Re <<Thus far, there doesn't appear to be a lot of evidence suggesting Delta variants are any more problematic than those before them in terms of overall health impacts... >>
facts did not matter in the past and therefore shouldn't matter, never mind the truth, whatever the truth be
today's in-tray item re Europe open
Wall Street's big banks are rewarding investors after passing the Fed's stress tests. Morgan Stanley doubled quarterly dividends and plans up to $12 billion in buybacks. Wells Fargo has an $18 billion buyback program. Goldman, JPMorgan and BofA are also boosting dividends. Citi was the outlier with no planned raise. The payouts surge may raise the ire of politicians over perceptions they enrich executives.
Asian stocks fell on concerns the more contagious delta Covid strain will derail an economic recovery as lockdowns and restrictions tighten. U.S. and FTSE 100 futures also dipped. Treasuries slipped and the dollar were steady. The pound weakened. Brent extended a decline on expectations OPEC+ producers will decide this week to increase supply. Bitcoin was steady.
Add this to British travelers' woes: Hopes are fading that the U.K. and U.S. will agree to open a travel corridor before the end of the summer, the FT reported. "It's looking more like September," one official said. The U.K. was reported to be pushing for a pact far more than the U.S. The news may dent market hopes that new Health Secretary Sajid Javid's appointment might spur reopening.
Virus: More than 12 million Australians, close to half of the population, are now in lockdown after Brisbane became the country's fourth regional capital city to restrict movement to contain a spread of the delta variant. Los Angeles County strongly recommended people wear masks indoors in public places, regardless of vaccination status, to protect against the variant. The U.S. increased its travel warning for the UAE and four African countries to the highest risk level.
Facebook's market value surged past $1 trillion after it won the dismissal of two U.S. antitrust cases. The ruling is a blow to the FTC and a coalition of states that claimed it broke competition laws by buying Instagram and WhatsApp to protect its monopoly. Elsewhere, DOJ investigators recently stepped up scrutiny of Google's digital ad market practices, people familiar said, in a sign the Biden administration is actively pursuing a probe that began under the previous administration.
AutoStore is weighing an IPO that could value the Norwegian warehouse robotics company at more than $10 billion, people familiar said. The company is working with advisers on the planned listing, which could take place in Europe this year.
Goldman, former CEO Lloyd Blankfein and former COO Gary Cohn must face a shareholder lawsuit over the 1MDB bribery scandal after a ruling by a Manhattan judge denied their motions to dismiss the suit, which is led by Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden. Former co-COO Harvey Schwartz was dropped from the case.
Joe Biden told Israel President Reuven Rivlin that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon and the U.S. remains determined to counter Tehran's "malign activity and support for terrorist proxies." This was after the president defended U.S. airstrikes on Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria, pushing back against members of Congress who questioned whether they should have been consulted in advance. U.S. troops came under rocket fire in Syria yesterday without suffering casualties.
Crypto roundup:
The Fed's Randal Quarles expressed caution about rushing to issue a central bank digital currency, saying the benefits are "unclear" while posing "significant and concrete risks."
Cathie Wood's ARK Investment filed to create a Bitcoin ETF.
Coinbase said people should not "take being listed on Coinbase as an endorsement of that asset."
European data: Germany's HICP inflation rate is likely to slow significantly to 1.8% in June, Bloomberg Economics said. Consensus is for a 2.1% pace. Spain's rate is seen unchanged at 2.4%. U.K.'s Nationwide house price survey is expected to show year-on-year growth of 13.6% for June.
Chart of the Day: Renault, the worst performing mass-market carmaker on the Stoxx 600 Automobiles & Parts Index, may get investor attention with its EV strategy event tomorrow. After being an early battery-EV champion with the Zoe model, its market share has been squeezed. It's recently signed production-minded deals, including one with Envision Group for a battery plant, as it prepares to take a deep dive into EV technologies. |
