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In this week’s recap, the main topics were the concerns over a swift tightening of financial conditions increased around the world with multi-decade high inflation, also the fresh geopolitical anxiety between Russia & Ukraine. The U.S. trade deficit surged to $859.1B in 2021, a record high, increasing by +27%, as imports increased sharply amid the restocking of shelves by businesses to meet robust domestic demand. The widening deficit was driven by a $576.5B increase in imports last year, as Americans purchased more products made abroad. The trade deficit with China grew +14.5% for the full year to $355.3B, reversing the decline that followed then President Trump’s policies aimed at reducing the deficit with tariffs & purchase targets.

The silver market started 2022 in volatility as prices swung in a $3 range in January; however, the precious metal is seeing strong physical demand, with the U.S. Mint’s sales numbers showing that it sold $5M ounces of silver last month, its best start to the year in 5. According to the data, silver coin sales are up +4.6%, from 4.78 million ounces sold in January 2021.

Mexico, 1 of the top 10 oil suppliers to India last year, has drastically cut its crude exports; as state oil firm Pemex works to launch a large refinery to process fuel domestically. India, the world’s 3rd-largest oil importer, is scheduled to receive just 1 cargo from Mexico for months of Jan. & Feb.; just 15K barrels per day (BPD) of Mexican crude vs. nearly 98K BPD it received in the same period last year. Mexico reportedly is looking to suspend crude oil exports in 2023, in a bid to focus on domestic self-sufficiency. With the OPEC cuts, Mexico’s decision will make the oil supply in the market much better, which will boost its price.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX said it lost up to 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites that it launched last Thursday. A geomagnetic storm Friday prevented the satellites from reaching their orbital position. The satellites are expected to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere & won’t produce more orbital debris. The loss, which may have cost Musk up to $20M, is a setback for Musk’s revolutionary internet infrastructure plan & a blemish on SpaceX’s otherwise stellar record.

Ancient DNA suggests woolly mammoths roamed Earth more recently than originally thought; Queen Elizabeth II the UK & N Ireland reached a full 70 years on the throne; Biden administration detail how to award nearly $5B over 5yrs build 1000’s EV charging stations; NASA plans to retire & crash ISS into the Pacific Ocean by 2031; Disney shares return to strength thanks to its parks and Disney+; Chipotle shares up 10.16% due to good Q4 2021 results; alleged culprits of 2016 Bitfinex hacking arrested; State of emergency” declared in Ottawa after 15 days of trucker protests.

The post Recap February 13: SpaceX satellites destroyed by Sun, Tesla Superchargers Robbed, Food Prices EXPLODE (Recap Ep162) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In this week’s Recap, Marcello talks about into a hack of the wormhole system that affects deeply the crypto community; A shortage of steaks at a restaurant ended in a brawl; the record amount of U.S. national debt are weighing the investment in US Dollars.

U.S. national debt tops $30T for the 1st time. The record amount of debt is adding to concerns over the long-term financial & economic health of the country, which is grappling w/surging inflation & a higher interest rate environment, which will make servicing the debt even more challenging. Other factors like an aging population, elevated healthcare costs & a tax system that doesn’t bring in enough revenue to cover massive spending are also worrying, as the federal government unwisely continues to kick the can down the road.

Sony to acquire video game developer Bungie for US$3.6 billion; NATO states that Europe needs to diversify its energy supplies soon; US sends jets to UAE after Houthi movement attack; OPEC and its allies are putting an end to crude oil cuts.

The post Recap February 6: Huge Crypto Hack, Fights Over Food In USA, Collapse Of Dollar & USA From Debt (Recap ep161) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In this week’s recap, there are two main topics: The prospect of a Russian attack on Ukraine rose & the more aggressive monetary policy by the US Fed. NATO said it was putting more forces on standby & reinforcing Eastern Europe with additional ships & fighter jets, in what Russia has denounced as Western hysteria, in response to its 100,000 buildups of troops on the Ukraine border to the north, east & south of the country. About 8,500 U.S. troops were put on heightened alert & were awaiting orders to deploy to the region, should Russia invade Ukraine. World markets ended the week mostly negative, however, the US market recovered a bit.

Bitcoin fell -7.8% to $33,070 early Monday morning later falling as much as -10%, some -20% over the past week, wiping out $1T in cryptocurrency market valuation since November. Later in the day came a rebound for Bitcoin, that exceeded over +10%, bringing the leading cryptocurrency back above +$36,500.00.

On Tuesday, the IMF lowered its economic forecasts for China, the United States & the global economy. Stated the uncertainty over the inflation, the pandemic, supply disruptions & U.S. monetary tightening posed even further risks. Global growth projected for 2022 is now +4.4%, -0.5%  lower than previously forecast, mainly due to downgrades for China & the U.S.  Global growth is expected to slow to +3.8% in 2023, which is a +0.2% uptick, from the previous forecast in October.

Oil prices pulling at 7-year highs this week; Breyer may retire from his position on the Supreme Court in June; seventh consecutive decline in U.S. lumber futures; precious metals rise in price as investors seek safe havens; Coup d’état and border closure in Burkina Faso on Monday; world’s ten richest men saw fortune double during a pandemic; Malaysian palm oil futures fell from a record high on Monday;  DC Asks People To Limit Supermarket Purchases As Empty Shelves Persist.

The post Recap January 30: Sounds of war, Blackouts in Turkey, Food export restrictions (Recap Ep160) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In this recap, U.S. stock markets were lower this week as all 3 major U.S. indexes fell for a 3rd consecutive week, with investors anxious about the prospect of higher interest rates & their effect on valuations. The S&P 500 & Nasdaq wrap up their worst weeks since March 2020. China’s central bank cut interest rates again this week, with the 1-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points from 3.8% to 3.7%. The 5-year loan prime rate was reduced by 5 basis points from 4.65% to 4.6% the 1st cut since April 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. Russian & Ukraine bonds fell further on rising fears that Russia could attack its neighbor. Russian stocks took their biggest tumble since March 2020, dropping -6½%. Stocks on Russia’s major exchange have dropped a total of -13%, in the last 4 trading sessions.

Bitcoin begins a free fall in price over the last 24 hours falling by -7.59% by early Friday morning to $38,984.90 from $41944.00, during a broader Asian market sell-off. Ether is also down by nearly 10%, hitting $2,841. There have been nearly $600M in liquidations during the last 12 hours. Bitcoin led the liquidation pack at $250M, followed by Ether at $163M.

U.K. Prime Minister Johnson announced the end of COVID-19 measures including mandatory face masks in England on Wednesday, as he looks to live with the virus after a peak in cases caused by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Johnson’s pledge to avoid lockdowns & live with the virus sharply contrasts with a zero-tolerance approach to COVID-19 in China & Hong Kong, & tougher restrictions in many other European countries.

The steep rise in U.S. unemployment claims raises investor concerns about the economic impact of the omicron variant, which has weighed on the economy in Q4 2021 & into Q1 2022. Economists say persistent staffing troubles, declines in face-to-face consumer activity & ongoing school closures could well wipe out much of the previous quarter’s growth & job gains.

Increased theft from delivery drivers is the new challenge to maintaining the supply chain; fears at major U.S. airlines over 5G deployment this Wednesday; S&P 500 companies continue to outperform expectations in their Q4; precious metals keep rising higher; crude prices, up over 10% this year, could rise even further, due to tight supplies; shares Netflix crashed -21.79%.

The post Recap January 23: Everything colapses, Government Coin, New bacteria resistant to antibiotics (Recap Ep159) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In this week’s Recap, Marcello talks about the economic drawbacks that the USA has been dealing with; A conflict about water between two states of US might be the first sign of a water war; Buenos Aires and Berlin were left without electricity amid high temperatures and a rising winter.

About 90K households in eastern part of Berlin, Germany for hours on Sunday evening were without heating & warm water; with outside temperatures of about 3 degrees Celsius (37.4F). A brief power outage at the state’s own electricity network operator Stromnetz Berlin had paralyzed the Klingenberg thermal power station in the Rummelsburg district in the afternoon. The power plant owned by the company had to therefore shut down.

Japan and Australia sign reciprocal access agreement; Erdogan says he will adjust to Turkey’s high inflation; The omicron is the dominant variant in the world; Growth forecasts for 2022 foresee an overall slowdown.

The post Recap January 16: Most Catastrophic Year USA, Water War begins, Blackouts Start Worldwide (Recap ep158) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In today’s Recap, Marcello talks about the fall of Bitcoin (and other cryptos) prices during the week; Tesla is crushing its delivery expectations; Food prices keep rising due to increasing input prices, covid related worker shortages and transportation costs.

Bitcoin plunged -7.3% thursday overnight to $42,686.00 with losses exceeding -9% at one point. The price was slightly higher Thursday evening at $42,750.20. Ethereum, cardano, binance coin, solana & other cryptocurrencies were also deeply in the red, after minutes revealed that the U.S. Federal Reserve could soon start rapidly cutting back its support for the economy, spelling trouble for risky assets.

Alaska close to “Icemageddon”; U.S. stocks fell on Thursday.

The post Recap January 9: Bitcoin Carnage, Tesla Crushes Deliveries, Food Prices Exploding (Recap ep157) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In this recap, US markets ended the year higher, in the last trading week of 2021, finishing a year of repeated records for the major indexes, helped by low-interest rates & the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. Dow +18.73% in 2021; S&P 500 +26.89% in 2021; NASDAQ +21.39% in 2021. Global markets ended the week and the year was mostly higher too. The omicron variant still causes fears.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that the country’s industrial profits in November rose +9% from last year at $126.54B, a much slower pace than expected, well off the +24.6% gain reported in October, pressured by falling prices of some raw materials, a faltering property market & weaker consumer demand.

The Great Plains in the US, the most important lands to farm and produce grains and beef in the US (40%), are drying up.

The energy crisis continues: Indonesia banned coal exports due to concerns about low supplies of its domestic power plants; Europe still regulates the energy spend; Germany pulled plug 3 of its last 6 nuclear power stations; prices skyrocket. 1000’s are without power on Sunday, after a winter storm slammed the U.S. Pacific Northwest, dumping nearly 30 inches of snow in the Sierra region & leading to road closures in Northern California. As of Sunday afternoon, there were over 20K without power in the state of Washington, over 14K without power in California & more than 10K without power in Oregon.

Legendary actress Betty White dies at 99 years old; Mexico Prepares to Launch Its Own CBDC by 2024; Family gets keys to Habitat for Humanity’s first 3D-printed home in the US; Biden admin committed to extending (ISS) operations through 2030; Musk sold another 934,090 Tesla shares, about $1.02B nearing his 10% target; WHO warned new Covid variants could well emerge during the pandemic.

The post Recap January 2: Food crisis, Energy crisis, 5G dangerous to health? (Recap Ep156) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In this week’s recap, US markets ended higher as strong economic data was released, helping ease investors’ concerns about the risks posed by Covid-19 & inflation. Consumer confidence jumped more than expected in December. Global stocks lost $1.8T in market capitalization last week, but world stocks are still worth $118T, which is 140% of global GDP.

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a more conservative Democrat who is key to President Biden’s hopes of passing an additional $1.75T domestic bill, due to the 50 Republican & 50 Democratic divided Senate, stated on Sunday, he will not support the package, drawing a sharp rebuke from the executive branch. The bill, which is Biden’s signature domestic policy bill, known as Build Back Better, aims to expand the social safety net & spend money on controversial climate change projects.

Taiwan’s export orders grew faster than expected in November rising +13.4% to a historic high from a year earlier to $65.5B, due to sustained technology demand, ahead of the year-end holiday shopping season. It was the 21st month of expansion, with a much faster pace than the median forecast for a rise of just +5.8%, but the government is warning of many uncertainties next year that could well affect the outlook.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is warning that the number of Omicron Covid-19 variant cases is doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with community spread. In Europe, the Netherlands went into lockdown from Sunday till at least Jan. 14, amid fears that its healthcare system will become overburdened in January. Meanwhile, the U.K. is witnessing a dramatic surge in Covid infections & Austria imposes stricter travel rules, even as it ends its general lockdown.

Europe is bracing for energy shortages as colder weather sets in, boosting demand & sending prices surging, at a time when supplies are tight. Temperatures are forecast to fall below zero degrees Celsius in a number of European countries this week, straining electricity grids already coping with low wind speeds & severe nuclear outages in France. In a further development, Russia intends to keep natural gas flows through a major transit route to Germany limited on Monday, after already capping supplies over the weekend.

Russia intends to keep gas flows through major transit route to Germany; Serbia was forced to cut electricity to cust this week, as Britain’s network operator issued a power supply warning; China has formed a rare-earths giant by merging some key producers; IMF, World Bank, & 10 countries simulate alarming global financial system collapse lead by Israel; Chile selected a new president; China placed tight restrictions on borders/ports to block COVID-19 entering the country after several small towns suffered outbreaks; the U.S. recorded the highest number of illegal border crossings in more than 60 years.

The post Recap December 26: Blackouts starting Europe, IMF simulates global financial collapse, signal for next financial crisis? (Recap Ep155) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In this week’s recap, global markets are mostly lower for the week, with a sharp fall in shares of tech companies, pushing major indexes lower, continuing a turbulent stretch for some of the biggest firms in the market. Asian markets were mixed.

The European Central Bank further cut its bond purchases Thursday but vowed to continue its unprecedented monetary policy support for the Euro-zone economy into 2022. It left the benchmark refinancing rate unchanged at 0%, while the rate on its marginal lending facility remained at +0.25%. It follows the U.S. Federal Reserve decision that will accelerate the reduction of its monthly bond purchases, after which, the central bank then expects to start raising interest rates.

The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, is being switched off at the year’s end, ceasing its pricing role in derivatives & loans ranging from mortgages & student loans to business funding & credit cards, which totaled $265 trillion globally as of the start of 2021. The rate is being scrapped a decade after banks were caught trying to rig it, in what will be the biggest shake-up to markets since the 1999 introduction of the Euro.

Sprott Physical Uranium Trust didn’t exist 6 months ago. It now holds near 1/3 of the world’s annual supply & it’s getting larger. The fund’s arrival & enormous growth, is sending waves through the market for nuclear fuels & have helped produce a 50% rally in uranium this year. Sprott reports that its assets have swelled to $1.9B, forcing it to almost double its financing limit 2 weeks ago to $3.5B, the 2nd time it’s had to raise it in 2 months.

Oil prices fell on growing expectations that supply growth will outpace demand growth next year; the U.K. raised its pandemic threat level; Turkish lira falls -7% due to Erdogan’s risky economic policies; Bank of England raises interest rates for the first time in almost two years; economists predict China will start adding fiscal stimulus in early 2022; Pfizer buys Arena Pharmaceuticals valued at $6.7B; Putin says his country is the global leader in hypersonic missiles.

The post Recap December 19: Omicron Lockdowns begin, Elon Musk sells record Tesla stock, Record Inflation (Recap Ep154) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.

In this week’s recap, global markets rebound after 4 weeks in hopes that inflation data means the peak has been reached and that the omicron variant is less dangerous than expected. IMF and 10 countries simulate cyberattacks on global financial system. 330 SPAR stores shut down, switch to cash after the cyberattack.

U.S. Labor Department on Friday: U.S. consumer prices surged +6.8% in the year leading into November & +0.8% last month alone, the highest rate since 1982, as the economy overwhelmed struggling supply chains. Growing shortages in commodities & goods as well as enormous unsustainable deficit spending by the federal government, is further fueling inflation.

Shares of Tesla plunged under the key $1000 level this week after a report that the company was being probed by the U.S. SEC, over claims about defects on its solar panels. Shares rebounded slightly later in the week, but fell -6% on Thursday & were headed lower Friday, as it seems Musk sold 934,091 more Tesla shares, according to the SEC posted Thursday, worth $963.2M. He sold a total of $9.85B in Tesla stock last month, alone. He tweeted he’s thinking of quitting his CEO job, to become an influencer.

The Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP), “the so-called OPEC of maple syrup”, has released about 22M kg of “reserve” syrup from its emergency supplies. It amounts to about 50% it holds in reserve. It is the 1st time in 3 years that the reserve has been tapped, due to weather. 83M kg of maple syrup was produced globally & 60M kg came from Quebec in 2021. Quebec produces about 33% of the world’s maple syrup.

Nicaragua’s government has broken off diplomatic relations with Taiwan; Italy’s antitrust authority fined Amazon 1.3 billion dollars; price of vegetables in China has risen 30% in one year; Russia plans to deliver another round of missile systems to Turkey; Japanese economy contraction in Q3 was worse than estimated; Olaf Scholz is officially Germany’s new Chancellor; Oil prices rise as Saudi Arabia raises crude prices; Ford expects triple output all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV.

The post Recap December 12: Govt’s practice cyberattack (blackout?), cryptos hacked again, Rich sell everything (Recap Ep153) appeared first on Investing & Day Trading Education: Day Trading Academy.