BlackMask Breaking News

* GoDaddy rises on report of Starboard investment

* Travel stocks drop on Omicron-related flight groundings

* Indexes up: Dow 0.33%, S&P 0.52%, Nasdaq 0.54%

Dec 27 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 hit a record high on Monday, as a strong retail sales report underscored the strength of the economy and overshadowed worries from Omicron-driven flight cancellations at the start of this year’s final trading week. Retail sales in the country rose 8.5% during this year’s holiday shopping season from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24, powered by an ecommerce boom, a report by Mastercard Inc showed. “Despite the variant and travel interruptions, retail sales were up strongly, which bodes well for the economy going into the new year,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. Travel-related stocks, typically sensitive to news around the coronavirus, slid after U.S. airlines canceled about 800 more flights on Monday after nixing thousands of flights during the Christmas weekend, as Omicron cases soared. The S&P 1500 airlines index shed 1.6%. Cruise operators Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Corp fell 2.2%-3%, leading declines on the benchmark S&P 500. “The market will continue to rally even though the virus fear factor remains prevalent in the market,” Cardillo said. Monday’s climb marks a fourth straight session of gain for Wall Street’s main stock indexes after encouraging news last week related to the Omicron variant calmed investor worried about the strain’s economic impact. Nine of 11 main S&P 500 sector indexes advanced, with tech leading percentage gains. At 9:48 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 119.06 points, or 0.33%, at 36,069.62 and the S&P 500 was up 24.64 points, or 0.52%, at 4,750.43. The Nasdaq Composite was up 84.21 points, or 0.54%, at 15,737.59 on a boost from megacap companies, including Tesla Inc, Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, and Meta Platform, rising between 0.9% and 2.3%. Main stock indexes in the United States are eyeing a third straight yearly gain, with the benchmark S&P 500 on track to close out the year 26.4% higher. The Dow is set to rise 17.8%, while the Nasdaq is looking at a 22.1% climb. Looking ahead, thinner-than-usual trading volumes ahead of New Year could make markets susceptible to volatile moves, although the last five trading days of December and the first two days of January have boded well for U.S. stocks 75% of the time since 1945, according to CFRA Research data. GoDaddy Inc rose 6.5% after a report activist investor Starboard Value LP had purchased a 6.5% stake in web services company worth about $800 million.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by 1.5-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers on the Nasdaq by 1.2-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 60 new highs and 52 new lows.NN:I LOVE this. Rally on the 4thwave of the plague. And a fed that has run away inflation it will have to deal with……. I can not wait for our turn!

A satellite image shows Russian armored units training in Pogonovo Training Area near Voronezh, Russia, November 26, 2021.

Picture taken November 26, 2021. Satellite Image ?2021 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS

Dec 24 (Reuters) – New satellite images captured by a private U.S. company show that Russia has continued to build up its forces in annexed Crimea and near Ukraine in recent weeks while pressing the United States for talks over security guarantees it is seeking. Reuters could not independently verify the latest images from U.S.-based Maxar Technologies. The Kremlin reiterated on Friday that it reserves the right to move its own forces on Russian territory as it sees fit and that Western countries were carrying out provocative military manoeuvres near its borders. U.S., European and Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of building up troops again near Ukraine’s border since October after an earlier brief buildup in April, when Maxar also released images. U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders say Moscow appears to be weighing an attack on Ukraine as soon as next month, something Moscow has repeatedly denied. The images released late on Thursday showed a base in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, packed with hundreds of armoured vehicles and tanks as of Dec. 13. A Maxar satellite image of the same base in October showed the base was half empty.Maxar said a new brigade-level unit, comprised of several hundred armoured vehicles that include BMP-series infantry fighting vehicles, tanks, self-propelled artillery and air defence equipment, had arrived at the Russian garrison.”Over the past month, our high-resolution satellite imagery has observed a number of new Russian deployments in Crimea as well as in several training areas in western Russia along the periphery of the Ukraine border,” Maxar said in a statement.It cited increased activity at three sites in Crimea and at five sites in western Russia. President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia wanted to avoid conflict, but needed an “immediate” response from the United States and its allies to its demands for security guarantees. read more Moscow has said it expects talks with U.S. officials on the subject to start in January in Geneva. On Friday, Putin said Russia had conducted a test launch of a hypersonic missile. The test follows earlier ones this month, in October, and in July as part of what he said was a new generation of unrivalled arms systems. When asked on Friday about the build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was acting to defend its own security.”Russia is moving its own troops around on its own territory against the backdrop of highly unfriendly actions by our opponents in NATO, the United States and various European countries who are carrying out highly unambiguous manoeuvres near our borders,” said Peskov. “This forces us to take certain measures to guarantee our own security.”Russia also accused the United States and the European Union of using the planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline to take Russian gas to Europe as a bargaining chip. The West has threatened to block the pipeline, which is awaiting regulatory approval in Germany, if Russia invades Ukraine.  Biden has threatened strong economic and other measures in retaliation for any invasion, building on sanctions imposed over Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and backing for an ongoing separatist rebellion by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. read more A U.S. official has said new retaliatory measures could include tough export controls. Russia says its wants NATO to halt its eastwards expansion and is seeking guarantees that the Western military alliance will not deploy certain offensive weapons to Ukraine and other neighbouring countries. Other Maxar images showed a build-up at the Soloti staging ground in Russia close to the Ukrainian border, with photos shot at the start of December showing a larger concentration of military hardware than in September. Pictures also showed continuing build-ups at Yelnya, a Russian town around 160 miles (260 km) north of the Ukrainian border, and at the Pogonovo training ground near the southern Russian city of Voronezh. NN: Its simple. Germany opens up Nord Stream II pipeline and all this goes away.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Dec 26 (Reuters) – U.S. airlines canceled more than 1,300 flights on Sunday as COVID-19 thinned out the number of available crews, while several cruise ships had to cancel stops after outbreaks on board, upending the plans of thousands of Christmas travelers. Commercial airlines had canceled 1,318 flights within, into or out of the United States by mid-afternoon, according to a tally on flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. At least three cruise ships were also forced to return to port without making scheduled port calls after COVID-19 cases were detected on board, according to multiple media reports. It was the third straight day of pain for some Americans traveling over the weekend as the Christmas holidays, typically a peak time for travel, coincided with a rapid spread of the Omicron variant nationwide. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official, warned of rising U.S. cases in coming days and potentially “overrun…hospitals, particularly in those regions in which you have a larger proportion of unvaccinated individuals.” “It likely will go much higher,” he said of the Omicron-driven surge even as President Joe Biden last week unveiled new actions aimed at containing the latest wave and continued urging vaccinations and other prevention strategies.With rising infections, airlines have been forced to cancel flights with pilots and cabin crew needing to quarantine while poor weather in some areas added to travelers woes. A total of 997 flights were scrapped on Christmas Day and nearly 700 on Christmas Eve. Thousands more were delayed on all three days. A Delta Airlines spokesperson said “winter weather in portions of the U.S. and the Omicron variant continued to impact” its holiday weekend flight schedule but that it was working to “reroute and substitute aircraft and crews.” United Airlines also said it was working to rebook impacted passengers, while a Southwest Airlines spokesperson said its cancellations were all weather related. Overall, U.S. airports most heavily impacted were in Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth and JFK International in New York. A White House official, who asked not to be named, said the administration was monitoring the delays closely but noted that while they can disrupt plans “only a small percentage of flights are affected.” Delta on Sunday canceled 167 flights or 6%; United canceled 115 flights or 5% and American canceled 83 flights or 2%, according to FlightAware. Globally, 3,023 flights were called off and more than 13,742 were delayed, as of 8:15 p.m. EST on Sunday (0015 GMT Monday), FlightAware data showed. Meanwhile, a Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL.N) cruise ship turned back to Ft. Lauderdale, CNN reported, and on Sunday a Carnival Corp (CCL.N) ship returned to Miami after COVID was detected onboard, although it was unclear if the cases were Omicron. Carnival said “a small number on board were isolated due to a positive COVID test” on board its Carnival Freedom ship, which again left Miami later on Sunday for its next trip with another round of passengers. “The rapid spread of the Omicron variant may shape how some destination authorities with limited medical resources may view even a small number of cases, even when they are being managed with our vigorous protocols. Should it be necessary to cancel a port, we will do our best to find an alternative destination,” it said in a statement. A Holland America ship also returned to San Diego on Sunday after Mexican authorities banned it from docking in Puerto Vallarta citing onboard cases, NBC News and Fox News reported. Carnival, which owns Holland America, did not address that reported incident in its statement.Representatives for Royal Caribbean did not respond to a request for comment. Overall, COVID-19 outbreaks altered at least six sailings in the past week, the Washington Post reported, echoing the turmoil facing the industry after COVID erupted in early 2020. Testing woes have compounded the travel angst, as many Americans scrambled for their status amid long lines and lack of at-home test kits amid the holiday travels. “We’ve obviously got to do better. I mean, I think things will improve greatly as we get into January, but that doesn’t help us today and tomorrow,” Fauci told ABC’s “This Week.” Meanwhile, some states are already bracing for the upcoming New Year’s holiday weekend, warning residents to reduce potential exposure to the virus.

“Omicron is surging statewide,” Louisiana’s health department tweeted on Sunday, noting Omicron-related hospitalizations had doubled in the past week. “We are urging everyone to take safety precautions ahead of New Year’s Eve.”

Europe’s energy crisis worsened this week when Kosovo introduced rolling blackouts to most of its two million citizens, according to Bloomberg.  On Thursday, the Kosovo Energy Distribution Services (KEDS) announced rolling two-hour power blackouts for 2 million people due to an “overload” of its electrical grid.  KEDS asked customers to reduce power given “insufficient internal generation to cover consumption and the global energy crisis.”  The Balkan country, Europe’s poorest nation, experienced a technical issue at its largest coal-fired power plant that had to shut down last month, which forced the government to import electricity at high prices. Simultaneously, Serbia was forced to cut electricity to customers, Britain’s network operator issued a power supply warning, and France’s nuclear plant outage, all culminated into a perfect storm of straining the continent’s grid, resulting in reduced power supplies and exorbitantly high prices. Last week, Kosovo’s economy minister, Artane Rizvanolli, said the shuttering of the nation’s main coal-fired power plant had worsened the energy crisis. He said power imports were “extremely costly.”

Jeremy Weir, CEO of commodities trader Trafigura Group, warned that more European countries could face rolling blackouts in the event of a severe winter.

Eleven European associations (from steel to fertilizers to cement to paper mills) published a memo Thursday indicating energy-intensive companies are paying “unbearably high energy prices” that may force them to shutter operations.  However, there is good news for the continent as benchmark Dutch front-month gas plunged as much as 43% from a peak of 180 euros per megawatt-hour to around 102 euros in the last several days as a flotilla of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers is headed to the fuel-starved continent.  More good news is that weather forecasts for Germany will turn milder. This will help keep a lid on gas prices.  Europe remains caught in its worst energy crisis ever as some relief is on the way, but the worst may not be over as the Northern Hemisphere winter has just begun.  NN: Talk about a self inflected wound. Is it not ironic their solution to climate change the wind mill is not supplying the anticipated power. WHY because climate change has reduced the wind in northern Europe and the wind mill are not providing their designed power. Is it not the height of stupidity to rely upon a unproven power source and simultaneous shit can proven power sources like nuclear and natural gas. I hope the greeneewennies freeze their asses off.

The city of 13 million, which entered its fourth day of lockdown, detected 155 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms for Saturday, up from 75 a day earlier, official data showed on Sunday.

That drove the national daily count to 158, the highest since China managed to contain a nationwide outbreak in early 2020. Xian, with 485 local symptomatic cases reported for the Dec. 9-25 period, has imposed heavy-handed measures to rein in the outbreak, in line with Beijing’s policy that any flare-up should be contained as soon as possible. Residents may not leave town without approval from employers or local authorities and multiple rounds of mass testing were conducted to identify cases.

S. Korea adds 5,419 COVID cases, 69 deaths

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain reported a new record 122,186 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, up from 119,789 on Thursday. Government data showed there were 137 new deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test, down from 147 on Thursday, and bringing the total during the pandemic to 147,857.

Irish COVID-19 infections hit record

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ireland on Friday reported its highest number of daily COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began but those requiring critical care fell further amid a rapid rollout of booster vaccines to battle a surge of the dominant Omicron variant. The health department reported 11,182 positive cases, topping the 8,248 on January 8 during the country’s deadliest wave. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital peaked at 2,020 in mid-January, with a barely manageable 221 requiring critical care. There are currently 393 coronavirus patients in hospital, 89 of whom were in intensive care. Admissions have almost halved over the last month following an increase through October and November that prompted the government to tighten restrictions. NN: Its beyond i told you so. Its a blatant coverup exposed. And inept leadership… Test no tests masks no masks… admitting toilet paper masks do not work. Still they are behind the power curve. N95 masks are marginal protection. Want proof… thousands of health care workers are getting infected every single day. And new records of people getting infected are being reported country after country. Now the latest bullshit is the dominant Omicron variant is not as deadly as Delta mutation…. More bullshit. Its to early to tell. But preliminary suppressed data suggest its just as deadly if not more so AND if your vaccine is more then 4 months old you are vulnerable….

President Biden is defending his administration’s response to the omicron variant of COVID as Americans struggle to get tested amid a potent new surge of cases and illness. “You could argue that we should have known,” Biden told ABC News in an exclusive sit-down interview that aired Thursday night. “Nothing has been good enough.” He rebuffed accusations that the administration should have prepared for a lightning-spreading strain of COVID like omicron by making sure testing capacity could handle any surge. “You’re chasing whatever comes on the scene,” Biden said. “No one saw it coming. Who in the world saw it coming?” NN: I did and so said Biden heads into the end-of-year holidays in a major political slump, his standing dented both by setbacks in Congress and inflation that has rattled consumers. But he is betting that his ability to lead America out of the crippling pandemic will eventually win back the legion of supporters that sent him to the White House with a record-setting 81 million votes. Biden told World News Tonight host John Muir that he’s proud of getting lifesaving vaccines in the arms of more than 200 million Americans. He also boasted about ordering some 20 million doses of the newly approved Pfizer pill to treat COVID, which some doctors believe will be a game-changer in the roller coaster fight against the pandemic. “I hope we don’t even need them,“ the president said. “If people get two shots and the booster, they’re not going be in a position where they would need the pills.” Biden also dropped some political news, making it clearer than ever that he plans to seek a second four-year term in the White House in 2024 if he’s healthy. He insisted he would welcome a potential rematch with former President Donald Trump, suggesting he would relish the chance to whip his rival again. “Why would I not run against Trump?” Biden said. “If he’s the nominee … that would increase the prospect.” NN: Do you remember when they destroyed the test kits, How about CDC telling vaccinated people no need to wear masks. So do not let them shit you.The experts were so fast to declare victory they ignored the science. And million of people will be dead in the next 90 days…….