August 20, 2023

August 20: Michael Burry bets $1.6 Billion against market, Another Bank Failure, Tesla 6 days of losses (Recap ep241)

18 minutes

In today’s Recap, Marcello talks about how the reknown investor, Michael Burry, best known for his massive profits achieved during the housing crash of 2008, has put a billionaire bet against the market; more banks are failing; and Tesla’s shares have had a recent negative strike of six consecutive days.

Friday was the 6th straight session of losses for the electric vehicle maker Tesla stock fell another -1.70% at $215.49, at a length not seen this year. Tesla last saw a losing streak of that length in December, when the stock tumbled for 7 consecutive days. The 2023 losing streak began Aug. 11, when shares ended 1.1% lower. Each day has brought a substantial leg down, with shares losing no less than 1% each session since. Shares have fallen over 19% so far in August. But it has still been a strong year even accounting for the recent pullback, with shares up nearly 75% in 2023, but remains down -27.36% y/y, with a market cap of $695.8B.

Argentine voters rebuked the 2 main political forces in a primary election, pushing a libertarian outsider candidate into 1st place towards presidential elections in Oct. With some 90% of ballots counted, far-right libertarian economist Javier Milei had 30.5% of the vote, far higher than predicted, with the main conservative opposition bloc behind at 28% & the ruling Peronist coalition in 3rd place at 27%. The center-left Peronist coalition & the main Together for Change conservative opposition bloc have both lost the confidence of many voters, w/inflation at 116% & a cost-of-living crisis that has left 4 in 10 people in poverty

On Thursday, China’s struggling property giant Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted property developer filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in a U.S. court. In a filing to the Manhattan bankruptcy court, the firm referenced restructuring proceedings in Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands & the British Virgin Islands. The property developer defaulted in 2021 & announced an offshore debt restructuring program in March. Trading of Evergrande shares have been suspended since March 2022. In July, the firm posted a loss of $81B over the past 2 years, after struggling to finish projects & repay suppliers & lenders.

China’s push to control its exports of gallium has sent international prices for the metal used in semiconductors to a 10-month high, with prices up 50% since early July, as suppliers await official approvals to ship overseas. Chinese producers of the niche metal need permission to ship abroad under rules effective from Aug. 1. While some exporters have filed for approval, they expect the process could take several weeks, according to people with knowledge of the issue who declined to be named because the information is not public.

China’s fertility rate was already one of the world’s lowest, alongside South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong & Singapore. China’s fertility rate is now estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily reports, a figure likely to unnerve officials as they try to boost the country’s declining number of new births. The state-supported Daily said the figure from China’s Population & Development Research Center, put it as having the lowest fertility level among countries with a population of over 100M.

Canadian fire crews on Thursday battled to prevent wildfires from reaching the northern city of Yellowknife; The U.S. is preparing to accelerate its complaint that Mexico’s ban on genetically modified corn violates the nations’ free-trade deal.

The post August 20: Michael Burry bets $1.6 Billion against market, Another Bank Failure, Tesla 6 days of losses (Recap ep241) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

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