Fargo’s Paul Christopher is warning that there is still “too much uncertainty” out there. The past two sessions could be an easy relief rally that will sour the “bulls milk.” Barron’s reported today that “more pain awaits U.S. stocks and consumers—and the fed can’t do much about it.”

WTI crude has surged to more than $100 bbl for the first time since 2014, settling today at 92.01. Oil futures have gained about 1.5% since the Russian/Ukraine developments began. Gold hit a high of 1922 earlier as Bitcoin remained in the trading range of 38000, settling at 39100. Dogecoin is still trending down for the week now at $0.1256.

The bad news is that Durable Goods Orders ex Defense MoM JAN fell to 1.6% from 2.7%. More bad news is the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Final FEB also fell to 62.8 from 67.2. Financial reporting this morning is just so-so and needs to improve if we continue any bull rally. Therefore, I have reserved feelings about this bull run. In addition, today’s green volume was half of yesterday’s trading, indicating many traders are not on board this “two-day rally train.”
Ukraine supplies one-third of the world’s wheat and wheat prices by more than 20%, hitting their highest levels in nearly 14 years, while corn costs have climbed 15% YTD. That didn’t stop prices from skyrocketing on Thursday.

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

Headlines:

Oil Prices Retreat As Biden Leaves Energy Out Of Sanctions Package.
The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine To Further Strain U.S. Chip Supply For Auto And Tech Industries.
Putin Pushes For Regime Change As Russian Forces Close In On Kyiv.
Ukraine Conflict: U.K. Sanctions Target Russian Banks And Oligarchs.
Bond Report: 2-Year Treasury Yield Sees Biggest Drop In Month After Russia Mounts Attack On Ukraine, And Biden Unveils Fresh Sanctions.

Investors on Wall Street panicked this morning after the Ruskies invaded Ukraine, gaping the DOW down 862 points and NASDAQ plunges 3% into bear-market territory. However, Fighting off enormous losses, BTFDers’ ever-present buying sent the major indexes to green by the closing bell. This upward trend may be good news for the bulls or just a dead-cat bounce, also known as a relief rally, followed by enhanced losses. However, regarding Russia’s attack on Ukraine: ‘Now is not a time to be buying the dip’ in stocks, warns Wells Fargo strategist.

This morning’s financial reporting probably was why the markets climbed out of the toilet to post gains for the session. The GDP Growth Rate QoQ 2nd Est Q4 was up significantly. In addition, the Initial Jobless Claims 19/FEB was down 17 K, Continuing Jobless Claims 12/FEB was also down, and Core PCE Prices QoQ 2nd Est Q4 posted higher at five percent. All in all, good news for the U.S. economy.

This morning WTI crude skyrocketed to 100.50, finally settling at 95.24. The U.S. dollar shot up to 97.74, then slipping to 96.28 and finally settling at 97.07. Gold had similar action reporting a high of 1975 and pausing at the 1898 level.

Bitcoin is sometimes called ‘digital gold,’; a safe-haven asset or ‘the ultimate risk asset’ when things fall into the toilet. Ukraine’s invasion put the crypto’s long-term value to the test this morning. Unfortunately, things got worse, and Bitcoin failed the test by falling from 40,000 to 34460 this morning. Bitcoin has recovered to the 38500 level.

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

Headlines:

U.S. Sanctions Will Not Target Russia’s Oil And Gas Exports
Molson Coors logs its first sales growth in a decade as turnaround plan takes hold
Hydrogen generation could become a $1 trillion per year market, Goldman Sachs says
Commodities Soar As Ruble Routed, Tech Wrecked, & S&P Enters Correction
Lead Prosecutors Abruptly Quit Trump Investigation
Market Extra: The next shoe to drop? The 125-year old Dow industrial s are on the brink of correction.

U.S. indices managed to cut their losses yesterday before closing, but today, Wall Street’s major indexes slithered down and closed near session lows. Traders who bought at the opening feel the pain of buying higher and selling low. Markets didn’t remain in the green for long, plunging downward within an hour into the red.

But, alas, there might be light at the end of the tunnel; these uninformed sheeple are hoping it isn’t a train coming their way. Today’s red volume was lighter than usual, signaling many investors are in a wait-and-see stance. Moreover, the trading volume for the past week or so has been somewhat ‘normal,’ not anywhere what one would expect during a full-fledged bear market reversal.

Without a doubt, Wall Street is in correction territory, but the panic sell phase coming from the Sheeple’s hasn’t become a factor of a full-blown market reversal. Although the S&P 500 enters its first correction in two years as the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalates, investors haven’t hit the red panic button yet.

Precious metals usually depict negative market movements, and they haven’t moved much higher in recent weeks. On the other hand, rising oil prices (WTI 91.77) directly responds to Russia’s ability to control certain aspects of the energy distribution flowing into Europe.

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

Headlines:

Oil Prices Climb On A Bounty Of Bullish Catalysts
Soaring Battery Demand And Ukraine Conflict Sends Nickel Prices To Decade High
COVID infections plummet 90% from U.S. pandemic high, states lift mask mandates
Pre-Amble To WW3 Sends Stocks & Bonds Lower; Gold & Crude Higher

Today is a Twosday unlike any other: 2/22/22 and fittingly a Tuesday. I can hardly wait for 2-22-2222.

Early in today’s session the S&P 500 and NASDAQ reached for the green only to follow the DOW down in a graceful trend. Afternoon antics saw the three main indexes rise to halve the session’s lows only to reverse during the last 20 minutes of trading. The three major indexes closed about 25% off session lows at their 200 day moving averages in a last moment frenzy of trading upwards.

Wall Street closed down as Russia-Ukraine tensions escalate and Biden said U.S. will sanction Russian financial firms, sovereign debt and individuals. U.S. consumer confidence reporting earlier shows a sipping trend and migration to the South fuels house price inflation.

WTI oil soars 91.82, gold remains above 1901, silver retreats from 24.36 earlier to 24.17 indicating further migration to safer havens. DOW’s 483 point drop was led by losses for Home Depot and Boeing exacerbated by Russia-Ukraine tensions. Note the red volume remains moderate, not at all in a panic fall mode.

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

Headlines:

Middle Eastern Oil Nations Hike Prices As Production Falters.
What’s Next For Egypt’s Burgeoning Oil Industry?
The Chip Shortage Is So Bad GM Dropped Heated Seats In Winter.
Moscow Says US Embassy “Out Of Touch With Reality” After Dire “Terror Alert.”

Wall Street markets closed for the holiday and will reopen tomorrow morning. However, the World around us still turns as Russian/Ukraine tensions negatively influence investors.

Some investors seeking safe investment shelters are beginning to shift portfolios by buying precious metals. Silver briefly touched 24.00 today, settling at 23.90. Bitcoin has fallen sharply to 38200, while Dogecoin also slipped, marking $0.1346, and looking to trend lower.

Du Jun, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi: “Bitcoin may not see a bull market until late 2024 or the beginning of 2025 if past price cycles are any indication.” The next halving event occurs in 2024 when Du thinks there could be another bull market on bitcoin.

Halving was coded into bitcoin’s underlying programming and cuts in half the reward that so-called miners get for validating transactions on the cryptocurrency’s network. It occurs roughly every four years.

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

Headlines:

Stocks end lower ahead of a 3-day holiday weekend amid continued Ukraine jitters.
The Oil And Gas Rig Count Continues To Soar.
Walt Disney World Increases Prices For Multiday And Park Hopper Tickets.
Gold Soars, Credit Cracks, Stocks Sink As Putin, Powell, & The President Pontificate.
Draftkings CEO California Sports Betting Revenue Could Help Address ‘Homelessness And Mental Health.’

Wall Street equities sea-sawed downward until 1320 EST, when markets reversed their downward spiral with help from the BTFD crowd. The DOW and oil prices mark the second losing week over the Russia-Ukraine tensions. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is becoming larger than life to some wary investors, even though quarterly financial reporting isn’t all that bad.

The primary force moving markets has been the distinct possibility of Russia invading Ukraine and creating a global problem not easily solved. The White House says Russia has deployed 190,000 troops, doubling its presents at the Ukrain border, while Russian sources claim a pullback.

WTI crude is trending downward, but support at the 90 mark is getting closer. Falling through the 89/90 support will certainly signal further depreciation to at least the 84 level. Gold started the session falling steeply from yesterday’s high of 1905 to eventually rebounding at noon from 1885 to settle at 1896. On the other hand, Silver rose from 23.66 at noon to 24.08 before sliding to 23.94 at 4 o’clock.

Bitcoin is drifting lower, falling through its SMA only to rise above the session low of 39500 to 40100. Dogecoin has been trading at the $0.1392 level and trending down over the last week.

Some analysts are betting choppy markets are here to stay. However, the red volume has been fractionally lower, suggesting that market swings are not conclusive of total investor sentiments. It also presents a ‘hold-and-see’ approach to the Fed’s approach to controlling inflation through interest rate manipulation.

A Fed Policy Mistake Would Be To Stay Loose Relative To Markets. Since April last year, the Fed has watched inflation rise higher. Front-end yields were patient, too, then, given the monetary authority’s inflation-targeting framework. But, as the price footprints began getting stronger and stronger, the Fed kept dismissing it as transitory. The reasoning was inflation failed to uncork above 2% in the longest post-war expansion before the pandemic struck, with the implicit suggestion being there is no reason to suspect this time would be different.

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