EconCurrents

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.

Headlines:
Massive winter storm grounds hundreds of flights across the U.S.
Facebook plummets 16% after missing across the board, guiding below expectations.
Spotify pukes to 21-month-lows after weak user growth guidance.
PayPal Pukes, Google Gains, Crypto Crokes, Dollar Dumps.
Small Caps remained ugly, down 1% on the day.

New investments from GM’s electric vehicles, to not reinstating the company’s dividend were the key takeaways from Q4 financial results and 2022 guidance.

Sigh! Another day, and yet another ugly macro data point, as ADP employment data crashed. Private payrolls fell by 301,000 in January, the most since the COVID-19 lockdown crisis in 2020. That print stole the jam out of the market’s Alphabet-driven overnight donut.

While Valentine’s Day is getting more expensive, going into debt isn’t sexy. As Americans recover from Covid’s financial strain, couples are less inclined to go into debt for a big, romantic gesture.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum will never become legal tenders: Finance Secretary. People investing in private crypto should understand that it does not have the government’s authorization. There is no guarantee that your investments will be successful or not, one may lose money, and the government is not responsible for this, he said.

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

sHeadlines:

J.P. Morgan: ‘The Equity Market Selloff is Overdone.’
Gazprom’s Gas Exports Slump By 41% In January.
Tesla to recall FSD Beta software that let drivers slowly roll past stop signs .
U.S. Covid fatalities reach the highest level in a year as omicron cases subside.
Biden Flaunts The “Strongest Growth In Four Decades?”

Summary of Economic Releases Today:

• CoreLogic says home prices increased by 18.5% year over year in December 2021.
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, December job openings were little changed whilst hires and total separations decreased to 6.3 million and 5.9 million, respectively. In short, this demonstrates the labor market continues to demonstrate that the skills mismatch is not growing and job-hopping is returning to historical levels.
• US Census data show construction spending continues its improvement trend with the value of construction spending in 2021 increasing 8.2% over 2020.

Tesla recalls full self-driving vehicles not stopping at stop signs. According to NHTSA, Tesla will recall 53,822 of its vehicles that contain its Full Self-Driving (Beta) software because of a defect that may not allow the car to come to a complete stop at some intersections.

Stocks gain for a third day as the market’s comeback from the depths of the January sell-off continues. Boeing and DOW share the gains that contributed to the DOW’s jump. But, after a huge year of growth, some analysts say the U.S. economy is about to slam into a wall.

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

Headlines:
U.S. Natural Gas Inventories Drop Below Five-Year Average Again.
The U.S. Is Falling Behind In Energy Tech Research.
Tesla climbs nearly 10% after Credit Suisse upgrade.
The new omicron sub-variant is more contagious, but vaccinated people are less likely to spread it.

Inflation at its worst: Some Attraction ticket prices are up as much as 100% as the COVID pandemic hard-hit. DOW closes up 406 points, NASDAQ up 3.4%. WTI settles at 88.30, USD at 96.58, Bitcoin at 38500.

Panic-bid rescues NASDAQ (barely) from worst January ever as rate-hike odds soar. This hike came as U.S. financial conditions tightened significantly (ex-March 2020, this is as big a tightening as in Q4 2018 just before Powell folded). Keep in mind just how much ‘easier’ financial conditions are still than the ‘easiest’ they have been for the last decade.

Netflix stock set for best day in a year as analysts say subscriber slowdown doesn’t tell the full story. Shares of Netflix Inc. are rocketing toward their best day in more than a year Monday after a pair of analysts say the stock’s selloff had gone too far.

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

Headlines:

Sixty million U.S. households have ordered free COVID tests, White House says.
S&P Suffers Worst Start To A Year Since 1939 As Yield Curve Yells ‘Recession.’
HP wins multi billion-dollar fraud case over Autonomy sale.
The two-year Treasury yield has the biggest weekly advance since 2019 as Fed raises the prospect of multiple hikes this year.
U.S. Rig Count Rises Along With Crude Prices

Oil Markets Bullish As Brent Breaks $90, WTI settles at 87.24. Oil markets are increasingly bullish as geopolitical risks spike and inventories continue to drain. Friday, January 28th, 2022, for the first time in seven years, Brent prices surged past $90 per barrel this week. In addition, the number of active drilling rigs in the United States rose by six this week, bringing the total rig count to 610, as oil prices continue to climb to attractive levels for drillers.

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