JPMorgan’s Wolf Is Positive on Chinese Equities
Feb.17 -- Alex Wolf, head of Asia investment strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank, discusses Chinese markets and where he’s finding opportunity. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets: China Open.”
March 4 marked an outright meltdown in the SPAC market and IPO Edge was right in the middle of the action. We heard from a panel of nine experienced SPAC sponsors and seasoned advisors during market hours who gave their take on the current market turmoil and the next phase of growth. IPO Edge hosted […]
Some households are collecting a big pile of federal money in 2021.
The president has agreed to a compromise making millions ineligible for the third checks.
(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.
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.
The greenback stayed relatively stable at most part of Wednesday morning in London. Though it seems currency traders are currently facing road bumps in going long as the safe-haven asset remained broadly weaker on the account that U.S Treasury yields have been drifting lower of late.
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%.
Congress is nearing passage of the third economic stimulus check it will send out to you and other taxpayers as part of its Covid-19 relief bill.
(Bloomberg) -- A measure of U.S. corporate credit risk hit a four-month high Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell underwhelmed markets by refraining from pushing back more forcefully against the recent spike in yields.The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade Index widened 1.9 basis points to 56.5 basis points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the highest level since Nov. 4. Investors use the credit-default swaps index to hedge against losses on corporate bonds or to bet on gains in the market.Bond yields have climbed in recent weeks on mounting expectations of stronger economic growth and faster inflation after the pandemic ends. U.S. credit has started to sell off with the rates spike, exposing the highest-rated bonds to more losses because of their elevated duration.Investment grade bonds have posted a nearly 3% negative total return so far this year, their worst start to a year since 1980.Click here for Bloomberg CDS Index Monitor.FedEx and TransCanada PipeLines had the best-performing contracts tied to individual companies, according to ICE Data Services; Kohl’s and Ally Financial were the worstTrading volume in all series of the CDX Investment Grade was $21.6 billionCash bonds widened 1.8 bps to 92.8 bpsBest-performing sectors were utilities (+1.0) and materials (+1.1)Worst-performing sectors were consumer staples (+2.2) and communications (+2.1)Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate Bond index had a total return of -0.50% in the previous session and -2.12% for the past monthiShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF fell 0.8%The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 1.3% to 3,768.49Recent movers:Talen Energy Supply Senior CDS Widens 3 Pts, Most in 4 MonthsBombardier Senior CDS Tightens 3 Pts, Most in 3 MonthsEDP Finance Senior CDS Widens 6 Bps, Most in 5 MonthsSafeway Senior CDS Widens 23 Bps, Most in 10 MonthsClick here for Bloomberg’s Fixed Income Credit Monitor.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.
The team will soon be accepting the crypto as part of a deal with payment services provider BitPay.
(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.
Optimism over increased U.S. demand is helping to boost crude oil prices after President Joe Biden pledged to make more vaccinations available.
(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.
U.S. Treasury yields Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he was monitoring the rise in bond yields and that he would be concerned if financial conditions did tighten. "I would be concerned by disorderly conditions in markets or persistent tightening in financial conditions that threatens the achievement of our goals," Powell said during a webinar hosted by The Wall Street Journal. The 10-year Treasury note yield climbed 7.1 basis points to 1.541%. Bond prices fall as yields rise. Many investors had said that if Powell didn't offer more explicit pushback on higher government bond rates, it could fuel Treasury market weakness. Powell stressed again that the Fed would be "patient" with higher inflation expected this year, saying it was likely to be a "one time" effect and not price gains that continue year-after-year.
Workhorse Group Inc. said Thursday that it met with U.S. Postal Service representatives on March 3, to discuss why the electric vehicle maker missed out on a Next Generation Delivery Vehicle contract, which was awarded to Oshkosh Corp. Workhorse said it can't disclose details of the discussion at this time, but said it plans to share information when permitted. The stock slumped 3.4% in premarket trading. Missing out on the USPS contract had sent Workhorse's stock plunging 47.5% on Feb. 23 to $16.46, and the stock has lost another 9.4% since to close Wednesday at $14.92, the lowest close since June 29, 2020. "Yesterday's meeting with the USPS marked the first step in what we expect may be a prolonged process to explore our options and possibly pursue further action related to our NGDV bid," said Chief Executive Duane Hughes. "We will continue to follow the proper due course procedures as defined by the USPS and will also look to other options available to us." He said legal and corporate advisory firms were retained to identify and pursue its options. Workhorse's stock has lost 32.4% over the past three months through Wednesday, while Oshkosh shares have rallied 28.6% and the S&P 500 has gained 3.3%.
Despite the hashtags, the stock market is far from “crash” territory, as anyone with a working memory of last year's pandemic-inspired selloff would recall. But a rotation away from the market's recent leaders does appear to be under way.
Stock benchmarks finished sharply lower Thursday as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he was monitoring the recent rise in bond yields but added that the inflation expected this year was unlikely to last
Investors looking to recover from last week's bond-market selloff may want to brace for another bout of volatility.
Gold markets are plunging towards the $1700 level again, an area that if we break down through could send gold plummeting another couple of hundred dollars.
(Bloomberg) -- The most popular stock trade in China is unraveling, tarnishing the reputations of some of the country’s most successful money managers and undermining the outlook for the world’s second-largest equity market.Until three weeks ago, buying the nation’s beloved liquor maker Kweichow Moutai Co. was a surefire way for the $3 trillion mutual fund industry to mint money and attract bumper inflows. The stock soared 30% year-to-date through its Feb. 10 record, after gaining almost 70% in 2020 -- and doubling in the year before that.Many funds, flush with a record amount of cash, didn’t have a choice if they wanted to keep their clients and attract new investors. Buying Moutai was the simplest and most effective way to top rankings -- until it wasn’t. The stock began tumbling after the Lunar New Year break, and kept falling. It’s now down 22% since its peak, including a drop of as much as 6% Thursday, and has lost more than $111 billion in value.One of the most high-profile casualties is E Fund Management Co.’s Zhang Kun, the first in China to oversee 100 billion yuan ($15 billion). Zhang’s E Fund Blue Chip Selected Mixed Fund is down 12% in 10 trading days after returning 95% last year largely due to a big bet on baijiu, the Chinese white spirit. The fund had 9.6% of its assets invested in Moutai as of December. Another fund run by Zhang has lost 23%. Zhang didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.The fund manager has received “verbal abuse” in recent weeks by investors who were previously fans, according to a report Wednesday in China’s state tabloid Global Times. He was known as “Prince Charming” or “Brother Kun” among his investors, who now refer to him on social media as “Kun Gou” or “Kun the dog” -- an offensive term in Chinese.Other copycat money managers will be feeling the pain: recent data showed two-thirds of mutual fund assets were invested in only 100 stocks, while the top 400 stocks lured 93% of total funds. Although China’s onshore market contains more than 4,000 stocks, Moutai is by far the largest with a market value of about $390 billion.Moutai accounts for 27% of the loss in the FTSE China A50 Index of the nation’s largest companies since Feb. 10. When added together with fellow spirit makers Wuliangye Yibin Co. and Luzhou Laojiao Co., the three comprise more than half of the gauge’s decline.Concern had been growing about the stretched valuations of Moutai and its peers, especially as gains accelerated. A gauge tracking consumer staples, including liquor makers, traded at a record 36 times projected 12-month earnings in February.Read how China is warning against ‘entertaining’ investors with fund pitchesTo be sure, the company’s shares have faced plenty of risks in the past. The stock tumbled about 8% in a single day in July after the People’s Daily criticized the high price of the company’s liquor. In 2017, Xinhua News Agency said the stock was rising too fast, triggering a selloff. Back in 2013, the stock plunged when Xi Jinping came to power and clamped down on lavish spending by party cadres.But this time around, authorities have grown increasingly concerned about risks to the financial system posed by excess liquidity. On Tuesday, China’s top banking regulator jolted markets with a warning about the need to reduce leverage amid the rising risk of bubbles globally and in the local property sector. With Moutai being the best-known proxy for liquidity-fueled bets and momentum, fund managers will likely need to find a new strategy to protect their returns.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.