The markets are once again in Turmoil after a shaky couple of weeks. Last week US markets finished mostly lower. Gold ended up 0.3%. Bitcoin futures off 3.5%. WTI crude settled down 2.0%.
The Fed and other Central Banks appear likely to begin clawing back money by tapering more quickly and tentatively raising interest rates. This is making speculative investors nervous.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin yesterday rejected President Biden's $1.75tn social spending bill, AKA 'Build Back Better'. This includes money for childcare, education and climate change, but Manchin represents West Virginia, a profoundly Conservative state, and his opposition to the bill is a blow to the party. This news led Goldman Sachs to downgrade its US growth forecast.
The Omicron COVID variant is raging, and countries are re-entering various levels of lockdown and social restriction.
The Financial Times is warning of troubling signs in the market. Corporate insiders are selling, which is historically a sign of a market top. Meanwhile, margin debt has never been higher, with retail investors borrowing to buy stocks at a 50% jump on 2020 levels. This is reminiscent of the crashes of 2001 and 2008. There is also visible mania in the markets for IPOs, mergers and art.
On the flip side, interest rates remain low, and there is plenty of liquidity in the markets for the buying craze to continue. And many market analysts still believe the US indices will end the year on a strong note. This belief stems from the potential for a Santa Rally, fund inflows, defensive positioning, stocks still offer the best investment opportunity and fear of missing out (FOMO).
Oil down. Gold lower. Industrial metals lower. Bitcoin weaker.
| NASDAQ | S&P 500 | BITCOIN |
|---|---|---|
| 15,169.68 (-0.07%) | 4,620.64 (-1.03%) | 46,009.72 (-2.64%) |
Here are some trending stocks to watch on Monday:
Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) is reportedly set to acquire Cerner (NASDAQ: CERN) for mid $90 a share.
Kistos (LON: KIST) is bidding to acquire assets owned by TotalEnergies (LON: TTE) in the West of Shetland.
Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO) has appointed former McKinsey boss Dominic Barton as its new Chairman, succeeding Simon Thompson.
YouTube's agreement to carry programming from Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) expired Saturday, leading YouTube TV subscribers to lose access to Disney channels. But Disney and Google have now reached an agreement, so the Disney channels have been reinstated. Affected users will be credited $15 for the inconvenience caused. Meanwhile, Disney may lose its rights to the popular game show Jeopardy next year.
Travel-technology firm Mondee is closing in on a $1bn SPAC deal to go public via a merger with ITHAX Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: ITHX).
Verso (NYSE: VRS) is to be acquired by Billerudkorsnäs (STO: BILL) for around $825m or $27 a share.
Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) fired a senior manager over explicit messages after a female trainee made allegations against two male colleagues.
Airbus (EPA: AIR) supply constraints could have airlines waiting up to four years to receive single-aisle jets. Airbus plans to increase its production from 40 to 65 single-aisle planes per month by 2023.
Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) shares in Denmark fell as much as 16% on Monday after previously announcing it will not be able to meet the demand for its new obesity drug after supply issues in the US. They are down 4% in Monday's pre-market trading in the US after slipping 8% on Friday.
Private equity firm Thoma Bravo said on Friday it will buy Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) in an all-cash deal valuing it at $2.6bn.
In Asia:
Residential property management company Kaisa Group (HKG: 1638) confirmed it did not make payment on $400M note due 7 Dec while announcing a significant decline in sales. It remains in talks with bondholders to work out a debt restructuring deal.
China Evergrande Group (HKG: 3333) is again in focus after Standard & Poors and Fitch both downgraded it to default.
In cryptocurrency news:
Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA) are all down, while XRP is up.
According to Bloomberg, Cryptocurrency attracted more money in 2021 than all previous years combined.
The biggest token gainers over the past 24 hours are Andromeda (M31), Hakuryu (RYU) and Shiba Inu Empire (SHIBEMP).