Author: BlackMask Financial

The European ETF market saw record outflows of €21.9 billion in March as investors reacted to the spread of coronavirus across the globe. This is a negative record high for an industry that has grown used to seeing an almost uninterrupted string of monthly net inflows since its establishment two decades ago. We haven’t seen figures like these, even in the darkest days of the global financial crisis of 2008 or during the height of the eurozone debt crisis. Previously, the worst monthly net outflows recorded were €8.3 billion in August 2019, when weak economic indicators and a flare-up in the trade tensions between the US and China sent jitters through global equity markets. As the below chart shows, this was then followed by sharp rebound with net monthly inflows averaging €15 billion from September 2019 to January 2020.

White House Adviser Kudlow says that the oil price crash will likely be temporary.

• Says there is no easy quick fix to help US oil producers given price slump.
• Kudlow says Trump administration is looking very carefully at the possibility of providing liability protection for businesses that reopen.  Meanwhile, we had earlier news that in a statement, the Iraqi Oil Minister says that OPEC+ could take additional steps to absorb oil surplus.  However, this has done little to lift the mood and risk-off price action continued on Tuesday with momentum in oil prices remains a drag on sentiment. The WTI June contracts dropped to $13/barrel following yesterday’s price action that led future prices to negative territory. Nick Note: Oil at these levels is one of the greatest trade opportunities you will see in 3 lifetimes. The oil price plunge is NOT NOT NOT NOT a oil event. It is a function of ETF’s doing the tango on the cotango. They got it wrong and got fucked. Since they represent incredible volume in the oil futures markets as they panicked oil was devastated. I have been here before and i got one recommendation. BUY THE SHIT OUT OF OIL. THIS WILL SOON PASS AND THE CARVERY IS  IN ON THE WAY

 

April 21, 2020: The OPEC alliance of oil producers said “several” member states, and some of its allies in the OPEC+ grouping, held a teleconference Tuesday to discuss the plunge in oil prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The organisation tweeted that ministers held an “informal teleconference to brainstorm the current dramatic oil market situation” but it was not clear whether Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, took part.

A photo tweeted by the organisation appeared to show representatives from countries including Nigeria, Iraq and Venezuela taking part but there was no confirmation of which countries joined the meeting.

OPEC said the teleconference was held at the initiative of Mohamed Arkab, energy minister of Algeria, which currently holds OPEC’s presidency.

A spokeswoman for Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Russia — viewed as the leader of the OPEC+ grouping — did not take part.

Novak said in a statement on Tuesday that there was no need to “dramatise” the current market situation.

“OPEC+ countries are carefully monitoring the situation and have all means to react, if need be,” Novak said.

OPEC said the ministers participating in the teleconference restated their “commitment to the oil production adjustment” agreed earlier this month which involves a cut of 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) from May in an attempt to stop prices plummeting.

Producers outside the alliance pledged to cut an additional 3.7 million bpd.

The pandemic has crippled global energy demand and worsened a supply glut, leading US crude futures to go below zero for the first time on Monday.

OPEC said ministers were prepared “to continue holding such consultations on the market situation on regular basis”.

AFP/APP

Humanity will have to live with the threat of coronavirus “for the foreseeable future” and adapt accordingly because there is no guarantee that a vaccine can be successfully developed, one of the world’s leading experts on the disease has warned. The stark message was delivered by David Nabarro, professor of global health at Imperial College, London, and an envoy for the World Health Organisation on Covid-19, as the number of UK hospital deaths from the virus passed 15,000. A further 888 people were reported on Saturday to have lost their lives – a figure described by communities secretary Robert Jenrick as “extremely sobering” – while the total number who have been infected increased by 5,525 to 114,217. The latest figures, which do not include deaths in care homes and in the community, put further pressure on the government amid continuing anger among NHS workers and unions over the lack personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospital and care home staff on the front line. In late March the government’s health advisers said that if UK deaths from Coronavirus could be kept below 20,000 by the end of the pandemic, it would be a “good result” for country. But with an estimated 6,000 people having already died in care homes from Covid-19 – a figure not included in Saturday’s official tally – the 20,000 figure is likely already to have been exceeded. In an interview with The Observer Nabarro said the public should not assume that a vaccine would definitely be developed soon – and would have to adapt to the ongoing threat. “You don’t necessarily develop a vaccine that is safe and effective against every virus. Some viruses are very, very difficult when it comes to vaccine development – so for the foreseeable future, we are going to have to find ways to go about our lives with this virus as a constant threat. “That means isolating those who show signs of the disease and also their contacts. Older people will have to be protected. In addition hospital capacity for dealing with cases will have to be ensured. That is going to be the new normal for us all.” The comments came as the former UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the only way forward was for nations to support a new global health system that would mean far more international cooperation between governments on health issues. It would also require richer nations doing more to support the health systems of the world’s poorest countries. “I think global health security is going to be on that small but critical list of topics like climate change that we can only solve in partnership with other countries,” Hunt told The Observer. In a clear criticism of US President Donald Trump who announced last week he was putting on hold funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Hunt added: “Surely the lesson of coronavirus is cure not kill…It certainly does not mean cutting their funding (to the WHO). “One of the big lessons from this will be that when it comes to health systems across the world, we are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. “Although China has rightly been criticised for covering up the virus in the early stages the situation would have been whole lot worse if this had started in Africa. International cooperation and supporting health care systems of the poorest countries has to be a top priority in terms of the lessons we need to learn.” Nabarro’s message is the second grim warning to come from senior ranks of the WHO in the last three days. On Friday, Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, warned that there was no evidence that antibody tests now being developed would show if a person has immunity or is no longer at risk of becoming reinfected by the Covid-19 virus. On Saturday it emerged that doctors and nurses treating Covid-19 face shortages of protective full-length gowns for weeks to come, as anger mounts over failures to stockpile them. Gowns were not included in a stockpile list prepared for a potential flu pandemic. After The Guardian revealed new guidance from Public Health England which instructs healthcare workers to re-use disposable equipment, the GMB, which represents NHS and ambulance staff, said support was “draining away” from Health Secretary, Matt Hancock. Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers which represents many trusts, told the Observer: “We are in a situation where we think this [issue] will last a couple of weeks, which probably does just take us to May. There is a shortage of gowns which is affecting some trusts, but not all. Some have none, and are using the alternatives.” The government will attempt to gain control of the mounting PPE concerns by appointing Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Olympics organising committee, to lead efforts to produce equipment in Britain. Ministers also announced another £1.6bn cash injection to local councils as they attempt to stem a spiralling crisis in social care that is pushing some care providers into the red. Some have been paying inflated prices for commercial protective equipment. Nick Note: I wish it was so easy as a magic shot in the ass. We shall see!

(Bloomberg) — Hundreds of National Guard personnel are being activated in Iowa as coronavirus sweeps through meat-processing plants in a state that accounts for about a third of U.S. pork supply. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said 250 National Guard members have been moved to full-time federal duty status and could help with testing and contact tracing for workers at plants operated by Tyson Foods Inc. and National Beef Packing Co. Activating guard soldiers is the latest attempt to contain the disease, which has forced a growing number of slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants to slow or halt operations. The disruptions are stoking concerns for eventual fresh-meat shortages in grocery stores as well leaving some farmers without a market for their animals. That’s pushing down prices for hogs and cattle, while making meat more expensive. Wholesale pork posted its biggest three-day gain in six years. “At some point we’re going to have to be talking about euthanizing hogs, and we’re not that far from it,” Reynolds told reporters. “And that would be devastating, not only for the food supply but for the cost of food going forward.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $19 billion bailout to help farmers hurt by the coronavirus outbreak, including $3 billion in purchases of meat and dairy products. On Monday, JBS SA said it was closing a pork plant in Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz had raised the possibility that some workers there may have fallen ill from another outbreak at a Smithfield Foods Inc. pork plant in South Dakota. “As we all learn more about coronavirus, it is clear that the disease is far more widespread across the U.S. and in our county than official estimates indicate based on limited testing,” Bob Krebs, president of JBS USA Pork, said in a statement. “We have taken aggressive actions to keep coronavirus out of our plant and keep this critical infrastructure facility operational.” Nick Note: 3 little piggies went to town caught the virus and never came home