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    It was a frantic Friday for traders as another push higher in bond-market borrowing costs and the dollar sank stocks and oil prices jumped after OPEC and its allies opted against increasing supply for the time being. Nervy European shares started 0.7% lower, Asia had dropped, Wall Street's S&P 500 had briefly gone negative for the year on Thursday and MSCI's all-country index was on its longest losing streak in six months. It had come after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had shown little alarm about the rise in yields on Thursday while the lively oil markets and monthly U.S. jobs data due later meant another busy day was in store.

  • U.S. judge rejects SEC bid to expand Rio Tinto fraud lawsuit on Mozambique coal business

    The SEC filed a complaint against Rio in 2017 with allegations that it had fraudulently concealed the decline in value of the business. Rio had acquired Riversdale mining for $3.7 billion in 2011, on the premise it would be able to barge 30 million tonnes of coal per year down the Zambezi river, and rail a further 12-15 million tonnes of coal per year to port. But it failed to secure government approvals, and discovered the resource was lower than expected, still raising more than $5 billion in 2012 before impairing the assets as coal prices fell the following year, when Chief Executive Tom Albanese departed.

  • Analysis: Fed may need more than words in next battle with markets

    February's bond selloff sent U.S. 10- and 30-year Treasury yields more than 30 basis points higher while governments from France to Australia saw their borrowing costs jump. Stock markets, which for years surfed the cheap-money wave, tumbled. The selloff was driven by concerns that adding enormous buckets of government spending to a fast-recovering U.S. economy would push inflation above the Federal Reserve's target sooner than anticipated.

  • U.S. Service Industries Expand at Slowest Pace in Nine Months

    (Bloomberg) -- Growth at U.S. service providers slowed to a nine-month low in February as companies grappled with logistical challenges and rising prices at the same time a stretch of severe winter weather gripped much of the nation.The Institute for Supply Management’s services index fell to 55.3 during the month from an almost two-year high of 58.7 in January, according to data released Wednesday. Readings above 50 signal growth and the February figure was weaker than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.The group’s measures of orders and business activity also plummeted to the lowest levels since May. While many service providers remain constrained by the pandemic, the setback in February included an arctic blast that disrupted supply chains, caused blackouts and impeded commerce in some areas.“Respondents are mostly optimistic about business recovery and the economy. Production-capacity constraints, material shortages and challenges in logistics and human resources are impacting the supply chain,” Anthony Nieves, chair of the ISM Services Business Survey Committee, said in statement.The polar vortex brought record-cold temperatures to more than 9,000 U.S. cities. The most severe case occurred in Texas, where the state’s power grid was overwhelmed and millions of residences went without lights, heat and water.The weather “one of the variables for sure one of the factors in there but not the big one. The big one I feel right now has to do with capacity constraints due to increased demand and not having the output, coupled with the logistics issues,” Nieves said on a conference call with reporters.Seventeen service industries reported growth during the month, led by accommodation and food services, wholesale trade, transportation and warehousing, and construction.Backlogs RiseIn a sign the slowdown in services activity is temporary, the ISM index of order backlogs rose to a six-month high of 55.2, while a gauge of export demand was the strongest since June.The services figures also showed prices paid for materials jumped to 71.8 in February, the highest since September 2008. Delivery times also lengthened. The group’s manufacturing data, released Monday, showed input costs for factories were also the highest since 2008.Both reports indicate that supply shortages and labor constraints remain obstacles across a broad swath of industries.Select ISM Industry Comments“Suppliers are taking the opportunity with the commodity-price increases in the last few months to propose price increases that are above and beyond normal expectations, causing significant concern. “ - Accommodation & Food Services“Sales of residential real estate continue to be strong, even outstripping supply. Cost inflation in building materials seen as shortages develop from sporadic Covid-19 closures at manufacturing facilities.” - Construction“Supplier deliveries continue to be an issue as well as lead-times. Additionally, price increases are occurring with more frequency for products containing raw materials such as copper and steel.” - Retail Trade“We are seeing an ongoing influx of price increases due to raw-material shortages, labor shortages, and transportation delays.” - Wholesale Trade“Many materials have inconsistent lead times or are facing delivery delays.” - UtilitiesThe ISM’s index of services employment indicated slower growth in February, falling to 52.7 from 55.2. Another report on Wednesday from the ADP Research Institute showed companies added fewer workers during the month than forecast.(Adds graphic)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • How stimulus checks can give you a $14,000 windfall this year

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  • Joe Biden's stimulus check changes: Do you still qualify for $1,400?

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  • Texas watchdog says grid operator made $16-billion error

    A firm hired to monitor Texas' power markets says the region's grid manager overpriced electricity over two days during last month's energy crisis, resulting in $16 billion in overcharges.

  • Oil Sands Give OPEC a Boost With Half-Million-Barrel Output Cut

    (Bloomberg) -- Major oil sands producers in Western Canada will idle almost half a million barrels a day of production next month, helping tighten global supplies as oil prices surge.Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.’s plans to conduct 30 days of maintenance at its Horizon oil sands upgrader in April will curtail roughly 250,000 barrels a day of light synthetic crude output, company President Tim McKay said in an interview Thursday. Work on the Horizon upgrader coincides with maintenance at other cites.Suncor Energy Inc. plans a major overhaul of its U2 crude upgrader, cutting output by 130,000 barrels a day over the entire second quarter. Syncrude Canada Ltd. will curb 70,000 barrels a day during the quarter because of maintenance in a unit.The supply cuts out of Northern Alberta, following a surprise OPEC+ decision to not increase output next month, could add more support to the recent rally in crude prices. OPEC+ had been debating whether to restore as much as 1.5 million barrels a day of output in April but decided to wait.The Saudi-led alliance closely monitors other major oil producers as it seeks to manage the entire global market, and surging production in North America was its biggest headache in recent years -- especially from U.S. shale but also from Canada.“The U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, Brazil and other well endowed countries with hydrocarbon reserves -- we need to work with each other, collaboratively,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said after the group’s meeting on Thursday.Read More: Saudis Bet ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Is Over in Push for Pricier OilCanada’s contribution to balancing the market with less production, much like slowing output in the U.S., is not a deliberate market-management strategy but significant nonetheless.Even though the output cuts are short-term, the battered oil-sands industry shouldn’t be a concern for the Saudis in the long run either, judging from McKay’s outlook for the industry.“I can’t see much growth in the oil sands happening because there is going to be less demand in the future,” he said. “The first step is we have to get our carbon footprint down.”After years of rising output turned Canada into the world’s fourth-largest crude producer, expansion projects have nearly halted on the heels of two market crashes since 2014.Adding to its struggles, Canada’s oil industry is being shunned by some investors such as Norway’s $1.3 trillion wealth fund amid concern that the higher carbon emissions associated with oil sands extraction will worsen climate change. These forces help make future growth in the oil sands unlikely, said McKay, whose company is among the largest producers in the country.Oil sands upgraders turn the heavy bitumen produced in oil sands mines into light synthetic crude that’s similar to benchmarks West Texas Intermediate and Brent. Syncrude Sweet Premium for April gained 60 cents on Thursday to $1.50 a barrel premium to WTI, the strongest price since May, NE2 Group data show.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • GameStop spikes as investors eye cryptic tweet by shareholder

    GameStop shares closed up 6.4% at $131.93 after earlier hitting $147.87, their highest since a surge in the heavily shorted stock late last month. One analyst and some Twitter users pointed to a cryptic tweet by Ryan Cohen, a major shareholder of GameStop and founder of e-commerce firm Chewy.com, as a plausible reason for the move, although Reuters could not independently determine causation. The late afternoon rally in GameStop began roughly around the time that Cohen tweeted what appeared to be a screenshot with the puppet dog advertising mascot of Pets.com, a famous casualty of the dotcom bubble two decades ago.

  • Analyst Who Predicted $50,000 Bitcoin Sees Key Metric Indicating 'March To $100,000'

    Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) may be headed for the $100,000 mark by the end of this month, according to Mike McGlone, a Bloomberg analyst. What Happened: McGlone, who previously ascribed a $50,000 plus level for the cryptocurrency, said in a March outlook report that if the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC) closing at its steepest discount ever is an indicator, then it may “signal [Bitcoin’s] march to $100,000.” The Greyscale premium, a metric watched closely, ended February with a 2.7% discount. McGlone pointed to March 2017, when BTC backed up to nearly $1,000 on the way to its peak near $20,000 in December of that year. “Sharp reductions in the GBTC premium have often marked bottoms in Bitcoin,” wrote McGlone. “The increasing probability of [exchange-traded] funds in the U.S., on the back of launches in Canada are adding pressure to the trust price, but we see sustaining the upward trajectory as the more likely outcome.” Bitcoin traded 8.48% lower at $47,120.70 at press time. GBTC closed 10.31% lower at $41.40 on Thursday. Why It Matters: The Grayscale premium is a reference to the difference between the value of the holdings of GBTC versus the market price of its holdings. McGlone also noted the increased replacement of Gold in portfolios with BTC. “In 2020, the benchmark crypto gained legitimacy with declining volatility vs. the opposite in most assets. In 2021, we see little to stop the process of old-guard gold allocators simply focusing on prudent diversification,” wrote the analyst. On Thursday, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell said that BTC could replace all of the world’s currencies and hit a million-dollar price target within the next ten years. “The younger demographic is certainly taking notice of it and they see it as a better version of gold,” said Powell. Read Next: 'Morons:' Crypto Enthusiasts Burn Banksy's Real Artwork To Turn It Into Digital Token See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaHow Square's Purchase of Jay Z's Tidal Could Popularize Blockchain'Morons:' Crypto Enthusiasts Burn Banksy's Real Artwork To Turn It Into Digital Token© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Mortgage Rates Are Back Above 3%. Here’s Where They’re Headed Next.

    Mortgage rates have risen past a psychological benchmark for the first time since they fell to historic lows during the pandemic. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 3.02% this past week, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey—the first time since July that the rate has risen above 3%. “Since reaching a low point in January, mortgage rates have risen by more than 30 basis points,” wrote Freddie Mac’s chief economist, in a release.

  • Texas Watchdog Says Grid Operator Made $16 Billion Error

    (Bloomberg) -- A firm hired to monitor Texas’ power markets says the region’s grid manager overpriced electricity over two days during last month’s energy crisis, resulting in $16 billion in overcharges.Amid the deep winter freeze that knocked nearly half of power generation offline, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, known as Ercot, set the price of electricity at the $9,000-a-megawatt-hour maximum -- standard practice during a grid emergency. But Ercot left that price in place days longer than necessary, resulting in massive overcharges, according to Potomac Economics, an independent market monitor hired by the state of Texas to assess Ercot’s performance. In an unusual move, the firm recommended in a letter to regulators that the pricing be corrected and that $16 billion in charges be reversed as a result.Potomac isn’t the first to say that leaving electricity prices at the $9,000 cap for so long was a mistake. Plenty of power companies at risk of defaulting on their payments have said the same. But the market monitor is giving that opinion considerable weight and could sway regulators to let companies off the hook for some of the massive electricity charges they incurred during the crisis.The Arctic blast that crippled Texas’s grid and plunged more than 4 million homes and businesses into darkness for days has pushed many companies to the brink of insolvency and stressed the power market, which is facing a more-than $2.5 billion payment shortfall. One utility, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, has already filed for bankruptcy, while retailers Griddy Energy LLC and Entrust Energy Inc. defaulted and have been banned from participating in the market.“The market is under quite a bit of duress,” Kenan Ogelman, Ercot’s vice president of commercial operations told Texas lawmakers Thursday. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Ercot one notch from A1 to Aa3 and revised the grid operator’s credit outlook to “negative.”Retroactively adjusting the power price would ease the financial squeeze on some of the companies facing astronomical power bills in the wake of the energy crisis. EDF Renewable Energy and Just Energy are among those asking the Public Utility Commission to reset the power price for the days after the immediate emergency while others have also asked regulators to waive their obligation to pay until price disputes are resolved.“If we don’t act to stabilize things, a worst-case scenario is that people will go under,” said Carrie Bivens, the Ercot independent market monitor director at Potomac Economics. “It creates a cascading effect.”The erroneous charges exceed the total cost of power traded in real-time in all of 2020, said Bivens, who spent 14 years at Ercot, where she most recently was director of market operations before becoming its watchdog. “It’s a mind-blowing amount of money.”While prices neared the $9,000 cap on the first day of the blackouts, they soon dipped to $1,200 -- a fluctuation that the utility commission later attributed to a computer glitch. The panel, which oversees the state’s power system, ordered Ercot to manually set the price at the maximum to incentivize generators to feed more electricity into the grid during the period of supply scarcity. The market monitor argues that Ercot should have reset prices once rotating blackouts ended because, at the point, the emergency was over.It’s asking the commission to direct Ercot to correct the real-time price of electricity from 12 a.m. Feb. 18 to 9 a.m. Feb. 19. Doing so could save end-customers around $1.5 billion that otherwise would be passed through to them from electricity providers, Bevins said.But power generators that reaped substantial profits from the high prices during the crisis week are likely to push back. Vistra Corp. on Thursday submitted comments to the utility commission arguing against repricing. During a Texas senate hearing the same day, utilities South Texas Electric Cooperative and the Lower Colorado River Authority also voiced opposition.Texas Competitive Power Advocates, a trade association representing generators, said retroactively changing prices could discourage future investments in Texas’s electricity market. “Changing prices after the fact creates additional instability and uncertainty,” Michele Richmond, the group’s executive director, said in an email.Bivens acknowledged the market monitor isn’t typically in favor of repricing, but noted in her letter to the commission that the move wouldn’t result in any revenue shortfalls for generators. Instead, the new price would reflect the actual supply, demand and reserves during the period.“This isn’t some Monday morning quarterbacking,” she said in an interview. “Ercot made an error and we don’t let errors slide.”The utility commission on Wednesday adopted a prior recommendation made by the market monitor, voting to to claw back some payments to power generators for services they never actually provided during energy crisis. The commissioners also expressed support for capping the price of certain grid services -- a request made by several retailers -- but didn’t take action on it. Another commission meeting is scheduled for Friday.(Adds Ogelman quote, Moody’s downgrade in fifth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Tesla Stock Update: Meltdown in Tesla Beginning as Forecasted

    It appears the breakdown is underway, and this could turn into an outright collapse into mid-March.

  • Getting A Third Covid-19 Stimulus Check Just Got Tougher — But You Might Still Influence How Big Yours Is

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  • Bitcoin Could Reach $1 Million or More, Kraken CEO Says

    (Bloomberg) -- As the leader of crypto exchange Kraken, Jesse Powell is bound to be bullish on Bitcoin. Yet he’s projecting a disruptive future that would stretch the imagination of even the most ardent crypto fans.In a Bloomberg Television interview, Powell said Bitcoin could reach $1 million in the next decade, adding that supporters say it could eventually replace all of the major fiat currencies.“We can only speculate, but when you measure it in terms of dollars, you have to think it’s going to infinity,” he said. “The true believers will tell you that it’s going all the way to the moon, to Mars and eventually, will be the world’s currency.”The CEO also said San Francisco-based Kraken is considering going public, possibly next year.Extreme predictions are nothing new in the world of Bitcoin, where adherents stand to profit from convincing a wider audience that crypto is a legitimate asset class, rather than a speculative fad. The dollar remains the world’s reserve currency and is the benchmark for global trade, though its value has softened in the past year.Powell said Bitcoin bulls see it one day exceeding the combined market cap of the dollar, euro and other currencies.The dollar “is only 50 years old and it’s already showing extreme signs of weakness, and I think people will start measuring the price of things in terms of Bitcoin,” he said.The digital currency slipped 3% in early U.S. trading on Thursday, hovering around $49,000. Prices have surged almost 600% since the start of 2020 on the back of wider mainstream adoption, with bulls seeing it as both an inflation hedge and speculative asset.Critics argue that Bitcoin is in a giant, stimulus-fueled bubble destined to burst like the 2017 boom and bust cycle.Kraken benefits from higher prices as it reaps fees from increased trading. Bloomberg reported last month that the exchange was in talks to raise new funding, which would double the company’s valuation to more than $10 billion.“Personally, I think $10 billion is a low valuation,” Powell said. “I wouldn’t be interested in selling shares at that price.”The CEO did acknowledge the potential for wild market swings, saying prices can “move up or down 50% on any given day.” That kind of volatility has long been one of the negatives of Bitcoin, relegating the market to one of speculation, rather than a means of doing business.“If you are buying into Bitcoin out of speculation, you should be committed to holding for five years,” Powell said. “You have to have strong convictions to hold.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Blockchain Sleuth Says OKEx, Huobi Stonewalled Him in Child Porn Investigation

    "Why would an exchange or any service in this industry that's claiming to want to do the right thing refuse to speak at all?" says CipherBlade's Rich Sanders.

  • Gold Advocate Peter Schiff Criticizes Mark Cuban And Kevin O'Leary For Turning Positive On Bitcoin

    Prominent gold advocate and Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff has criticized billionaire investors Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary for turning positive on Bitcoin. What Happened: “Bubbles typically peak when rational investors capitulate,” said Schiff on Twitter, calling them the newest skeptics to “join the cult.” Congratulations to those who bought Bitcoin early, pumped up the price, and who've been dumping into the hype. You succeeded in getting Wall Street to buy into the mania. When I first learned about #Bitcoin I didn't think smart investors would be dumb enough to buy. I was wrong. — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) March 1, 2021 Schiff’s criticism comes after Kevin O’Leary announced he would be allocating 3% of his portfolio to the digital asset while also looking at investing in the most energy-efficient Bitcoin mining companies. Earlier this week, Mark Cuban commented on some of Schiff’s most recent remarks saying, “Gold is dead Peter. Move on.” Why It Matters: Schiff has often criticized Bitcoin as an asset class, calling it inferior to gold as a store of value. His most recent comments on Twitter invited criticism from Mark Cuban, who commented that gold is hyped just as much as cryptocurrencies. “As tech continues to get better/cheaper/faster there will be new applications and maybe even something that supersedes what we know as crypto today. But gold won't ever change. Which is why it will die as a SOV (Store of Value),” said Cuban on Twitter. According to Schiff, the fact that gold won’t ever change is part of its appeal to investors. Jeffrey Gundlach, a well-known gold bull, commented earlier today that Bitcoin is up over 467% in the past 12 months while gold is down by 11% for the same period. The price of gold is down 11% over the past twelve months. The S&P 500 is up 27% over the past twelve months. Bitcoin is up 467% over the past twelve months. Great dispersions often precede great reversions. We shall see. — Jeffrey Gundlach (@TruthGundlach) March 4, 2021 According to him, dispersions of this size between asset classes often come before reversions to the mean. Price Action: After a volatile week, the market-leading cryptocurrency was trading at $48,171 at the time of writing. Earlier this week, Bitcoin recorded a low of $43,867 and a high of $52,535. Image: Dmitry Demidko via Unsplash See more from BenzingaClick here for options trades from BenzingaFantom Is Top Performing Cryptocurrency Again: Here's What You Need To KnowGoldman Sachs To Restart Crypto Desk After Abandoning The Idea In 2018© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  • Buzzy stock-market ETFs backed by Portnoy and Wood get crushed Thursday afternoon as the Nasdaq nears correction

    Cathie Wood's flagship ARK Invest ETF and a VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment backed by Wall Street bro Dave Portnoy are down by at least 4%. The VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF was down 4.3% in Thursday afternoon trade, in its debut. Meanwhile, Wood's ARK Innovation deepened its slide into correction on Thursday, off 6.6%. Both ETFs focus on drawing interest from many of the growthy tech stocks which are in the market's crosshairs as bond yields rise, including electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc. . On Thursday, bonds took a leg higher after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he was watching the rise in rates but offered no concrete steps the central bank was taking to tamp down rate moves. The 10-year Treasury yield jumped by 7 basis points in afternoon action, hitting around 1.54% and accelerating a sell-off in stocks that are viewed as pricey and that don't offer a coupon. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was down nearly 10% from its Feb. 12 peak, meeting the commonly used definition for a correction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 400 points, or 1.3%, and nursing a 0.8% year-to-date gain. The S&P 500 index was down 1.6% and holding on to a 2021 gain of less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite was negative for the year, down 1.4%.

  • DOGE Adoption on the Rise. Dallas Mavericks to Accept Dogecoin for Tickets, Merchandise

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  • Portnoy-Backed ETF Sees Third-Highest Volume Ever in a Debut

    (Bloomberg) -- A new exchange-traded fund seeking to ride the companies most loved by investors online has found plenty of its own positive sentiment in its first day of trading.About $438 million worth of shares in the VanEck Vectors Social Sentiment ETF (ticker BUZZ) changed hands on Thursday, making it the third best ETF debut on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.“Normally, this kind of blow-the-roof-off volume for the first day is for ETFs that open up a new asset class like gold or Bitcoin,” said Eric Balchunas, ETF analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence.The fund, which has been promoted by Barstool Sports Inc. founder Dave Portnoy, follows an index that uses AI to scan online sources like blogs and social media to identify the 75 most favorably mentioned equities.Because of its criteria for inclusion, the hottest names among the day-trading crowd like GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. don’t actually make it into the gauge. Its top holdings currently are Ford Motor Co., Twitter Inc. and DraftKings Inc.Nonetheless, the rapid uptake suggests VanEck has succeeded in tapping into the increasingly powerful retail investing cohort.“Given the explosion of individual, younger retail traders, it makes sense to see a pile of volume,” said Dave Lutz, macro strategist at JonesTrading. “Whether it is the WSB crowd embracing Dave Portnoy’s marketing of the ETF, or institutions playing it to bet on the direction of the trend (or hedge) -- we won’t know for a bit. I suspect it’s a bit of both.”The fund opened at $24.40. It was down 1% at $24.15 at 12:02 p.m.(Updates with latest figures, analyst comments.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.