Archive for December, 2021

• Morning News: December 6, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, December 6th, 2021 at 7:06 am

  IMF Chief Warns of ‘Digital Berlin Wall’ That Would Hurt Growth

  Riksbank Hawks Zero In on Next Year’s Asset Purchases

  Why Does Sri Lanka Want Migrant Workers to Remit Funds via Banking Channels?

  Bitcoin’s Outsized Drop Versus Ether May Stem From Macro Link

  Believing That the Fed Controls the Value of the Dollar Does Not Make It True

  Morgan Stanley Sees Fed as Bigger Threat to Stocks Than Omicron

  Wall Street Wants to Sell a Special Index, Just for You

  Covid Can’t Stop Corporate Profits From Climbing to Record Highs

  How the Supply Chain Crisis Unfolded

  Alibaba Overhauls e-Commerce Businesses, Names New CFO

  How TikTok Reads Your Mind

  Inside Tesla as Elon Musk Pushed an Unflinching Vision for Self-Driving Cars

  Evergrande Sets Up Risk Committee; Inches Closer to Restructuring

  Condé Nast Knows Faded Glory Is Not in Style

  Patek Philippe Brings Back the ‘Holy Grail’ of Watches for 170 Lucky Buyers

  10-Year-Old Entrepreneur Set to Retire at 15, Mom Says

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• US Economy Added 210,000 Jobs in November
  Eddy Elfenbein, December 3rd, 2021 at 9:03 am

  This morning’s jobs report showed that the U.S. economy created just 210,000 net new jobs last month. That’s another big miss. Wall Street had been expecting an increase of 573,000 jobs.

  The unemployment rate fell to 4.2%. The unemployment rate is currently lower than it was at any point from March 1970 until February 1999.

  A more encompassing measure of unemployment that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons dropped even more, tumbling to 7.8% from 8.3%. The survey of households painted a more optimistic jobs picture, indicating an employment gain of 594,000 for the month.

  Leisure and hospitality, which includes bars, restaurants, hotels and similar businesses, saw a gain of just 23,000 after being a leading job creator for much of the recovery.

  Despite the disappointment, markets largely shrugged off the numbers, with stocks pointing to a higher open on Wall Street.

  In the last year, wages are up 4.8%. The workforce participation rate rose to 61.85% from 61.65%.

• Morning News: December 3, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, December 3rd, 2021 at 7:02 am

  With Its Exit, Didi Sends a Signal: China No Longer Needs Wall Street

  France Says UAE Arms Deal Secures Supply Chain, Jobs

  Turkish Cenbank Again Stops Lira from Sliding to Record

  F.T.C. Sues to Stop Blockbuster Chip Deal Between Nvidia and Arm

  The Markets Are Confused, but Wall Street Is Still Making Predictions

  Berkshire’s Munger Says Now ‘Even Crazier’ Than Dotcom Bust

  A Journalist, a Philosophy Major and the Mad Scramble for Video Game Consoles

  Where’s the Paper, Ink, Lightbulbs? U.S. Offices Struggle with Supply Shortages

  A Car a Minute Used to Flow Through Here, but Chaos Now Reigns

  Elon Musk’s Tesla Share Sales Pass the $10 Billion Mark

  The Hot New Trend For Hedge Funds Is—Finally—Female Founders

  China Star Trader’s New Fund Attracts $16 Billion in One Day

  CEO of Firm Behind Kay Jewelers and Zales Says Anticipating Early Holiday Shoppers Paid Off

  California Scheming – Getting Rich Off the Affordability Crisis

  Bloomberg 50: The People and Ideas That Defined Global Business in 2021

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• Morning News: December 2, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, December 2nd, 2021 at 7:07 am

  Britain Turns to Bankers to Blaze a Green Trail

  Omicron Could Knock a Fragile Economic Recovery Off Track

  Investors Flee U.S. Corporate Junk Debt on Inflation, Omicron Concerns

  OPEC Faces Omicron Uncertainty and Rebellious Customers

  A Top Official Says the Fed Will ‘Grapple’ With a Faster Bond-Buying Taper

  White House Delay on Fed Regulation Chief Bodes Badly for Bank M&A

  Debt Collectors Can Now Text, Email and DM You on Social Media

  Apple Tells Suppliers iPhone Demand Has Slowed as Holidays Near

  Twitter and Facebook Hit Back at Chinese Propaganda Campaigns

  Square, Jack Dorsey’s Payments Company, Changes Its Name to Block

  Disney Names Susan Arnold as Board Chair, Replacing Bob Iger

  Toys R Us Is Opening a New Store With a 2-Story Slide and an Ice Cream Parlor

  Goldman’s Leaders Push New, Creative Ways to Juice Their Own Pay

  U.S. Seeks Break for Swiss Trader Who Made $70 Million Illegally

  Bloomberg 50: The Meme Stock

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• The S&P 500 Closed Below Its 50-DMA
  Eddy Elfenbein, December 1st, 2021 at 10:16 pm

  The S&P 500 lost its early rally today and for the first time since October 13, the index closed below its 50-day moving average.

  

• December Is Off to a Good Start
  Eddy Elfenbein, December 1st, 2021 at 11:42 am

  The stock market is getting a nice rebound this morning. Yesterday the S&P 500 closed at its lowest level in over a month. As I write this, the S&P 500 is up 1.78%. Energy and Financials are doing particularly well.

  Historically, December is one of the best months of the year for stocks. November has been even better. Since 1928, December has been an up month for stocks 74% of the time. That’s the highest of all months. The S&P 500 gained 0.83% in November.

  

  We got the ADP private payrolls report this morning. It showed an increase of 534,000 private jobs. Wall Street had been expecting an increase of 525,000.

  Still, the big report is the government’s jobs report which is due out on Friday. Historically, the ADP report has not been a good predictor of the government’s report.

  Also this morning, the ISM Manufacturing report came in at 61.1. That’s an increase of 0.3% over October. That’s a good number and it indicates that the factory sector is still expanding.

  The construction spending report showed an increase of 0.2%. In the last year, construction spending is up 8.6%.

• Morning News: December 1, 2021
  Eddy Elfenbein, December 1st, 2021 at 7:06 am

  OECD Says Inflation Is Main Risk to Economic Outlook

  Factories Facing Supply Headaches as Omicron Risks Emerge

  Retailer CEOs and Biden Appear to Be Split on the Supply-Chain Crisis

  History Says Expect Strong December for U.S. Stocks, Despite Omicron and Fed Worries

  Hawkish Powell Is a Force Markets Haven’t Faced in Three Years

  Credit-Card Applications Hit Pandemic High

  Dorsey’s Twitter Departure Hints at Tech Moguls’ Restlessness

  Exxon to Continue Leaner Spending as Covid-19 Threat Lingers

  IEA Says Renewable Power Installations Are Set for A Record Year, Warns of Net-Zero Uncertainty

  The Long and Winding Road for Green Startups

  Elon Musk Warns SpaceX Faces ‘Genuine Risk of Bankruptcy’

  Bloomberg 50: The People and Ideas That Defined Global Business in 2021

  These Are the World’s Most Expensive Cities to Live in Right Now

  FDA Advisors Vote Narrowly in Favor of Merck Covid Pill

  Sackler Family May Have ‘Abused’ Bankruptcy Process, Purdue Pharma Judge Says

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