February 17 (Thursday)
Latest Morning Briefing: Executive Summary. Insurance, Tech & EVs.
Visions of higher interest rates to come are stoking investors’ optimism about prospects for financial services companies, fueling the S&P 500 Financials sector’s impressive ytd outperformance. Within the sector, the insurance industry has been faring well by both earnings and share-price measures as pricing power and strong investment returns have helped to offset higher costs and losses. … Also: Washington has guns out for Big Tech; we recap recent regulatory and (bipartisan!) legislative initiatives afoot. … And we survey the playing field for electric vehicles after their starring roles in Super Bowl ads.(subscribers’ link)
YRI
Daily Markets Overview
See subscribers’ link below for today’s Morning Briefing.
Replay of Dr. Ed’s webinar on February 14.
Markets
Stocks Pare Losses After Fed Minutes | W
China Tech Stocks Outlook Improves Year After $1.5 Trillion Rout | B
Energy
Pioneer Pledges to Hold U.S. Shale Output Near Flat in 2022 | B
Putin’s threats against Ukraine could reinvigorate the U.S. oil and gas industry | C
Central banks
Fed Eyeing Potential for Faster Rate Increases to Ease Inflation | W
Minutes show Fed ready to raise rates, shrink balance sheet soon | C
Readout of January meeting shows Fed not wed to particular pace of rate hikes | R
Pimco Sours on Chinese Sovereign Debt as Policy Splits From Fed | B
Raising Rates in Europe Isn’t as Simple as It Sounds | W
US
U.S. Retail Sales Jump as Inflation Surges | W
China
China courts freeze $157 mln of Evergrande assets over missed construction payments | R
Geopolitics & trade
Russia’s military build-up near Ukraine is growing, not shrinking, warns West | C
Russia adds 7,000 troops to Ukraine border, despite claims it would withdraw some forces, U.S. says | C
How a Russia-Ukraine conflict could impact the economy and markets | The Hill
Industries & companies
Communications services: Google plans privacy change similar to Apple’s, which wiped $230 billion off Facebook’s market cap | C
Corporate finance
Permian Driller Colgate Explores $5 Billion Sale
Crypto
Crypto Firms Including Coinbase, Gemini Work Together to Meet U.S. Money-Laundering Rule | B
Can Bitcoin Be a National Currency? El Salvador Is Trying to Find Out. | W
Virus
U.S. officials prepare for pandemic’s next phase as Omicron wanes | R
CDC wants to give people a break from wearing masks as pandemic improves, director says | C
Climate
Study finds Western megadrought is the worst in 1,200 years | NPR
The Arctic could see ice-free summers by 2035, reshaping global shipping routes | C
Beyond markets
Grief-stricken pet owners usher in Instagram and TikTok’s new influencers: Their cloned cats and dogs | C
