Good Night Ya’ll 👋
Wild day in the markets today as characterized by Mondays (historically the worst day in the markets in performance), as fears of a rapidly spreading covid variant and peak growth loom the markets. NY Manufacturing survey in the US and growth data from China’s economy both came in below expectations, creating an overhang on all markets from EMEA, APAC and well into US’s opening bell due to growth and covid fears. US markets recovered all losses to end up flat for the day after maybe realizing that the US is not quite there in terms of covid slowdown.
Cryptomarkets rallied further into the weekend after a nice pause on Friday. The current market cap of the Cryptomarkets surpassed $2 Trillion, which is for now lifting all things crypto related. NFT creators/owners, exchanges, miners, traders, LT investors are all benefitting from this 2nd rise as Bitcoin is on its way to possibly retest its previous high. That would definitively deviate from the past trajectory that usually took Bitcoin a couple of years to retest its historic high.
Headlines
📜 End of an Era in Afghanistan After many years of U.S military occupating the Afghan territory to primarily fend off the Taliban, President Biden has withdrawn all U.S troops in efforts to put a definitive stop to the long-standing mission that the U.S has been fighting. Once the U.S withdrew, the Taliban took control of the country in just a matter of days, causing chaos among citizens wanting to escape the regime that’s to be expected with the Taliban in power. If you want to stay up to date with what’s going on, here are live updates from (CNN).
🛢 OPEC+ denies oil supply pleas the OPEC+ and allied countries like Russia have confirmed via sources that they don’t deem any supply increase as necessary. This comes on the back of U.S pleas to increase the oil supply to avoid any further spikes in the price specifically to keep gasoline prices lower. More details from (Reuters).
Tale of the Tape
As of 08/16/21 close.
U.S Markets
📈 Markets, Rates and Volatility (VIX) Wild swings in the markets today with all indexes down to -1.5% and somehow managing to close in positive territory. Healthcare and technology were both leading the pack whereas oil and energy were taking the beating. It seems China’s economic data is more linked to oil’s prices at these levels as US cannot pick up all that lost demand from overseas. August and September are known for being slow months as most professionals in the industry take vacations the latter weeks of august and a below-average performing September for the overall markets. Rates failed to pick up some steam after its decline from the 1.3’s and were unchanged at 1.27%. Volatility (VIX) broke the 16 level trading at a high of day of 17.5 before settling down to 16.12.
Here’s a look on every sector in the S&P500 from SPDR.
⚠️ The Wall of Worry In this fast paced market, it is key to note the themes that seem to be impacting stock market performance so that we keep track of its progress and can inform ourselves to tactically adjust. In my opinion, these are the most important issues that are keeping volatility and market rotations in place.
Updates as of 08/16/21:
Inflation Sentiment: No relevant updates.
Delta Variant Strain: Covid cases still on the rise across the U.S and already causing disturbances in the markets abroad.
Job Market Recovery: No relevant updates.
Fed Tapering: Fed Chair Jerome Powell will decide, which we will hear in Jackson Hole in a couple of weeks.
Peak Growth & Asset Prices: Data coming from the NY manufacturing survey was disappointing and led to a temporary selloff.
Check the Full U.S Economic Calendar (Here).
Earnings Today
☢️ Roblox Online platform Roblox reported strong Q2 earnings beating both the top and bottom lines on the back of amazing growth numbers. CEO David Baszucki, stated that the results are fueled both by the company’s creator ecosystem and by the millions of people around the globe who want to connect and share new experiences every day on Roblox. Press Release from (RBLX).
🥛 Oatly Milk alternative producer reported earnings softer then expected with a miss on both top and bottom line. Although they missed this quarter, the company is optimistic about the next 6-12 months as appetite for milk alternatives is rapidly rising in the U.S. See full report (Here).
Check the Full U.S Earnings Calendar (Here).
Corporate News
🤖 Tesla Autopilot under scrutiny The U.S Government has opened an official investigation of all vehicles sold by Tesla from 2014 onwards that have autopilot capabilities. The National highway department reported that the autopilot function has caused more than 17 crashes with 1 casualty attributed to the system. More details (Here).
Meme Headlines
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. When investing, always do your own research and asses your own risk.