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All adults in US will be eligible for vaccination by April 19 – Biden

President Biden announced Tuesday that he is moving up the deadline for states to open up COVID-19 vaccinations to all U.S. residents 18 and older by about two weeks. Less than a month after directing states to expand eligibility to all adults by May 1, Biden changed that deadline to April 19.

“No more confusing rules, no more confusing restrictions,” Biden said.

The president made his announcement after visiting a vaccination site at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, an Episcopal institution founded in 1823. His visit was intended to highlight the participation of religious organizations in the vaccination effort. Most states have either made vaccines available to all residents 16 and older or announced plans to do so by mid-April. The White House did not say how it intends to get the handful of remaining states to move up their timelines. Officials announced at the end of March that nearly half of states were set to expand eligibility to all adults by April 15, and that 46 states and Washington, D.C., would do so by May 1. In the weeks since, the remaining four states — New York, Wyoming, South Carolina and Arkansas — have all opened vaccines to the general public.

Biden also announced that the U.S. administered 150 million doses in his first 75 days in office, a pace that puts the administration on track to surpassing his previously stated goal of reaching 200 million doses in his first 100 days.

The country is averaging 3.1 million shots per day over a seven-day period, White House officials said Monday, and reached a new milestone over the weekend with an unprecedented 4 million vaccinations recorded in one day. Nearly 1 in 4 adults are fully vaccinated, officials added. According to NPR’s vaccine tracker, 18.8% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, and 32.4% has had at least one dose. The states with the highest percentage of their populations vaccinated include New Mexico, South Dakota, Alaska, Rhode Island and Maine. Nick Note: This is critical for out trade. First of all the mRNA vaccines work and America is months away from achieving heard immunity. In other words the masses will soon be vaccinated and the vaccines really really work. So we are 6 months away for the restriction being lifted, the captives being set free with a pocket full of stimulus cash.  And the stock market has not priced in the boom times like never seen before this will create in the economy.

 

 

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Credit Suisse overhauls management as it takes $4.7 bln hit on Archegos

ZURICH — Credit Suisse said on Tuesday it will take a 4.4 billion Swiss franc ($4.7 billion) hit from dealings with Archegos Capital Management, prompting it to overhaul the leadership of its investment bank and risk divisions. The scandal-hit bank now expects to post a loss for the first quarter of around 900 million Swiss francs. It is also suspending its share buyback plans and cutting its dividend by two thirds. Switzerland’s No. 2 bank, which has dumped over $2 billion worth of stock to end exposure to the New York investment fund run by former Tiger Asia manager Bill Hwang, said Chief Risk and Compliance Officer MSSSSS Lara Warner and investment banking head Brian Chin were stepping down following the losses. The Archegos hit eclipses the bank’s 2.7 billion Swiss franc net profit last year, with questions over how its exposure to Hwang became so big remaining unanswered. “The significant loss in our Prime Services business relating to the failure of a US-based hedge fund is unacceptable,” Credit Suisse Chief Executive Thomas Gottstein said in a statement. “Serious lessons will be learned.” It is the second major scandal for Credit Suisse in just over a month after the collapse of Greensill Capital, with the bank’s shares down by a quarter since March 1. The bank’s board has launched an investigation into the Archegos losses and also begun a probe into its $10 billion supply chain funds which invested in bonds issued by Greensill. Proposed bonuses for executive board members have been scrapped and outgoing chairman Urs Rohner, who has presided over the bank since 2011, will forgo his 1.5 million Swiss franc chair fee for the year. Incoming chairman António Horta-Osório, currently CEO of Britain’s Lloyds Bank, is being kept apprised of the investigations, which are being led by a “very senior member” of the board, a source familiar with the matter said. Credit Suisse shares were up 1.26% at 1025 GMT as the bank said the Archegos loss had overshadowed a “strong” start to the year by its investment bank and wealth management units. The bank said Christian Meissner, who ran investment banking at Bank of America before joining Credit Suisse last year, would be appointed chief of the investment bank from May 1. Joachim Oechslin will resume on an interim basis the role of chief risk officer, which he held previously until February 2019, while Thomas Grotzer will become interim global head of compliance. “At least – in our opinion – personnel consequences have now been taken. The main damage, however, has been inflicted on shareholders, who have to make do with a lower dividend and a suspended share buyback,” said Michael Kunz, an analyst at Zuercher Kantonalbank. “In view of the bank’s vulnerability to risk….it does not seem appropriate to us to recommend bets on the securities of CS Group.” Warner and Chin are paying the price for a year in which Credit Suisse’s risk management protocols have come under harsh scrutiny. JPMorgan Chase & Co analysts estimate that combined losses from the Archegos and Greensill scandals could add up to $7.5 billion. Australian Warner only took on the risk management and compliance role in August last year, having previously been group head of compliance and chief financial officer of the investment bank. Chin ran the bank’s global markets unit between 2016 and 2020 before it was rolled into the investment bank. Credit Suisse has also been in touch with all members of its core regulatory college — comprised of Swiss financial market supervisor FINMA, Britian’s Prudential Regulation Authority and the U.S. Federal Reserve — over the Archegos matter, the source familiar with the matter added. FINMA confirmed it was in contact with Credit Suisse on the issue, but declined further comment. Archegos fell apart late last month when its debt-laden bets on stocks of certain media companies unraveled. Credit Suisse and other banks, which acted as Archegos’ brokers, had to scramble to sell the shares they held as collateral and unwind the trades. The episode, along with Greensill, adds to pressure on CEO Gottstein who has been trying to move Credit Suisse on from an earlier string of bad headlines spanning a spy scandal that ousted predecessor Tidjane Thiam to a $450 million write-down on a hedge fund investment.  Last month Credit Suisse said it was separating its asset management business from its wealth unit and bringing in former UBS executive Ulrich Koerner to lead the funds business. “Obviously heads are rolling. After any sort of blow up there’s always tighter control,” said Jason Teh, chief investment officer at Vertium Asset Management in Sydney, adding the bank had lost a lot of money and its share price would struggle to rally. While some banks were able to relatively quickly offload collateral related to Archegos, including shares of ViacomCBS , Baidu Inc and Tencent Music Entertainment Group, Credit Suisse was still selling on Monday. A source familiar with the trading said the bank had offered 34 million shares of ViacomCBS priced between $41 and $42.75; 14 million American depository receipts of Vipshop Holdings Ltd between $28.50 and $29.50, and 11 million shares of Farfetch Ltd priced between $47.50 and $49.25 in secondary offerings. Credit Suisse has now substantially reduced the vast bulk of its exposure to Archegos, the first source said, although some residual risk remained. Nick Note: Most of the time slamming on the brakes is NOT the best way to avoid a wreck. Years of racing on track and off track… running moonshine down highway 7 (before i was old enough for a drivers license) between Jasper and Russeville Arkansas taught me get the fuck out of their was always a better outcome as long as i did not go off the cliff. I learned a few other things like a set of brass balls, nerves of steel, a proper set of racing tires,  a full blown V8, Heavy Duty Sway bars, coil over shocks and 4 wheel independent suspension. The police cruisers with their heavy 4 doors, slow reeving long stroke engines, straight rear axles and if you can believe torsion bar front ends did not stand a chance. Of course it helps if your smart enough to memorize every twist and turn and Know exactly your line and speed through every inch of the road. Now you may wonder what has this shit to do with MRSSSSSSSS WARNER affirmative action ha ha ha risk manager wipe out. Now I now its not PC but SHEEEEEE (actually a blond) managed to get the biggest swaps margin call and debt equity ever. And the reason is ivy league preppie schools gives you the wrong skill set (especially if they convince you yout a oppressed miniotry of one flavour or another)  for trading. Even if they send you to Belize for a week swinging on ropes. Its a life time of life and death FOR REAL challenges…. coupled with trading BIG money and making big money on you hook and a highly developed brain. A high IQ does not hurt either. They are still holding the losing positions offered in various chunks. Now if they were smart like my friend Bernie (all Stock going down) wasn’t. You have to be smart. If Bernie had closed the fund for redemptions (liked i beg him to) in 2 years he would have been whole. If Lehman just did structured debt  and took the deal they would have never wiped out. Because what you may not know is the Lehman’s Portfolio and Bernis trash wagon all ended up back in the money. Same things with sweet tit corporate bitchs current fuck up. Simply place the paper in a fund. Take title to half the positions and sell it as a ETN and call it the Archegos high yield investment fund. And i guarantee it would be in profits in 6 months. But if you have not been their and really have the T shirt all you know is to slam on the brakes and hit the sell button while you panic taking your  choice from you “doctor” of Xanax, Valium, Klonopin or Ativan depending upon which drug company is offering you Doctor the best bonus… I cannot not believe the crop of fools trusted with trillions of dollars of other people money that they will soon enough lose

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US Job openings up to 7.4 million in February — more proof of ultra-strong labor market

The number of U.S. job openings rebounded to a near-record 7.49 million in March, showing that companies are still ready and willing to hire even though the economy is not growing as rapidly as it was a year earlier. Job openings had fallen to nine-month low of 7.14 million in February, when hiring was crimped by poor weather and the lingering effects of a partial government shutdown. Openings hit an all-time high of 7.63 million last November. Transportation and warehousing companies — the firms that deliver internet packages — increased help-wanted ads by 87,000. Job listings for construction rose 73,000. And real estate-related job openings climbed by 57,000. The share of people who left jobs on their own, known as the quits rate, was flat at 2.5% among private-sector employees. The rate was unchanged at 2.3% for all workers including those in government. More workers tend to quit when they feel secure enough to leave one job for another — a sign of a healthy economy. The quits rate has risen steadily in the past decade from a post-recession low of 1.4%, though it appears to have peaked. A strong labor market is acting as guardrails for the U.S. economy, keeping it on track to break the record for longest expansion ever in a few months. The rate of unemployment fell last month to a nearly 50-year low of 3.6% and layoffs are also at a half-century low. Job openings have now exceeded the number of unemployed Americans for 13 straight months,” noted Julia Pollak, a labor economist at employment marketplace ZipRecruiter.  “This report is a calming return to the trend we’ve seen for years now: high labor demand translating into a slow but steady increase in worker confidence,’said Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab. “This uptick is a positive sign, though year-over-year growth in job postings is still on the decline.” Nick Note: Further proof of the booming economy we are in. When everyone figures it our the stock market will peek. Still plenty of the poeple on the side lines playing I am from Missouri… Show me. And we will… And sell them some hopefully if i can guess right at the peek… Won’t that be funnnnn…

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GM deliveries in China surge 69% in Q1, US car sales soaring too

GM and its joint ventures delivered more than 780,000 vehicles in China in the first three months, a 69% increase in comparison to the same period last year when it was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s rebound was driven by performance in luxury and premium vehicles, as well as midsize and large MPVs and SUVs.The carmaker added it is also introducing cutting-edge EV technology in China with the industry’s first hyper-scale battery platform Ultium. The first product that will use Ultium in China, the Cadillac LYRIC SUV, is slated to debut at Auto Shanghai 2021 in late April. US car sales are also booming. Automaker sales figures are streaming in, both for the month of March and for the first quarter of 2021. The news is generally good, and in some cases, really good with near-universal increases in the double digits and some brands even reporting triple-digit jumps. March 2021 was something of a perfect storm for record-setting sales, as a year ago saw COVID-19-related shutdowns crippling the auto industry hard. COVID is obviously still an issue, but with markets generally open and shoppers flush with stimulus payments, March 2021 was an extremely active period for new car purchases. Nick Note: Reality is the US and China will lead the world out of the pandemic meltdown. Do not listen to the skeptics.  The World economy is about to explode with a massive growth spurt. When we get the herds of millennials stampeding off the cliff, we will be their charging them a market plunge tax. Or should we say a burning movie theater fire door exit tax. But for now first things first.

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Credit Suisse takes $4.7 bn hedge fund hit

Credit Suisse said Tuesday that it had taken a $4.7 billion hit from its links to troubled hedge fund Archegos Capital Management, cut dividends and announced the departure of two senior executives. The Swiss bank and Japan’s Nomura warned last month that they could face significant losses due to their exposure to a US hedge fund forced to liquidate its holdings.

“The significant loss in our Prime Services business relating to the failure of a US-based hedge fund is unacceptable,” CEO Thomas Gottstein said in statement.

Bloomberg News has reported that the fund was little-known Archegos Capital Management, which sold more than $20 billion in stocks from US media and Chinese companies as it sought to cover its obligations to its lenders. Credit Suisse said Tuesday its pre-tax loss of 900 million Swiss francs in the first three months of the year includes 4.4 billion Swiss francs ($4.7 billion, 3.9 billion euros) related to “the failure by a US-based hedge fund to meet its margin commitments as we announced on March 29”. Trading on margin is the practice of using borrowed funds to invest in financial assets such as stocks. It can be very profitable for borrowers as they are often only required to put down a small percentage in cash while the stocks serve as collateral for the lender. But large shifts in share prices can force borrowers to put up more money, that is meet its margin commitments, or sell the shares and potentially lose more than their investment. Credit Suisse also announced the departure of head of its investment bank and chief risk and compliance officer, pulled bonuses for senior executives and chopped its dividend. The bank’s board of directors also announced investigation into the matter. Credit Suisse also announced a separate probe into its supply chain finance funds, a reference to its exposure to the collapse of British finance firm Greensill, which specialised in providing short-term financings to companies. AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam said “the Archegos fallout … has become a significant nightmare for Credit Suisse, and the bank has to take the right steps for its survival as losses are just too big to digest.”Nick Note: Nothing stupider then a banker… Well i guess their is …… its a hybrid idiot called an investment banker.

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Dow jumps over 400 points on PMI data

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 and the Dow were on track to notch new all-time closing highs on Monday as surprisingly robust economic data stoked investor risk appetite, while cryptocurrency market cap breached the $2 trillion hurdle. Friday’s employment report, which showed 916,000 jobs added in March and the unemployment rate falling to 6%, driven by vaccine deployment and stimulus, marked the beginning of what could be the strongest yearly economic performance in decades. “Today’s action was set by Friday’s employment report,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. Enthusiasm over the jobs report was boosted on Monday by the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing PMI reading hit an all-time high, showing the pandemic-battered services sector expanded at a record pace in March, and providing further evidence that the economic recovery was gaining momentum.Still, economically sensitive cyclicals and small caps are lagging. “Its been a strange market over the past week or so,” Nolte added. “Witallyh better economic data you’d expect economically sensitive stocks would be outperforming.” The rising stimulus tide is lifting all boats, Nolte suggests. “If you look at recent history, we’ve had everything rally  because of the flow of money come into financial markets,” he said. Nick Note:  All of our techies are doing well. This rally has legs. Still plenty of money coming into this market yo fuel this rocket…

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US services sector growth at all-time high in March – ISM

Business Activity Index at 69.4%; New Orders Index at 67.2%;Employment Index at 57.2%;Supplier Deliveries Index at 61.0%

TEMPE, Ariz., April 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Economic activity in the services sector grew in March for the 10th month in a row, say the nation’s purchasing and supply executives in the latest Services ISM® Report On Business®. The report was issued today by Anthony Nieves, CPSM, C.P.M., A.P.P., CFPM, Chair of the Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) Services Business Survey Committee: “The Services PMI® registered an all-time high of 63.7 percent, 8.4 percentage points higher than the February reading of 55.3 percent. The previous high was in October 2018, when the Services PMI® registered 60.9 percent. The March reading indicates the 10th straight month of growth for the services sector, which has expanded for all but two of the last 134 months.” “The Supplier Deliveries Index registered 61 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from February’s reading of 60.8 percent. (Supplier Deliveries is the only ISM®Report On Business® index that is inversed; a reading of above 50 percent indicates slower deliveries, which is typical as the economy improves and customer demand increases.) “The Prices Index figure of 74 percent is 2.2 percentage points higher than the February reading of 71.8 percent, indicating that prices increased in March, and at a faster rate. According to the Services PMI®, all 18 services industries reported growth. The composite index indicated growth for the 10th consecutive month after a two-month contraction in April and May. There was a substantial increase in the rate of growth in the services sector in March. Respondents’ comments indicate that the lifting of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-related restrictions has released pent-up demand for many of their respective companies’ services. Production-capacity constraints, material shortages, weather and challenges in logistics and human resources continue to cause supply chain disruption,” says Nieves.

All of the 18 services industries reporting growth in March — listed in order — are: Arts, Entertainment & Recreation; Wholesale Trade; Mining; Management of Companies & Support Services; Construction; Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting; Accommodation & Food Services; Real Estate, Rental & Leasing; Transportation & Warehousing; Public Administration; Finance & Insurance; Utilities; Health Care & Social Assistance; Professional, Scientific & Technical Services; Information; Retail Trade; Educational Services; and Other Services.

  • “Logistics delays and uncertainty are creating significant problems with suppliers and inventories. Also, [there are] cost concerns regarding inflated pricing due to logistics and shortages.” (Accommodation & Food Services)
  • “Our four Southern California locations are finally open after being closed for 12 months. We are currently experiencing severe supply chain and distribution disruptions related to multiple factors. Reopening of the California and New York movie theater markets [is] creating a surge in demand; also, manufacturers and a distributor partner are dealing with labor shortages.” (Arts, Entertainment & Recreation)
  • “Residential new home construction demand continues to outpace supply. Building material delays, discontinuations and shortages are beginning to develop. Shipping delays at the L.A. and Long Beach ports have contributed to longer lead times. Cold weather in Texas has hurt several component manufacturers for building materials. We have encountered the ‘perfect storm’ for building material shortages and price increases.” (Construction)
  • “There is optimism in higher education that Fall 2021 will be near normal with vaccinated students, employees and staff returning to their roles on campus.” (Educational Services)
  • “Local and national outlook remains positive, despite return-to-work concerns [and] work-from-home-related issues/purchases.” (Finance & Insurance)
  • “Vaccination rates are rising, and coronavirus [COVID-19] infections are falling in the region, leading to optimistic outlooks and forecasts for increased business activity. Patient census numbers are trending upward, mainly due to a better ratio of patients seeking elective procedures versus COVID-19 hospitalizations. However, revenues are still soft, indicating that a full rebound in business activity has not yet been realized.” (Health Care & Social Assistance)
  • “Resin/oil price increases are beginning to filter down to products that we procure. In addition to price increases, we are also seeing longer lead times as supply chains pivot to find cheaper supply options.” (Information)
  • “Lack of chemicals and the recent freeze in Texas has delayed some orders and is creating a micro [price] increases for certain products. Suppliers are using the short-term shortage to their advantage to raise rates.” (Mining)
  • “Higher levels of demand related to additional business reopening, and increased activity related to vaccination distribution.” (Professional, Scientific & Technical Services)
  • “Business is picking up as mandated restrictions seem to be easing and spring is right around the corner.” (Real Estate, Rental & Leasing)
  • “Outlook remains cautiously optimistic for the second half of the year as businesses continue to open up and projects come online.” (Retail Trade)
  • “Overall, there are still delays in import shipments of goods, though [the situation has] slightly improved. The market forecast on ocean shipments and logistics is still the same for next quarter; improvements might be seen in Q3. COVID-19 issues continue to impact demand and supply across the globe, and the new stimulus aid is expected to help the economy and lead to an increase in retail spending over the next few months.”  Nick Note: as the economy opens up these bottle necks will open up ans drive the market even higher… We have the best of all worlds…. When all the skeptics are convinced we will let them have our longs as we cash in on stupid… BlackJack

 

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Yellen to call for global minimum corporate tax rate

 

Janet Yellen will use her first major address as Treasury secretary to argue for a global minimum corporate tax rate, Axios has learned, as she makes the case for President Biden’s plan to raise U.S. corporate taxes to fund his $2 trillion+ infrastructure plan. Convincing other countries to impose a global minimum tax would reduce the likelihood of companies relocating offshore, as Biden seeks to increase the corporate rate from 21% to 28%. “Competitiveness is about more than how U.S.-headquartered companies fare against other companies in global merger and acquisition bids,” Yellen will say today in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, according to an excerpt of her prepared remarks obtained by Axios. “It is about making sure that governments have stable tax systems that raise sufficient revenue to invest in essential public goods and respond to crises, and that all citizens fairly share the burden of financing government.” “We are working with G20 nations to agree to a global minimum corporate tax rate that can stop the race to the bottom.” President Trump lowered the U.S. rate from 35% to 21%, arguing that U.S. companies were at a global disadvantage and were being incentivized to relocate offshore. The average corporate rate in the G7 is 24%, with some nine countries recently lowering their corporate rate, according to the Tax Foundation, a conservative tax group. Biden’s plan would also raise the international minimum rate for foreign profits from U.S. companies from 10.5% to 21%, which would still be lower than the 28% domestic corporate rate.  Biden has tapped five Cabinet secretaries to explain — and sell — his plan to the American public, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Yellen’s task is to make the international case. Her speech also is designed to set the tone for the annual spring International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington, which will begin virtually this week.  Biden has been relying on Yellen to convince the business community and reassure Wall Street that his $2 trillion+ infrastructure proposal, on top of his $1.9 trillion stimulus package, won’t lead to inflation. Now he’s deploying her to convince international finance ministers and central bankers that the world’s biggest economies need to act in concert on corporate rates to avoid a race to the bottom. Yellen will also challenge the world’s economic powers to focus on climate change and on ways to improve vaccine access for the world’s poorest countries. She will call for $650 billion in new “Special Drawing Rights” — essentially lines of credit at the IMF that can help developing countries access more U.S. dollars. The Trump administration was skeptical of new SDR allocations and many congressional Republicans are still opposed. By trying to convince other countries to impose a global minimum tax, Yellen is acknowledging the risks to the American economy if it acts alone in raising corporate rates. “Together we can use a global minimum tax to make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations, and spurs innovation, growth, and prosperity,” she will say.Nick Note: Hard for Americans to understand. Since the US is such a vast market most American businesses do not know how to market internationally. Never minds ship, advertises nor bank or incorporate. I guarantee EVERY major business in the world is “offshore” Its not a crime. Take Intel, Apple, Google and the rest. They use strategies and  tax centers to lower their exposure. Its not Illegal…. in fact its the law. Management is OBLIGATED to get the best tax structure to enhance something the commies who are hell bent on destroying the capitalist system and profits. You want to build you economy on unions…. England tried. They ended up with a Maypole and the vast majority of their industries going ….”offshore”. Every major factory in China, Vietnam, Mexico and India by way of example is the direct result of G2 countries tax structures and employment rules. Trump lowering the corporate tax rate and capital gains resulting in the biggest hiring boom in modern American history. Government forcing unions, minimum wags hikes and tax increase will devastate the US economy over time. So their solution…. Force every other country to raise their tax rates. Its called tax rate price fixing. I can tell you price fixing never works. Look at the wild swings in the oil price as each round of attempted production cuts fail. What country would not drool to be the offshore LEGAL tax domicile for America biggest companies. Its not like a 500 year old red wood tree that comes from California. Meaning internet business exist in the air. And reality is they have a lot of ways of establishing offshore presence. In fact Google is delivering their services on servers in Iceland (20% corporate tax rate) and billing through Ireland (12.5% corporate tax rate) then they get the lower Irish tax rates. Look at the chart below as you can see Yellon is smoking some powerful shit. The G20 is not going to raise the corporate tax rate. For that matter world is not going to raise their tax rates because she says so,,,,,,, This is bullshit for the idiot American media. Commie Russia corporate tax rate is 20%.

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Dow Futures Leap After Blowout Jobs Report; Tesla Gains on Deliveries

The strongest job gains since last August, as well as a coronavirus vaccine rollout that is reaching 4 million Americans a day, has U.S. stock futures on the move Monday.

https://youtu.be/P8UEkAzF8z0

  • Global stocks build on April gains following last week’s blowout jobs report that could mark a turning point in the U.S. pandemic recovery.
  • Employers added 916,000 new jobs in March, a much higher-than-expected total that tips the headline unemployment rate to 6%.
  • Benchmark 10-year note yields rise to 1.718% following last week’s jobs report, with Fed Funds now pricing in a 15% chance of a December rate hike.
  • Oil prices slide as OPEC leaders agree to a gradual increase in production levels by the end of May, with Saudi Arabia phasing out its voluntary cuts by the end of July.
  • CDC data shows 61.5 million Americans have now been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, with more than 165 million doses administered as of Sunday.
  • U.S. equity futures suggest a firmer open on Wall Street heading into a muted week of economic and corporate releases, with focus soon shifting to second quarter earnings from the banking sector on April 14.

U.S. equity futures moved higher Monday, while bond traders began pricing in a Federal Reserve rate hike by the end of the year, following a blowout March jobs report last week that looks to mark a turning point in the economy’s pandemic recovery. Employers added a much more-than-expected 916,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said in a rare Good Friday release, tipping the headline unemployment rate to 6%. An upward revision of the February tally, which was finalized at 468,000, added to evidence that state re-openings – aided by an accelerating vaccine rollout – will likely boost hiring in the months ahead. However, with the economy rolling into a full-fledge spring hiring boom, and consumers fueled by the recent $1.9 trillion American Rescue Act, fixed income markets are growing increasingly concern over the near-term chances of faster inflation, even as average hourly earnings slowed in last month’s jobs report. Benchmark 2-year Treasury note yields jumped to 0.19% in overnight trading, the highest in 18 months, while the CME Group’s FedWatch tool suggested a 16% chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike before the end of the year, up from around 4% at the beginning of last month. That hasn’t dented U.S. equity futures as yet, with contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average indicating a 205-point opening bell gain and those linked to the S&P 500, which closed above the 4,000-point mark for the first time last week, priced for a 20-point advance. Rate moves did, however, hold back Nasdaq Composite futures, which are priced for a modest 55-point bump as benchmark 10-year note yields edged higher, to 1.718%, in holiday-thinned overnight trading. Tesla   shares look set to pace premarket gainers after posting forecast-beating first quarter delivery numbers Friday thanks to China demand for its Model 3 sedan, with traders pricing in a 7.7% advance to $712.88 per share. Oil prices were on the back foot, with WTI crude sliding back towards the $60 mark, after OPEC leaders, as well as non-member allies such as Russia, agreed to gradually increase their collective output by the end of May, a move that will add around 350,000 barrels of oil to the market each day. Saudi Arabia also agreed to phase it out own voluntary cuts, which are taking 1 million barrels from the market each day, by the end of July. WTI futures contracts for May delivery fell $1.30 overnight to $60.19 per barrel while Brent futures contracts for June, the global benchmark, were last seen $1.41 lower at $63.45 per barrel. Easter Monday holiday kept most markets in Europe closed for the session, with many in Asia also shut for the traditional Christian observance. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended the session 0.79% higher at 30,089.25 points as the yen weakened to a near one-year low of 110.61 against the greenback, while the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan benchmark was little changed from Friday’s close heading into the final hours of trading.

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US has administered 157.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: CDC

WASHINGTON: The United States has administered 157,606,463 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday (Apr 2) morning and distributed 204,719,335 doses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The tally is for Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines as of 6:00am ET on Friday, the agency said. The agency said 101,804,762 people had received at least one dose while 57,984,785 people are fully vaccinated as of Friday. A total of 7,735,342 vaccine doses have been administered in long-term care facilities, the agency said. More than 100 MILLION Americans – one third of the adults – have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine The US has officially vaccinated 100 million Americans with one or more dose of COVID-19 shots  That means about a third of American adults have or will soon have some degree of protection against COVID-19  About 17.5% of Americans are now fully vaccinated against the disease  CDC said Friday fully vaccinated Americans can safely travel domestically or internationally without testing or before departure or quarantining upon arrival. Nick Note: See i am not in the history business…… The past means nothing to me as far as trading. I am not in the NOW business that to me is a skip, hop and a jump to the past. See i live in the world of tomorrow… the FUTURE. And it helps in my line of work if one sees the future. And its even better for me is when the vast majority of people can not see the future. Now as i started life  seeing the future when people could barely comprehend the past and seeing the now through filters was a issue. it made me a freak and as i began public life it subjected me to ridicule and prosecution.  I have learned in life i walk a lonely road BUT a lucrative one. I am no longer a public figure thank GOD and have gone as dark as possible… working with a select group of people. With the future view in mind the MAJOR market driving force to come  in the FUTURE is a NOW event. And that key event is the modern miracle the mRNA vaccine. And weather or not its priced into market valuations. Which it is not. My back of the cocktail napkin analysis is the following. The vaccine rollout far exceeded expectations in terms of how fast vulnerable populations are getting vaccinated. AND the vaccines effectiveness is being under estimated. Especially in stoping the spread and protecting from deadlier mutations. Couple the fact that the US will open up far faster then the  NOW people perceptions and we have opportunity.  We are about to set  the captives free with happy checks in hand. With eyes on the horizon  its easy to see the fact that massive stimulus is in the hands of the public. And we are in for one hell of a stock market rally.  And the money does not necessarily have to go directly into the stock market.  if the money goes through a restaurant cash register or a airline ticket it will still end up on Wall Strret.