{"id":14273,"date":"2020-09-08T12:51:34","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T12:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=14273"},"modified":"2020-09-11T13:02:12","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T13:02:12","slug":"before-the-open-sep-8-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/?p=14273","title":{"rendered":"Before the Open (Sep 8-11)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n Good morning. Happy Friday. <\/span>

\n\n The Asian\/Pacific<\/strong> markets leaned up. Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines did well; New Zealand, Australia and Thailand were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East<\/strong> are currently mixed. Switzerland, Kenya and Saudi Arabia are up; Spain, Portugal, Israel, Austria and the Czech Republic are down. Futures in the States<\/strong> point to a positive open for the cash market. <\/span>

\n\n—————\nVIDEO: A Quick Glance at the Leaders<\/a><\/strong>\n—————<\/span>

\n\n The dollar is down. Oil is down; copper is up. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up. <\/span>

\n\n Stories\/News from Seeking Alpha…<\/span>

\n\nGrowing media backlash

\n\nThe social hashtag “#CancelNetflix” (NASDAQ:NFLX) is gaining steam and has reached Twitter’s top trending topics as the streaming giant faces heavy flak for its controversial film Cuties. The French film (original title Mignonnes) was a Sundance favorite in 2019, but has drawn heavy criticism from those saying it sexualizes young girls. The company had apologized over a Cuties poster back in August, but says the show is a “social commentary against the sexualization of young children.” While Netflix shares fell nearly 4% on Thursday, the trajectory generally mirrored the broader Nasdaq market, and the stock is up 1.4% in premarket trade.

\n\n‘Mulan’ set for disappointing China debut

\n\nDogged by political controversies and negative reviews, Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) $200M live-action remake Mulan is heading for a weak premiere in China today. Pre-sales for tickets stood at about 8.2M yuan ($1.2M), according to Maoyan Entertainment, which is less than one-sixth of the opening day local box office collections for Tenet by Warner Bros. (NYSE:T). Disney partly created Mulan to woo audiences in China, but the film has now become a magnet for political attacks. The studio filmed some of the movie in Xinjiang, where China is accused of committing rights abuses against millions of Uighur Muslims, while lead actress Liu Yifei has publicly supported the police crackdown in Hong Kong.

\n\nReady for some football?

\n\nThe NFL regular season kicked off last night, with the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs beating the Houston Texans 34-20. National audience impressions, might be even higher this year, according to MoffettNathanson, which cited the relative lack of competing programming and changes in viewing habits (not to mention a public starved of live sports in 2020). A look at the networks’ broadcast schedules suggests Fox (NASDAQ:FOX) may benefit from the best set of matchups, followed by NBC (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and CBS (NASDAQ:VIAC), while ESPN (DIS) trails badly on that count.

\n\nFresh bout of volatility

\n\nFutures are trading higher once again, with the Dow up 216 points and S&P 500 and Nasdaq ahead by 1% and 1.4%, respectively, following a volatile session on Thursday that saw the recent tech selloff resume. Market liquidity remains thin, and this can leave stocks vulnerable to exaggerated moves around big options trades, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (investors also remain worried that valuations may have been stretched too far). On the economic calendar today, the U.S. Labor Department is expected to report that consumer prices increased 0.3% in August, following a 0.6% rise in July.

\n\nNo extension of TikTok deadline

\n\n“It’ll either be closed up or they’ll sell it,” President Trump told reporters. “There will be no extension of the TikTok deadline.” There isn’t much time before the September 15 cutoff date, meaning a deal would have to be announced in the next few days to prevent a shutdown. Suitors including Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), and a team of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT), have reportedly been discussing four ways to structure an acquisition from parent ByteDance (BDNCE), which includes buying the app’s U.S. operations without key software (avoiding potential backdoors and other security issues).

\n\nCentury 21 joins the retail graveyard

\n\nCentury 21, the famous New York discount store chain, has become the latest retail casualty of the coronavirus crisis, saying it would file for bankruptcy after failing to receive money from its insurers over the pandemic. Century 21 joins a long list of prominent retailers, like Brooks Brothers, J.C. Penney (OTCPK:JCPNQ), J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, Sur la Table and Tailored Brands (OTCPK:TLRDQ), that have filed for bankruptcy in recent months. Lord & Taylor, another New York institution, which traces its roots to 1826, also announced plans to liquidate last month.

\n\nFirst woman CEO of a Wall Street bank

\n\nCitigroup (NYSE:C) has appointed consumer banking head Jane Fraser as its next chief executive, making her the first woman to lead a major Wall Street bank. Current CEO Michael Corbat plans to retire from the bank in February 2021. While Citigroup still lags behind peers on profitability and share price performance, Corbat, the 37-year Citigroup veteran, is credited with returning the bank to health following its near-collapse during the financial crisis.

\n\nU.K. recovery continues, Brexit risks loom

\n\nRecovering from the sharp downturn caused by coronavirus-induced lockdowns, the U.K. economy grew 6.6% in July on a monthly basis, with activity being boosted by the reopening of restaurants and bars. “While it has continued steadily on the path towards recovery, the U.K. economy still has to make up nearly half of the GDP lost since the start of the pandemic,” ONS Director of Economic Statistics Darren Morgan said in a statement. Over in Europe, traders are also watching comments from ECB officials after President Christine Lagarde bosted the euro on Thursday by delivering relatively mild comments on the currency’s surge.

\n\nWhat else is happening…

\n\nRio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) CEO quits after backlash over Aboriginal site destruction.

\n\nNikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) plays defense against short report after shares tumble.

\n\nAstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) COVID-19 vaccine still on track for 2020 filing.

\n\neBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) founder steps down from board with Elliott partner.

\n\nRussia, China and Iran are targeting U.S. elections, says Microsoft (MSFT).

\n\nThursday’s Key Earnings<\/B>
\nChewy (NYSE:CHWY) -2.1% AH on weaker new sales per active customer.
\nDave & Buster’s (NASDAQ:PLAY) -2.3% AH on rough pandemic-disrupted quarter.
\nOracle (ORCL) +3.4% AH bolstered by cloud growth.
\nPeloton (NASDAQ:PTON) +11.9% AH expecting strong demand to continue into 2021.

\n\nToday’s Economic Calendar<\/B>
\n8:30 Consumer Price Index
\n10:00 Quarterly Services Report
\n1:00 PM Baker-Hughes Rig Count
\n2:00 PM Treasury Budget

\n\n—————-

\n\n Good morning. Happy Thursday.<\/span>

\n\n The Asian\/Pacific<\/strong> markets were mixed. Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand and Taiwan did well; China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East<\/strong> are currently little changed. Greece, South Africa, Austria and Saudi Arabia are up; Hungary, Portugal, Israel and Sweden are down. Futures in the States<\/strong> point towards a flat open for the cash market. <\/span>

\n\n—————\nJoin our email list<\/a> – be alerted of new content<\/strong>\n—————<\/span>

\n\n The dollar is down. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are up. Bonds are down. <\/span>

\n\n Stories\/News from Seeking Alpha…<\/span>

\n\nRace to the bottom for central banks

\n\nCurrency traders are preparing for a key meeting at the ECB, which has seen the euro appreciate heavily over the past few months, especially after the Fed signaled a willingness to allow inflation to overshoot its target. The dovish stance, which gives more weight to the labor market and less weight to inflation, has added to the downward pressure on the U.S. dollar, and the ECB’s Christine Lagarde is expected to talk down the euro as much as she can. Normally, a central bank would cut interest rates to deal with this kind of situation, but rates are already deeply negative across the eurozone. Instead, the ECB may stress that the \u20ac1.35T envelope of the PEPP (pandemic emergency purchase program) is not a ceiling, and that it is prepared to increase its pace and size.

\n\nFutures steady following big tech rebound

\n\nU.S. equity index futures are pausing for breath, with the Nasdaq nominally higher and the Dow and S&P 500 inching lower, after Wall Street snapped its tech losing streak on Wednesday. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares rebounded nearly 11% after suffering their biggest one-day percentage drop in history, while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) gained 4% to bring its market cap back to $2T. On the economic calendar today is the release of U.S. weekly jobless claims as Congress remains deadlocked over a fresh coronavirus stimulus package. While Senate Republicans have united around a “skinny” bill, Democrats oppose the measure, and it isn’t expected to clear its first procedural hurdle in the Senate today.

\n\nBrexit is getting messy again

\n\nThe EU and the U.K. are holding emergency talks after the latter published its Internal Market Bill, which would undercut parts of the Withdrawal Agreement agreed to in January. The news could also damage trade talks as both sides work to secure a new deal. Without an agreement, nearly $1T in trade could be thrown into chaos at the beginning of the year, but some say the “game of Brexit chicken” may be part of the negotiating strategy. Adding to the turmoil, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said any potential U.S.-U.K. trade deal would not pass Congress if Britain undermines the Good Friday peace agreement.

\n\nAvoiding a full TikTok sale

\n\nTikTok owner ByteDance (BDNCE) and the U.S. government are in discussions over possible ways allowing for something less than a full sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations, WSJ reports. The talks follow acts by China’s government that throw some roadblocks at such a sale (like new restrictions on the export of AI technology) and with a nearing deadline for TikTok to agree to a sale or be shut down. ByteDance has been considering options that include a sale to a team of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Walmart (NYSE:WMT), or to a group including Oracle (NYSE:ORCL).

\n\nHot year for listings in Hong Kong

\n\nThe number of U.S.-listed Chinese companies securing secondary listings in Hong Kong is growing, as Yum China (NYSE:YUMC) joined the group after raising the equivalent of $2.2B by selling new stock. Nasdaq-listed hotelier Huazhu Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) has also started taking orders for a $970M stock sale ahead of its planned secondary listing in Hong Kong on Sept. 22. Why the alternative listings? The U.S. Senate passed a bill in June that could ban many Chinese companies from listing on American exchanges amid escalating tensions between the world’s two largest economies. A Hong Kong listing also means a company’s stock can be traded during Asian hours, broadening its investor base, while shares can be added to the Hong Kong Stock Connect, giving access to mainland investors

\n\nBP takes first step into offshore wind

\n\nBP (NYSE:BP) is continuing its seismic strategy shift in abandoning the oil major business model, making its first venture into offshore wind power with a $1.1B purchase of U.S. assets from Norway’s Equinor (NYSE:EQNR). The British firm will receive a 50% stake in the Empire Wind and Beacon Wind developments off New York and Massachusetts, respectively, while Equinor will retain 50% in both, and continue to act as the operator. Just six months after taking the helm, BP CEO Bernard Looney said in August he’d shrink oil and gas output by 40% over the next decade and spend as much as $5B a year building one of the world’s largest renewable power businesses.

\n\nWalmart takes another page from the Amazon playbook

\n\nPartnering with end-to-end delivery firm Flytrex, Walmart (WMT) launched a pilot program this week to test using drones to deliver groceries and household essentials in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Even though it is expected to be a long time before drones are widely used for deliveries, the company hopes to gain insight by using the technology. Besides mirroring Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Prime Air program, Walmart also announced its Walmart+ membership program last week that will take on Amazon Prime.

\n\nRental market blues

\n\nThere were more than 15,000 empty rental apartments in Manhattan in August, up from 5,600 a year ago, as more New Yorkers fled the city amid the coronavirus crisis, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. The inventory of empty units is the largest ever recorded since data started being collected 14 years ago, dashing hopes for a rebound in the fall or the end of 2020. While REITs and real estate companies have more access to capital, smaller landlords may have trouble paying their mortgages and property taxes, which could impact banks and lenders.

\n\nHow many planes are needed to deliver a coronavirus vaccine?

\n\nDubbing it the “largest single transport challenge ever,” the International Air Transport Association called on governments to start “careful planning with industry stakeholders” for the large-scale delivery of a coronavirus vaccine. “Just providing a single dose to 7.8B people would fill 8,000 (Boeing) 747 cargo aircraft,” according to the air transport body. The IATA also cautioned that “while there are still many unknowns (number of doses, temperature sensitivities, manufacturing locations, etc.), it is clear that the scale of activity will be vast, that cold chain facilities will be required and that delivery to every corner of the planet will be needed.”

\n\nWhat else is happening…

\n\nMall owners Simon (NYSE:SPG) and Brookfield (NASDAQ:BPY) to rescue J.C. Penney (OTCPK:JCPNQ).

\n\nTiffany (NYSE:TIF) sues as LVMH (OTCPK:LVMHF) scraps $16.2B takeover deal.

\n\nMLB in the final stages of postseason bubble.

\n\nPalantir (PLTR) tells investors about ‘macro instability’ tailwinds.

\n\nAmazon (AMZN) names former National Security Agency director to board.

\n\nIs Bitcoin the next generation’s version of gold?

\n\nWednesday’s Key Earnings

\n\nGameStop (NYSE:GME) -10.9% as earnings fall short of expectations.

\n\nToday’s Economic Calendar<\/B>
\n8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
\n8:30 Producer Price Index
\n10:00 Wholesale Inventories (Preliminary)
\n10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
\n11:00 EIA Petroleum Inventories
\n1:00 PM Results of $23B, 30-Year Note Auction
\n4:30 PM Money Supply
\n4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet

\n\n—————-

\n\n Good morning. Happy Wednesday.<\/span>

\n\n The Asian\/Pacific<\/strong> markets were very weak. Japan, China, Honk Kong, India, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines all suffered big losses. Europe, Africa and the Middle East<\/strong> are currently mostly up. The UK, Denmark, Poland, France, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Hungary, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and Austria are leading. Futures in the States<\/strong> point towards a moderate gap up open for the cash market. <\/span>

\n\n—————\nJoin our email list<\/a> – be alerted of new content<\/strong>\n—————<\/span>

\n\n The dollar is up slightly. Oil is up; copper is flat. Gold and silver are down. Bonds are up. <\/span>

\n\n Stories\/News from Seeking Alpha…<\/span>

\n\nCorrecting the correction?

\n\nIt’s been a rough last few days for the Nasdaq, which touched correction territory over the course of three sessions as six of the biggest tech stocks lost more than $1T in market value. While it was the fastest 10% plunge in history (the previous record pace was six sessions notched back in March), 2020 has been a year for the record books. Wall Street now appears to be regaining some footing, with Nasdaq futures ahead by nearly 2%, and contracts tied to the Dow and S&P 500 up 0.6% and 0.8%, respectively. On the economic calendar, the Labor Department is set to release its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for July, and while it is somewhat dated, the report should give investors some insight into the labor market.

\n\nAstraZeneca pauses vaccine trials after adverse reaction

\n\nShares of AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) tumbled over 8% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the drugmaker paused clinical trials of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, with a participant in a U.K. study experiencing an unexplained illness. However, the stock has since pared losses to 1% as British health minister Matt Hancock explained that the procedure is “not necessarily” a setback and it “depends on what they find when they do the investigation.” AstraZeneca confirmed that the pause “is a routine action” and it was trying to expedite the review to “minimize any potential impact on the trial timeline.”

\n\nRumblings in the EV space

\n\nTesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is recovering this morning, up 6.6% to $352\/share, following the stock’s largest one day drop in history. The Elon Musk-led company plunged more than 21% on Tuesday after S&P Dow Jones Indices decided against adding the EV maker to the S&P 500. While Tesla tanked, electric vehicle newbie Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) soared over 40% after inking a partnership with General Motors (NYSE:GM). The latter will help bring Nikola’s Badger pickup truck to market and become the exclusive supplier of fuel cell technology for Nikola’s upcoming Class 7 and 8 semi trucks.

\n\nSlacking off

\n\nSlack Technologies (NYSE:WORK) had a rocky return from Labor Day weekend as shares slumped as much as 20% after its earnings report showed calculated billings missing expectations. The company additionally forecast revenue to grow about 33% this quarter, compared with the 49% jump in Q2, marking a bit of a missed opportunity given work-from-home trends. Putting it in perspective: Video-conferencing company Zoom (NASDAQ:ZM) showed 355% growth during the coronavirus pandemic, while Slack may also be having a tough time competing with Microsoft Teams (NASDAQ:MSFT).

\n\nApple countersues Epic for breach of contract

\n\nApple (NASDAQ:AAPL) isn’t taking it easy in its now-litigated fight with Epic Games, countersuing the Fortnite game maker for breach of contract over the in-game payment system it created to bypass the App Store. “Although Epic portrays itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it is a multibillion-dollar enterprise that simply wants to pay nothing for the tremendous value it derives from the App Store,” Apple said in the filing. It also took a swipe at Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY), owner of 40% of Epic: “Tencent (which has its own competing app store, one of the largest in the world), also seeks to dismantle the App Store’s entire business model to advance its own economic interests.”

\n\nFresh Brexit tensions

\n\nBoris Johnson’s government will publish draft legislation today that could weaken clauses on state aid and customs arrangements for Northern Ireland, as well as undermine Britain’s Withdrawal Agreement with the EU. The suggestion that the U.K. might not fully honor its deal with the bloc already prompted Jonathan Jones – head of the government’s legal department – to resign yesterday, marking the sixth senior government official to step down this year. On watch: How the British government plans to use the U.K. internal market bill to shave off bits of the Northern Ireland protocol that it doesn’t like, particularly in the event that a free trade agreement cannot be reached to replace Britain’s single-market membership.

\n\nShakeup at Netflix

\n\nCindy Holland, one of Netflix’s (NASDAQ:NFLX) highest-ranking and longest-serving executives is leaving, and will be replaced by Bela Bajaria, who is being promoted to vice president of global TV. Holland had been with Netflix for 18 years and was a key architect in the company’s shift from DVDs by mail to creating original streaming content like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Stranger Things. The decision comes just weeks after Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos became a co-chief executive of the company along with Reed Hastings.

\n\nDisney faces heat for filming ‘Mulan’ in China’s Xinjiang

\n\nCriticism of Disney’s (NYSE:DIS) live-action remake of Mulan is growing after the film’s end credits revealed a “special thanks” to government entities in Xinjiang, where China is accused of committing rights abuses against millions of Uighur Muslims. It also included the public security bureau in the city of Turpan, where there are believed to be over a dozen “re-education camps” that hold Uighurs in extra-judicial detention. The movie, which was made for $200M before marketing, was already the subject of controversy following social media comments made by Mulan star, Liu Yifei, supporting the Hong Kong police force’s crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement.

\n\nWhat else is happening…

\n\nSnowflake (SNOW) prices IPO with Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), Berkshire (BRK.A, BRK.B) set to buy.

\n\nPandemic’s back-to-school season could bring record retail spending.

\n\nQiagen (NYSE:QGEN) readies launch of rapid portable coronavirus test.

\n\nLyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) rides recover to under 50% decline, best since April.

\n\nBoeing (NYSE:BA) received 8 total orders in the month of August.

\n\nTuesday’s Key Earnings<\/B>
\nLululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) -6% AH on “cautious optimism” for rest of 2020.
\nSlack (WORK) -19.1% AH as calculated billings missed consensus.

\n\nToday’s Economic Calendar<\/B>
\n7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
\n8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
\n10:00 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
\n1:00 PM Results of $35B, 10-Year Note Auction

\n\n—————-

\n\n Good morning. Happy Tuesday. Hope you had a good weekend. <\/span>

\n\n The Asian\/Pacific<\/strong> markets did well. Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and the Philippines posted solid gains; Thailand was weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East<\/strong> are mostly down. Denmark, Poland, France, Germany, Russia, Greece, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Israel and Sweden are down more than 1%. Futures in the States<\/strong> point towards a relatively big gap down open for the cash market. <\/span>

\n\n—————\nJoin our email list<\/a> – be alerted of new content<\/strong>\n—————<\/span>

\n\n The dollar is up. Oil and copper are down. Gold is down; silver is flat. Bonds are up. <\/span>

\n\n Stories\/News from Seeking Alpha…<\/span>

\n\nHeavy losses for tech

\n\nThe tech carnage looks set to continue this morning after Nasdaq 100 futures reversed to trade more than 2% lower amid escalating doubts over positioning (the index plunged 6% over Thursday and Friday). Valuations have been stretched given the benchmark’s sharp 75% gain from a bottom hit in March, while the “Nasdaq Whale Theory” continues to make waves (see details below). Contracts tied to the Dow are flat and S&P 500 futures are off 0.6% as traders return to their screens following the extended holiday weekend.\n‘Nasdaq Whale Theory’

\n\nRecent reports suggest Japanese investing conglomerate SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY) had been loading up on options in tech stocks over the past several months and is now sitting on $4B in gains. With the positions “now known,” SoftBank shares fell 7% in Tokyo on Monday, shedding about $9B in market cap. Others, like Benn Eifert, chief investment officer of hedge fund QVR Advisors, estimate the strategies pursued by institutions like SoftBank would have a minimal effect on market volatility. He said the real power is being exercised by day traders buying enormous amounts of call options on tech stocks, which have created a virtuous hedging and buying cycle pushing stocks upwards.

\n\n‘Decoupling’ from China

\n\nPresident Trump is thinking about “decoupling” the U.S. from China, he said during a Labor Day press conference at the White House, adding that companies that outsource to China won’t get federal contracts. China meanwhile unveiled its new “Global Initiative on Data Security,” a month after the U.S. announced the Clean Network program, which would exclude Chinese tech providers from internet infrastructure used by America and other nations. In August, the U.S. also amended a rule that looked to effectively cut Huawei off from key semiconductor supplies, while President Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with TikTok owner ByteDance (BDNCE) and WeChat owner Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY).

\n\nS&P 500 rebalance skips Tesla

\n\nIn a fairly heavy shuffle, several companies are moving among the S&P 500 Index, the S&P MidCap 400 and SmallCap 600 as part of September’s quarterly rebalance. Not added to the S&P 500 in the rebalance: Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), which is down another 10% premarket to $377\/share. At its current level, Tesla is over 25% below its all-time high recorded just weeks ago, but still about 30% above where it was when speculation of its S&P 500 inclusion began.

\n\nAmerica dusts off its box office

\n\nTenet – the Warner Bros. (NYSE:T) thriller that may be the biggest film release of this pandemic year, in terms of stakes – debuted in the U.S. with $20.2M, in the first of three days of the long Labor Day weekend. That figure is hard to judge against any historical comparisons – with a subset of U.S. theaters open, and those that are open enforcing capacity restrictions, but it marked a triumph of sorts in even making it to theaters after multiple delays. Internationally, Tenet has $150M so far, and in China, where theaters were able to reopen more quickly, it grossed $30M over the weekend, trailing only Chinese war epic The Eight Hundred.

\n\nBrexit tensions weigh on the pound

\n\nBrexit trade talks plunged into crisis on Monday after the U.K. warned the EU that it could effectively override key parts of the divorce deal it signed last year unless the bloc agrees to a free trade deal by Oct. 15. In response, the EU chief warned that Britain has a legal obligation to respect the Brexit withdrawal agreement. “We are not going to accept level playing field provisions that lock us in to the way the EU do things,” added British chief negotiator David Frost, ahead of fresh talks today with EU counterpart Michel Barnier. Sterling -1% to $1.3039.

\n\nSecond-highest coronavirus case count

\n\nIndia has surpassed Brazil as the country with the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus cases, reaching more than 4.2M confirmed infections as the epidemic surges across the South Asian nation. India added the largest number of cases in a day with 90,802 recorded on Sunday. More than 71,000 people have died from COVID-19, making India the third-largest by number of deaths. Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s government initiated the world\u2019s biggest virus lockdown in the country of 1.3B people in late March, leading to a GDP contraction of 23.9% in Q2, but the economic and social costs have forced a gradual reopening.

\n\nOil demand remains weak

\n\nSaudi Aramco (ARMCO) has cut the October official selling price for Arab Light crude it sells to Asia by the most since May, while the world’s top oil exporter also lowered prices to the U.S. for the first time in six months. The move compounded losses in the WTI crude benchmark, which fell 4.5% to $37.98\/bbl on the news, after tumbling 7.5% last week as the coronavirus crisis appeared to stage a comeback in parts of Europe, while cases in India surged. U.S. energy firms also added oil and natural gas rigs for the second time in the past three weeks, according to a weekly report by Baker Hughes, while shale producers are stockpiling federal drilling permits in the Permian Basin.

\n\nGermany threatens Russia with Nord Stream 2

\n\nTensions are building over the case of Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, who was hospitalized on August 20 after being poisoned with military-grade nerve agent Novichok. “If in the coming days Russia does not help clarify what happened, we will be compelled to discuss a response with our allies,” Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas declared. “I hope that the Russians do not force us to change our position on Nord Stream,” which is set to carry gas directly from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The Gazprom-led (OTCPK:OGZPY) \u20ac9.5B project is backed by Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Germany’s Uniper (OTC:UNPPY) and BASF (OTCQX:BASFY), Austria’s OMV (OTCPK:OMVJF) and France’s Engie (OTCPK:ENGIY).

\n\nWhat else is happening…

\n\nGDP figures flag Japan’s worst postwar economic downturn.

\n\nReports suggest AB InBev (NYSE:BUD) is planning to replace longtime CEO.

\n\nExpansion… Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) inks production deal near Shanghai.

\n\nBoeing (NYSE:BA) problems prompt FAA review of Dreamliner jets – WSJ

\n\nNext Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) spaceflight test set for Oct. 22.

\n\nEpic makes another attempt at reversing ‘Fortnite’ App Store (NASDAQ:AAPL) ban.

\n\nToday’s Economic Calendar
\n6:00 NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
\n1:00 PM Results of $50B, 3-Year Note Auction
\n3:00 PM Consumer Credit

\n—————-\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good morning. Happy Friday. The Asian\/Pacific markets leaned up. Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines did well; New Zealand, Australia and Thailand were weak. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are currently mixed. Switzerland, Kenya and Saudi Arabia are up; Spain, Portugal, Israel, Austria and the Czech Republic are down. Futures in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14273"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14282,"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14273\/revisions\/14282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.leavittbrothers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}