There’s another ‘epidemic’ ripping through America that, for many on Wall Street, is just as terrifying as COVID-19… and this time The Fed is to blame. We reported last week on the multitude of mortgage companies that were facing an existential threat from massive margin calls: First, its was AG Mortgage Investment Trust which on Friday said it failed to meet some margin calls and doesn’t […]
Demand
47 posts
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is claimed to have rejected Israeli President Binyamin Netanyahu’s demand for medical respirators, amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak, Anadolu reports. In a recent phone call between Netanyahu and Merkel, Israel has demanded medical respirators from Germany in the fight with coronavirus, according to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth’s story. The news claimed that Merkel rejected the demand, but did not give further details. […]
The “dumb” coronavirus panic, as Elon Musk once called it, is finally coming back to bite Musk in the ass. After a report yesterday that several Tesla employees had tested positive for coronavirus, possibly as a result of Elon Musk keeping his Fremont factory open far longer than he should have, Tesla has only now started to furlough some workers due to a “drop in demand” […]
While this week’s 2Y and 5Y auctions were solid with impressive stats and indicative of solid demand for US paper, today’s 7Y auction was nothing short of stellar. Printing at a yield of 0.68%, this was not just 57bps below February’s 1.247%, but more importantly it stopped through the When Issued 0.707% by 2.7bps and was the lowest yield for a 7Y auction on record. But […]
Gold-backed crypto tokens continue to rise in price as sourcing gold itself during the coronavirus-induced downturn is reportedly getting more difficult. Demand for Paxos Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), two of the most liquid gold-backed token projects, has surged this week. Both blockchain-backed tokens each represent a legal entitlement to one ounce of gold stored in institutional vaults. Both tokens are redeemable for physical gold. […]
Cryptocurrency startups are reporting increased demand for estate-planning services as the coronavirus outbreak motivates users to make sure their coins are passed onto heirs when they die. Casa Hodl and Unchained Capital said they have seen a dramatic rise in requests for proof-of-death or similar multi-signature wallet schemes that enable customers’ bitcoin to be transferred to a loved one following an untimely death. “We’ve seen more […]
Oil prices extended gains overnight, along with the rest of the markets, on hope The Fed’s buying will work and optimism that US Congress will agree a bigly Stimulus Bill and helped by a surprise crude draw reported by API. But early on this morning that all started to fall apart and WTI plunged back to a $23 handle after the boss of Vitol Group said […]
Via Birch Gold Group, Over the past couple of weeks, precious metals prices have been pulling back from their recent highs. For anyone taking a short-term view, it’s not a positive development. But appearances are sometimes much different from reality – especially once you allow a little bit of time to pass. Historically, since the gold standard was removed in 1971, gold’s price has had two major “bull […]
Gasoline futures in New York fell as much as 13% to 50.00 cents a gallon, the lowest level since the current contract started trading in 2005. Source: Bloomberg The previous gasoline contract last traded that low in 2001… Source: Bloomberg All of which means Americans – on average – can expect gas-prices at the pump to plunge below $2/gallon very soon… Source: Bloomberg Energy prices slid toward this […]
Today in “good things happen when the free market works, despite the fact that we’re facing an existential global threat” news… Amazon workers are getting a raise due to a rise in demand for the company’s products. Imagine that – it’s almost like allowing the market to work can bring workers benefits. Someone alert the Democratic Socialists. Amazon made the announcement late last week that it’s […]
So far in this ‘everything bubble’-burst crisis, the Fed has: 1) Cut interest rates from 1.25% to 0.15%. 2) Launched over $700 billion in Quarantitative Easing (QE). 3) Launched a $1.5 trillion repo program. 4) Launched another $1 trillion repo program…. daily! 5) Announced it will begin buying commercial paper (short-term corporate debt). 6) Allowed primary dealers to start parking assets, including stocks, as collateral in […]
The International Olympic Committee has set a deadline of four weeks to make a decision on whether they will postpone the 2020 games in Tokyo due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, according to the BBC. The move comes after most prominent teams across from various countries have demanded a delay – including the US track and field team, the US swim team – which asked for […]
Digital assets firm GSR says it’s seen record interest in its customizable options contracts as funds, exchanges and miners try to hedge against price volatility. The Hong Kong-based firm, which offers a host of services including market making, over-the-counter trading and product development for digital assets, told CoinDesk that 2020 was already shaping up to be a good year for the company, with structured products becoming […]
Over the past 12 hours, more than 60,000 Israelis have registered to obtain unemployment benefits after losing their jobs, as a result of the decisions taken by the government to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. This brings the total number of people seeking financial support from the start of this month to 180,000. Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday that 60,000 Israelis: “Have registered to obtain […]
Authored by Wolf Richter via WolfStreet.com, The Trump administration is putting together a rumored trillion-dollar-plus stimulus package that will include taxpayer funded bailouts of Corporate America, according to leaks cited widely by the media. Trump in the press conference today singled out $50 billion in bailout funds for US airlines alone. A bailout of this type is designed to bail out shareholders and unsecured creditors. That’s […]
Crude prices hit new multi-year lows as they continued to plunge on Wednesday amid fears that the coronavirus outbreak and containment measures could trigger a global recession. The price of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery fell three percent and was standing at $26 per barrel. If prices continue to drop, by the end of the day they could close at the lowest level […]
An increase in borrower demand is driving crypto lender BlockFi to raise interest rates for bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) deposits on April 1, said CEO Zac Prince. The second-largest price drop in bitcoin’s history last Thursday created a gulf between prices on the bitcoin futures and spot markets. In the following days, BlockFi saw a 10x increase on the trading side of the house, and […]
House Democrats’ coronavirus package which was passed on Saturday has become a point of contention, as Republican lawmakers continue to pick apart the bill negotiated between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi which garnered a late endorsement from President Trump, according to The Hill. The bill faces two primary hurdles. First, technical changes had to be dealt with between House Democratic leadership and the […]
The US is dropping the much-hyped indictment for ‘election meddling’ against a company supposedly behind the so-called Russian troll farm, closing the opening chapter of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russiagate investigation. Further pursuing the case against Concord Management & Consulting LLC, “promotes neither the interests of justice nor the nation’s security,” the Department of Justice wrote to the federal judge overseeing the case on Monday, in […]
As coronavirus spreads throughout the United States, millions of panicked Americans have been hoarding everything from canned food to absurd amounts of toilet paper. Images of empty store shelves are compounding the situation, as worries over shortages amid a potential quarantine have added to the surge in purchases. According to the nation’s largest retailers, meat producers and dairy farmers however, there’s plenty of food in the […]
Wildcat Strikes Erupt Across Italy To Demand Idling Of Plants During Coronavirus Pandemic By Will Morrow and Alex Lantier, Wsws.org March 16, 2020 Wildcat Strikes Erupt Across Italy To Demand Idling Of Plants During Coronavirus Pandemic2020-03-162020-03-16https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/03/image-1.jpg200px200px Above Photo: Fiat-Chrysler’s Pomigliano plant in Naples (Photo: Ra Boe) As the death toll in Italy from the global coronavirus pandemic surged on Thursday and Friday, wildcat strikes erupted across the peninsula, […]
Iraqi social media activists and bloggers have called to temporarily halt the protest movement taking place in the squares and fields in Baghdad and in central and southern cities, in order to diminish the spread of the coronavirus, following the announcement of the deaths of eight people in the country. These calls come after the Iraqi authorities decided to close celebration halls, cafés and restaurants, to […]
The budding market for cryptocurrency-backed loans met its first big stress test this week as bitcoin (BTC) dropped 40 percent and lenders demanded additional collateral from borrowers. In the last day, Genesis Capital called an additional $100 million of collateral from its selective pool of about 40 clients, CEO Michael Moro said Friday afternoon. Rival Celsius Network–which lends to 225 institutions, making up up a loan […]
Authored by Aaron Kesel via TheMindUnleashed.com, The Gainesville Police Department suspected an innocent man was involved in a burglary so naturally they requested that Google give them all of his location data. Google’s legal investigations support team wrote to Zachary McCoy telling him that local police were demanding information related to his Google account. Google replied and said it would release the data unless McCoy went […]