$RBC

By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The dollar eased on Friday but remained near a two-month high against its major peers, buoyed by expectations that U.S. interest rates could remain higher for longer. Debt ceiling negotiations between U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy also continued to cast a shadow over the market mood, though news that the two are closing in on a deal aided investor sentiment and caused the greenback to pause its recent rally. The dollar edged away from a six-month high against the yen in Asia trade and last stood at 139.77, having reached 140.23 yen in the previous session, its highest since November. Against a basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar slipped 0.13% to 104.09, just off Thursday's two-month high of 104.31. The index was, nonetheless ,on track for a third straight weekly gain of more than 0.8%, as traders ramped up their expectations of how much further rates could rise in the United States. "Recent moves in currencies have been mainly driven by a sharp repricing of FOMC policy," said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY) (CBA). Money markets are now pricing in a 40% chance that the Federal Reserve will deliver another 25-basis-point rate hike at its policy meeting next month, while expectations that the Fed will begin cutting rates later this year have been scaled back. Data released on Thursday showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week to 229,000, coming in lower than expectations. The British pound and the euro were struggling to recoup their losses against a stronger dollar. Sterling gained 0.13% to $1.2337, though it was still headed for a weekly loss of more than 0.8%. The euro rose 0.15% to $1.0741, but was not far from its two-month low of $1.0708 hit in the previous session. The single currency was also weighed down by confirmation that Europe's largest economy Germany slipped into a recession in early 2023. CHINA'S RECOVERY STALLS Among other currencies, the Aussie was last 0.22% higher at $0.6520. It slumped to a more than six-month low of $0.6490 earlier in the session, further pressured by China's faltering post-COVID economic recovery. "Data in the near-term for China will remain pretty weak and continue to point to a soft consumption recovery," said CBA's Kong. "That will be another weight to the Aussie." The Australian dollar is often used as a liquid proxy for the Chinese yuan. The kiwi rose 0.15% to $0.6071, though it was headed for a weekly loss of more than 3%, its largest since September, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand earlier this week stunned markets by signalling it was done tightening. China's yuan rebounded from a near six-month low against the dollar as some major state-owned banks sold the U.S. currency to prevent the yuan from sinking further. "General renminbi depreciation is back in play," said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Friday, May 12th. Please refresh for updates. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock rose 2% after CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Thursday that he had "hired a new CEO for X/Twitter," potentially allowing him more time to concentrate on the EV manufacturer. PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ:PACW) stock rose 2.5%, rebounding after dropping over 22% during the previous session after the regional lender announced that its deposits had shrunk by about 10% in the first week of May. Fox (NASDAQ:FOX) stock fell 1.3% after Wells Fargo downgraded its stance on the entertainment giant to ‘equal weight’ from ‘overweight’, on valuation after it reported solid earnings earlier this week. Barclays (NYSE:BCS) ADRs rose 0.7% after RBC upgraded its stance on the U.K.-based lender to ‘outperform’ from ‘market perform’, calling the current valuation a “good entry point.” Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) stock fell 0.4% after Barclays downgraded the aerospace and defense company to ‘equal weight’ from ‘overweight’, saying its margins are likely to fall more than expected. Diageo (NYSE:DEO) ADRs fell 2.8% after Jefferies downgraded the spirits company to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, citing concerns over its U.S. growth prospects. Icahn Enterprises (NASDAQ:IEP) stock rose 5.5% after the American financier rebutted a critical report from short-seller Hindenburg Research.

(Reuters) - Russia has begun using its new T-14 Armata battle tanks to fire on Ukrainian positions "but they have not yet participated in direct assault operations", the RIA state news agency reported on Tuesday, quoting a source close to the matter. DIPLOMACY * Risks of a direct military confrontation between the two nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, are steadily growing, the TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying. * Russia may retreat from the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles due to the actions of the United States, TASS quoted a senior Russian diplomat as saying. * U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Gutterres told a meeting chaired by Russia's foreign minister that the invasion of Ukraine is "causing massive suffering and devastation" while Moscow warned global risks were possibly worse than during the Cold War. * Security will be a key issue at a wind energy summit of seven countries surrounding the North Sea, Belgium said. Dutch intelligence agencies have accused Russia of planning sabotage to offshore turbines. Russia rejects that. * EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed confidence that the bloc would finalise a plan within days to buy ammunition for Ukraine. CHINA SEEKS TO END SOVEREIGNTY ROW * China respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its foreign ministry said, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to France that triggered uproar. FIGHTING * Ukraine's military said on Tuesday that Russia maintained its offensive action in the Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Maryinka areas on the eastern front, with "heavy fighting" for the city of Bakhmut. GRAIN DEAL * Russia's defence ministry accused Ukraine of attempting to attack its ships in the Black Sea, which it said was threatening prospects for a deal on grain exports. * U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin a "way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion" of a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain, a U.N. spokesperson said. ECONOMY * A new round of European Union sanctions against Russia is under discussion but adoption of the package is unlikely earlier than "deep into May", Poland's Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau said. * The European Union and Japan have pushed back against a U.S. proposal for G7 countries to ban all exports to Russia, the Financial Times reported. * Russia needs an estimated 500 billion roubles ($6.1 billion) for the development of a drone project announced by Putin in February, the Russian RBC news outlet reported. RECENT IN-DEPTH STORIES * ANALYSIS-Russia crosses new lines in crackdown on Putin's enemies * EXCLUSIVE-The Russian military commandant who oversaw reign of fear in Ukraine town * EXCLUSIVE-Kazakhstan has ramped up oil exports bypassing Russia -sources

Voici la liste complète de tous les rapports des plus grandes banques d'investissements/Gestionnaires de fonds concernant le Q2 2023 👇 BlackRock: https://bit.ly/3KionVX J.P. Morgan Asset Management: https://bit.ly/3Kgsn9k Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM): https://bit.ly/3zLHmDr Goldman Sachs: https://bit.ly/3UoNtH9 Charles Schwab https://lnkd.in/e8EbgyFe RBC AM: https://lnkd.in/eMUm-3DH Fidelity International: https://bit.ly/3KTsGIV Rathbones Group Plc: https://lnkd.in/ek33z42G Manulife Investment Management: https://lnkd.in/eDCEww3j Lombard Odier Group: https://lnkd.in/emEh3mB5 Deutsche Bank Wealth: https://lnkd.in/eGSP9ggZ S&P Global: https://lnkd.in/ejkCVNyY J.P. Morgan Private Bank: https://lnkd.in/e6hUiWUa RBC Wealth Management: https://lnkd.in/eVagcvSA Baird: https://lnkd.in/eMT5zX5K Raymond James: https://lnkd.in/egRebG2i Schroders: https://lnkd.in/eU58-Xrn Saxo Bank: https://lnkd.in/eyDdY3A5 Goldman Sachs Asset Management: https://lnkd.in/ePuVdjZB Allianz: https://lnkd.in/eU5XiUjJ Neuberger Berman: https://lnkd.in/eWCiWw4q Lazard Asset Management: https://lnkd.in/ev4XkEmZ

Eni (ENI.MI).RBC lima il target price a 12 euro, da 12,5 euro.

By Florence Tan and Mohi Narayan (Reuters) - Oil prices surged on Monday, jolted by a surprise announcement by OPEC+ to cut production further in what top producer Saudi Arabia called a precautionary measure to support market stability. Brent crude traded at $84.26 a barrel by 0347 GMT, up $4.37, or 5.5% after touching the highest in a month at $86.44 earlier in the session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $79.90 a barrel, up $4.23, or 5.6% after earlier hitting the highest level since late January. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies including Russia shook markets by announcing production cuts of about 1.16 million barrels per day on Sunday. The group known as OPEC+ had been expected to maintain its earlier decision to cut output by 2 million bpd until December at its monthly meeting on Monday. The pledges bring the total volume of cuts by OPEC+ to 3.66 million bpd according to Reuters calculations, equal to 3.7% of global demand. As a result, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lowered its end-2023 production forecast for OPEC+ by 1.1 million bpd and raised its Brent price forecasts to $95 and $100 a barrel for 2023 and 2024, respectively, its analysts said in a note. Goldman estimated the output reduction could provide a 7% boost to oil prices, contributing to higher Saudi and OPEC+ oil revenues. The Biden administration said it saw the move announced by the producers as unwise. Some analysts questioned the rationale for the extra production cut by OPEC+. "It's hard to buy the 'pre-emptive' and 'precautionary' reasoning - especially now, when the banking crisis had tailed off and Brent had crawled back up towards $80 from its 15-month lows earlier in March," Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda (NASDAQ:VNDA) Insights, said. Last month, Brent fell towards $70 a barrel, the lowest in 15 months, on concern that a global banking crisis and rising interest rates would hit demand despite lower OPEC oil output in March due to oilfield maintenance in Angola and a halt in some of Iraq's exports. "Today's move, like the October cut, can be read as another clear signal that Saudi Arabia and its OPEC partners will seek to short circuit further macro sell-offs and that Jay (Jerome) Powell is not the only central banker that matters," RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said. "The bottom line is Washington and Riyadh simply have different price targets for their key policy initiatives." Analysts at JP Morgan said the move came later than they had expected and the slow response to weaker prices would have a limited impact on overall balances and could delay the price impact. "Since November our global oil supply-demand balance suggested a strong policy action was needed to keep global oil surpluses in check," they said. Meanwhile, U.S. crude production rose in January to 12.46 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest since March 2020, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed on Friday.

By Pete Schroeder, Tom Westbrook and Scott Murdoch (Reuters) - A $30 billion lifeline for First Republic Bank (NYSE:FRC) hosed down market fears about an imminent banking collapse on Friday, but a late tumble in the troubled U.S. lender's shares showed investors were still worried about cracks in the sector. Large U.S. banks injected the funds into San Francisco-based bank on Thursday, swooping in to rescue the lender caught up in a widening crisis triggered by the collapse of two other mid-size U.S. lenders over the past week. The deal was put together by top power brokers including U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who had discussed the package this week, according to a source familiar with the situation. The package came less than a day after Swiss bank Credit Suisse clinched an emergency central bank loan of up to $54 billion to shore up its liquidity. Those deals helped restore calm to global markets on Thursday and Friday, following a torrid week for banking stocks. However, while First Republic's stock closed up 10% on news of the rescue, its shares fell 18% in after-market trading after the bank said it would suspend its dividend and disclosed its cash position and just how much emergency liquidity it needed. Analysts says authorities appear eager to quickly deal with systemic risks, but worry the potential for a banking crisis is far from over. "They will keep the money in First Republic to keep it alive for self interest ... to stop the run on banks. Then they will take it away gradually and the bank will play out a slow death," said Mathan Somasundaram, founder at research firm Deep Data Analytics in Sydney. "Yellen was clear overnight that all bank deposits were protected, but the bank might not be there," he said. Some of the biggest U.S. banking names including JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) & Co, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) were involved in the rescue, according to a statement from the banks. While the support has prevented an imminent collapse, investors were startled by late disclosures about First Republic's cash position, even after the injection, and just how much it and others leaned on the Fed this month for support. Data on Thursday showed banks in the United States sought record amounts of emergency liquidity from the Fed in recent days, driving up the size of the central bank's balance sheet after months of contraction. More broadly, worries about contagion risks persist. "I don't think we are in the crux of a global financial crisis. Balance sheets are much better than they were in 2008, banks are better regulated," said Karen Jorritsma, head of Australian equities, RBC Capital Markets. "But people are concerned that the contagion risk is real, and that rattles confidence." LESSONS FROM 2008 For now, authorities are confident the banking system is resilient and have tried to emphasise that the current turmoil is different to the global financial crisis 15 years ago as banks are better capitalised and funds more easily available. On Thursday, the European Central Bank pressed forward with a 50-basis-point rate hike, arguing that euro zone banks were in good shape and that if anything, the move to higher rates should bolster their margins. Focus now swings to the Fed's policy decision next week and whether it will stick with its aggressive interest rate hikes as it seeks to get inflation under control. In Asia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand said they were monitoring financial markets but were confident their local banks were well capitalised and able to withstand major shocks. Japan's finance ministry, financial regulator and central bank said they would meet on Friday to discuss financial market developments. Banking stocks globally have been battered since Silicon Valley Bank collapsed last week due to bond-related losses that piled up when interest rates surged last year, raising questions about what else might be lurking in the wider banking system. Within days, the market turmoil had ensnared Credit Suisse, forcing it to borrow from Switzerland's central bank. By Thursday, the spotlight whipsawed back to the United States as big banks shored up support for First Republic, a regional lender. Its shares have dropped more than 70% since March 6. " onerror="this.style.display='none'" class="msg-img" /> Credit Suisse became the first major global bank to take up an emergency lifeline since the 2008 financial crisis as fears of contagion swept the banking sector and raised doubts over whether central banks will be able to sustain aggressive rate hikes to rein in inflation. Rapidly rising rates have made it harder for some businesses to pay back or service loans, increasing the chances of losses for lenders already worried about a recession. Credit Suisse shares closed 19% higher on Thursday, recovering some of their 25% fall on Wednesday. Since March 8, European banks have lost around $165 billion in market value, Refinitiv data shows.

Stellantis (STLAM.MI) RBC alza il giudizio a Outperform.

By Sonali Paul and Mohi Narayan (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Friday, set to gain more than 6% for the week, on solid signs of demand growth in top oil importer China and expectations of less aggressive interest rate rises in the United States. Brent crude futures rose by 5 cents to $84.08 a barrel by 0746 GMT, off a session low of $83.50. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 13 cents to $78.52 a barrel after falling to $77.97 earlier in the session. Brent has jumped 6.7% so far this week and WTI is up 6.2%, recouping most of last week's losses. Analysts said recent Chinese crude purchases and a pick-up in road traffic fuelled confidence in a demand recovery in the world's second-largest economy following the reopening of its borders and easing of COVID-19 curbs after protests last year. "Given the focus on energy security, we anticipate that Chinese imports will continue to pick up, particularly as refinery runs ramp and stockpiling crude remains a strategic priority," RBC commodity strategist Michael Tran told clients in a note. In another encouraging sign, ANZ analysts said a congestion index covering the 15 Chinese cities with the largest number of vehicle registrations had risen 31% from a week earlier. Oil prices have also been buoyed by a slide in the dollar to a nearly nine-month low, after data showed U.S. inflation fell for the first time in 2-1/2 years, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve would slow the pace of rate hikes. A weaker greenback tends to boost demand for oil, as it makes the commodity cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. However, some of the week's gains are likely to fizzle out in Asian trade, said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda (NASDAQ:VNDA) Insights. "Crude is in for a correction, even if a modest one .... The past two sessions were almost entirely driven by renewed Fed pivot hopes, which, going by the experience of the past quarter, tend to be a short-lived phenomenon," Hari said.

**ENERGIA** - Esplosione sul gasdotto russo Urengoi-Pomary-Uzhgorod - RBC cita fonti locali.

**AUSTRALIA - RBC** alza il tasso terminale della banca centrale australiana al 3,6% dal precedente 3,1%. RBC prevede ora che la RBA aumenterà di 25 punti base a febbraio e marzo 2023.

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Carolina Mandl and Laura Matthews NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors are expecting Republican gains in U.S. midterm elections, a result that will likely temper Democratic spending and regulation but set up a bruising fight over raising the U.S. debt ceiling next year. Republicans are favored to win control of the House of Representatives, polls and betting markets show, with the Senate seen as a closer call, while polls remain open in some states. With Democrat Joe Biden in the White House, that result would lead to a split government, an outcome that historically has been accompanied by positive long-term stock market performance. Republicans were favored to wrest control of the House of Representatives based on early returns in Tuesday's midterm elections, though the prospects of a "red wave" appeared to have dimmed. The Senate, which Democrats currently control, remained too close to call. While macroeconomic concerns and Federal Reserve monetary policy have been the dominant forces behind market moves this year, Capitol Hill politics could exert influence on asset prices. A strong performance by Republicans would likely allay investor concerns about higher fiscal spending exacerbating inflation and raise the chances of the party freezing spending via the debt ceiling, analysts at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) wrote this week. That could support a rally in 10-year Treasury bonds and help stocks extend their recent gains, they said. A gridlock scenario “does eliminate a bit of uncertainty," said Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. "Some of the trends around fiscal spending and tax reforms had been concerning to some investors, especially in this inflationary environment.” "More broadly, it gives companies an opportunity to prepare, plan, budget knowing that there may not be new legislation, regulations, tax reforms etc passed in this environment,” Mahajan said. Historically, stocks have tended to do better under a split government when a Democrat is in the White House, with investors attributing some of that performance to political gridlock that prevents major policy changes. Average annual S&P 500 returns have been 14% in a split Congress and 13% in a Republican-held Congress under a Democratic president, according to data since 1932 analyzed by RBC Capital Markets. That compares with 10% when Democrats controlled the presidency and Congress. A Republican Congress could end fiscal stimulus and make "the Fed’s job a little bit easier to break inflation,” said Troy Gayeski, chief market strategist at FS Investments. Ahead of the election results, the S&P 500 finished up 0.6% on Tuesday. The benchmark index has risen about 5% over the last month, cutting its year-to-date decline to about 20%. Still, a split government could lead to heightened tensions over raising the federal debt ceiling in 2023, setting up the kind of protracted battle that led Standard & Poor's to downgrade the U.S. credit rating for the first time in 2011, sending financial markets reeling. "If the Republicans really gain some power here, in the House and Senate, they can make (raising the federal debt ceiling) a really difficult process," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. U.S. Treasury yields, which move opposite to bond prices, have soared this year, but government gridlock could help contain them - and the dollar - as it relieves concerns about heightened fiscal spending that could drive inflation. Conversely, a Democrat surprise could mean a stronger dollar and higher yields as possible fiscal expansion could require more rate increases, analysts at Morgan Stanley said. With the U.S. equity options market positioned for relative calm, a surprisingly strong showing by Democrats could upend markets. Options positioning on Monday implied a decline of 1.5% in the S&P 500 on the day after the vote should Democrats pull off a stronger-than-expected showing, according to Tom Borgen-Davis, head of equity research at options market making firm Optiver. Republican gains could boost several areas of the stock market such as pharmaceutical and biotech shares, on diminished prospects for tougher prescription drug pricing rules, while big tech stocks could benefit from less likelihood of regulatory pressure and defense on expectations of more significant spending. Conversely, Democrats holding power could see gains for shares of clean energy and cannabis companies. Cryptocurrency, meanwhile, spent millions on U.S. midterm races and may hope to influence laws as policymakers push forward digital asset legislation. PERFECT TRACK RECORD Many strategists are quick to cite the stock market's perfect post-midterms track record: The S&P 500 has posted a gain in each 12-month period after the midterm vote since World War Two, according to Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn). ) But some investors cautioned against expecting a repeat this time, given uncertainty over how quickly the Fed will be able to tame inflation and end its market-bruising monetary tightening. Indeed, while the election outcome could put some uncertainty to rest, investors remain on edge about the outlook for stocks, as shown by volatility futures tied to the Cboe Volatility Index trading at historically elevated levels well into next year. ) One potential catalyst for volatility comes Thursday with the U.S. consumer price report, a data point that has spurred sharp market moves throughout 2022. "Next year's earnings estimates are still too high, Fed policy is still tight and tightening, inflation is still too high," said James Athey, investment director at Abrdn. "This is all bad news for equities." (This story has been refiled to add dropped byline)

By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The dollar firmed on Monday as sentiment soured after China said it is sticking with its strict COVID restrictions, quashing hopes of an imminent reopening in the world's second-largest economy which had earlier fired a broad rally in riskier assets. China said over the weekend that it will persevere with its "dynamic-clearing" approach to COVID-19 cases as soon as they emerge, giving little indication it would ease its outlier zero-COVID strategy nearly three years into the pandemic. The dollar gained 0.55% on the Chinese offshore yuan to 7.2141, while the risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars were also among the biggest losers, both falling nearly 1% in early Asia trade. The Aussie was last down 0.7% at $0.6426, while the kiwi fell 0.6% to $0.5893. The two currencies were huge beneficiaries of a broad rally on Friday - rising nearly 3% - as speculation that China could soon end its COVID restrictions gathered pace and buoyed risk appetite. "People are kind of thinking there's going to be an eventual opening ... but it's not obvious to me that there's an imminent reopening due, and I think it's kind of premature," said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets. The economic impact of China's zero-COVID policy was again highlighted in trade figures released on Monday, which showed exports and imports unexpectedly contracted in October, the first simultaneous slump since May 2020. Elsewhere, sterling edged 0.3% lower to $1.1340, while the euro slipped 0.1% to $0.9949, erasing some of their roughly 2% jump on Friday. "Any rally in the Aussie, as well as the other currencies, will likely prove short-lived, given China is still very committed to its approach to the COVID outbreaks," said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:CMWAY) (CBA). Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was up 0.32% at 147.14. Investors were also assessing Friday's U.S. jobs report which showed that firms added a more-than-expected 261,000 jobs in October and hourly wages continued to rise, evidence of a still-tight labour market. But hints of some easing of market conditions, with the unemployment rate rising to 3.7%, fuelled hopes that the much sought after Fed pivot could be on the horizon, capping the dollar's gains. Against a basket of currencies, the U.S. dollar index last stood at 111.02. It had lost almost 2% at the end of last week. "It was, overall, a pretty mixed report," said CBA's Kong. "Judging by market reaction, investors really focused on the lift in unemployment rate, and that might have led to market participants scaling back their expectations on the Fed funds rate." Four Federal Reserve policymakers on Friday also indicated they would still consider a smaller interest rate hike at their next policy meeting. Fed funds futures now show that markets are pricing in a 69% chance of a 50-basis-point rate hike at the Fed's December meeting, with the next key data point being Thursday's U.S. inflation figures.

**Il Credit Suisse punta su RBC e Morgan Stanley per un possibile aumento di capitale.**

**Nella conferenza OPEC+ sui tagli volontari all'offerta, RBC vede un jolly.** **RBC:** La vera domanda che si pone l'OPEC+ è se ci sia spazio per ulteriori riduzioni.

RBC vede una significativa possibilità di significativi tagli dell'offerta OPEC+. Alla riunione del 5 ottobre, l'OPEC+ può tagliare 500k b/d a 1 milione di b/d. Alla riunione di ottobre. 5, Opec+ può tagliare 500k b/d a 1 milione b/d.

By Tom Westbrook SYDNEY (Reuters) - The dollar surged to a fresh two-decade high and Asian stocks hit a two-year low on Thursday after the Federal Reserve sharply hiked U.S. interest rates and projected raising them further and faster than investors had expected in order to tame inflation. The median of Fed officials' outlook, which has U.S. rates at 4.4% by year's end and staying high in 2023, seemed to spook even hawkishly positioned rates and currency markets and quickly extinguished relief that Wednesday's hike had not been larger. The dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a basket of majors, extended Wednesday gains to make a new 20-year high at 111.72 during the Asia session. [FRX/] The euro sank to a 20-year low of $0.9807 as Russia mobilised reservist troops for war in Ukraine. The yen briefly hit a 24-year trough when Japanese policymakers unanimously stuck with ultra-easy settings, as expected. Gold fell 1%. Sterling, the Aussie, kiwi, loonie, Sing dollar and yuan all made milestone lows. S&P 500 futures fell 0.6% and European futures dropped 2%. "The Fed is not going to stop any time soon and there's going to be an extended period of restrictive monetary policy for at least the next year or so," said Sally Auld, chief investment officer at wealth manager JB Were in Sydney. "What else do you buy except for the U.S. dollar at the moment?" she added, citing growth clouds over Europe, Britain and China and yen weakness as Japan holds interest rates low. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 1.4% to its lowest since May 2020. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.8% and touched a two-month low. The U.S. yield curve deepened its inversion as investors priced out the chance of a "soft" economic landing and braced for damage to longer-run growth. The two-year yield rose to as high as 4.1320% in Asia while the 10-year yield held at 3.5416%. [US/] "The chances of a soft landing are likely to diminish to the extent that policy needs to be more restrictive, or restrictive for longer," Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters after the rate hike announcement. HIKES AHEAD Central bank meetings in Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Switzerland, Britain and Norway are due later in the day with hikes expected everywhere. Japan and China are the only major global outliers, with China cutting rates to support a sputtering economy and Japan waiting for wage growth before considering an exit to an enormous bond buying project that pins rates near zero. The yen shot to a two-decade low at 145.50 per dollar in the wake of the BOJ keeping policy steady, before rebounding a bit as traders are jittery about the prospect of currency intervention. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's views on the yen's precipitous slide will be closely watched when he speaks at 0630 GMT. The Australian and New Zealand dollars were pinned at their lowest since mid-2020, with the Aussie down 0.7% on Thursday at $0.6586 and the kiwi down 0.6% at $0.5816. "Between the escalating geopolitical risks over Ukraine and the hawkish Fed, the U.S. dollar is ever rampant," said currency strategist Alvin Tan at RBC Capital Markets in Singapore. In commodity markets, oil recouped early losses as concerns over tight supplies heading into winter eclipsed fears of a global recession which sparked a slide in the previous session. Brent crude futures rose 50 cents, or 0.6%, to $90.33 per barrel by 0319 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 45 cents to $83.39.[O/R] Wheat steadied after rising on fears of a wider and deeper war in Ukraine. [GRA/] Cryptocurrencies were pinned near recent lows, with bitcoin at $18,795.

$GILD GILEAD GAINS PREMARKET ON ITS PACT TO RESOLVE PATENT CASES, SETTLING THE TAF PATENT CASE POTENTIALLY WORTH $6/SHARE - RBC.

**La Russia sostiene che lo yuan è la principale alternativa al dollaro USA e all'euro - RBC.**

By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar climbed to a fresh one-month high against major peers on Friday as Federal Reserve officials continued to talk up the need for further interest rate hikes ahead of their key Jackson Hole symposium. The dollar index rose 0.14% to 107.63, after earlier touching 107.72, its highest since July 18. The gauge is on track for a 1.86% rally this week, which would be its best weekly performance since June 12. The greenback rose to 136.38 yen, its highest since July 28 and on track for a 1.99% weekly rise, its best showing since June 10. Meanwhile, the euro dipped to $1.0070, the weakest since July 15. Sterling sank to $1.1895, its lowest since July 21. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he is leaning toward supporting a third straight 75-basis-point interest rate hike in September, while San Francisco Fed colleague Mary Daly said hiking rates by 50 or 75 basis points next month would be "reasonable." Kansas City Fed President Esther George said she and her colleagues will not stop tightening policy until they are "completely convinced" that overheated inflation is coming down. The dollar is "smartly higher" with central bank officials "all making clear the Fed still has work to do raising rates," even as they differed on by how much, Ray Attrill, the head of currency strategy at National Australia Bank (OTC:NABZY) in Sydney, wrote in a client note. "It's hard to pin European currency weakness on specific news, albeit the case for more weakness on relative (global) economic grounds has been blindingly obvious for weeks." The euro is on course to decline 1.73% since last Friday, which would be its worst week since July 8. Sterling is set for a 1.85% drop, its biggest weekly tumble since May 6. European currencies failed to get a lift from renewed inflation fears putting pressure on regional central banks to keep tightening policy, with investors instead worrying about the risks of recession. European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel fueled inflation worries overnight by saying consumer prices could still accelerate in the short-term. British price growth hit double digits, data showed on Wednesday. Meanwhile, despite the Fed chorus on the need for higher rates, the odds of another supersized 75 basis point hike next month have receded to 40% in money markets. However, consumer price inflation and jobs data for August, due before the Fed's September meeting, will likely affect the scale of tightening. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have a chance to update the market on his views at the annual Jackson Hole symposium on Aug. 25-27. Elsewhere, the Australian dollar slipped as low as $0.6888, the lowest since Aug. 5. The New Zealand dollar dipped to $0.62285, also the lowest since Aug. 5. China's yuan slipped to a three-month low of 6.8150 per dollar in onshore trading after the central bank set a much-weakened midpoint guidance, with traders expecting further downside due to an economic slowdown. "The USD/CNY fix today above 6.80 was the highest this year and suggests that the PBOC will not cap its gains in the face of the climbing USD," Alvin Tan, a strategist at RBC Capital Markets. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 1.67% to $22,814, on track for a 6.22% weekly slide, its worst since July 3. Ether was down 1.54% to $1,818.60, headed for a 6.02% weekly drop, also the worst since the start of last month.

By Emily Chow KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -Oil prices rose over $1 on Wednesday, rebounding from six-month lows hit the previous day, as an unexpectedly large drop in U.S. oil and gasoline stocks reminded investors that demand remains firm, if overshadowed by the prospect of a global recession. Brent crude futures were last up 82 cents, or 0.9%, to $93.16 a barrel by 0630 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures also rose 85 cents, or 1%, to $87.38 a barrel. The contracts slumped about 3% on Tuesday as weak U.S. housing starts data spurred concerns about a potential global recession. "A drawdown of U.S. gasoline stockpiles for a second straight week has reassured investors that demand is resilient, prompting buys," said Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Fujitomi Securities Co Ltd. "Still, the oil market is expected to stay under pressure, with fairly high volatility, due to worries over a potential global recession," he said. U.S. crude and fuel stocks fell in the latest week, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Crude stocks declined by about 448,000 barrels for the week ended Aug. 12. Gasoline inventories fell by about 4.5 million barrels, while distillate stocks were down by about 759,000 barrels, according to the sources. An extended Reuters poll showed on Tuesday that crude inventories probably dropped by around 300,000 barrels last week and gasoline stockpiles likely fell 1.1 million barrels, while distillate inventories rose. "There are a number of bearish factors and downside risks for oil at the moment, from the threat of recession to the poor data in China and the possibility of a nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. "But crude has pulled back a long way and we can't forget that this remains a very tight market in the short term." Oil supply could rise if talks to revive the Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers are successful, which would remove sanctions on Iranian oil exports, analysts said. The European Union and United States said on Tuesday they were studying Iran's response to what the EU has called its "final" proposal to save the deal after Tehran called on Washington to show flexibility. "When WTI prices were well north of $100, the revival of the Iranian nuclear agreement looked like a potentially winning mid-term issue but it appears to be a less compelling case in the current price and security context," said RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft in a note on Wednesday. "We would note that the Europeans are likely more incentivised to secure a deal given the looming supply shortage the continent faces when Russian sanctions come on in December." The EU will stop buying all Russian crude oil delivered by sea from early December and ban all Russian refined products two months later as part of sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Russia calls its actions there "a special operation".

By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped on Monday, as weak manufacturing data from China and Japan for July weighed on the outlook for demand, while investors braced for this week's meeting of officials from OPEC and other top producers on supply adjustments. Brent crude futures were down 82 cents, or 0.8%, at $103.15 a barrel at 0608 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $97.44 a barrel, down $1.18, or 1.2%. Fresh COVID-19 lockdowns snuffed out a brief recovery seen in June for factory activity in China, the world's largest crude oil importer. The Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) eased to 50.4 in July from 51.7 in the previous month, well below analysts' expectations, data showed on Monday. Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at its weakest rate in 10 months in July, data showed on Monday. "China's disappointing manufacturing PMI is the primary factor that pressed on oil prices today," CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said. "The data shows a surprising contraction of economic activities, suggesting that the recovery of the world-second-largest economy from the covid lockdowns may not be as positive as previously expected, which darkened the demand outlook of the crude oil markets." Brent and WTI ended July with their second straight monthly losses for the first time since 2020, as soaring inflation and higher interest rates raise fears of a recession that would erode fuel demand. ANZ analysts said fuel sales to drivers in Britain were waning, while gasoline demand remained below its five-year average for this time of the year. Reflecting this, analysts in a Reuters poll reduced for the first time since April their forecast for 2022 average Brent prices to $105.75 a barrel. Their estimate for WTI fell to $101.28. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, will meet on Wednesday to decide on September output. Two of eight OPEC+ sources in a Reuters survey said a modest increase for September would be discussed at the Aug. 3 meeting, while the rest said output would likely be held steady. The meeting comes after U.S. President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia last month. "While President Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia produced no immediate oil deliverables, we believe that the Kingdom will reciprocate by continuing to gradually increase output," RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said in a note. The start of August sees OPEC+ having fully unwound record output cuts in place since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020. The group's new secretary general, Haitham al-Ghais, reiterated on Sunday that Russia's membership in OPEC+ is vital for the success of the agreement, Kuwait's Alrai newspaper reported. Meanwhile, U.S. oil production continued to climb as the rig count rose by 11 in July, increasing for a record 23rd month in a row, data from Baker Hughes showed. [RIG/U] A break for Brent prices below key support level of $102.68 could trigger a drop into the range of $99.52 to $101.26, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. [TECH/C]

By Julia Payne LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Friday on a weakening global demand outlook and the resumption of some Libyan crude oil output. Brent crude futures fell 55 cents to $103.32 a barrel by 1251 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down $1.05 to $95.30 a barrel. The global economy looks increasingly likely to be heading into a serious slowdown, just as central banks aggressively reverse ultra-loose monetary policy adopted during the pandemic to support growth, data showed on Friday. "Things are still negative on the economic front, but we are still in a structural shortfall for prompt oil and that means physical buyers will be there to support dips knowing the uncertainty of what lies ahead on the geopolitical front," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management. Innes said investors had next week's U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rates firmly on their minds. Fed officials have indicated that the central bank would likely raise rates by 75 basis points at its July 26-27 meeting. "While 75 is in the cards, guidance will be important and any softening in the rate hike outlook would be great for global growth," Innes added. While signs of softening U.S. demand weighed on oil prices and sent benchmark contracts sliding around 3% in the previous session, tight global supplies continued to keep the market buoyed. Supply fears were easing slightly though after Libya resumed production at several oil fields earlier this week. "Libyan production is recovering, but with clashes in the capital no one knows how long the production recovery will hold," Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS, said, referring to clashes between rival factions in Libya amid growing concern that a political standoff could prompt renewed conflict. Staunovo also said the market will look to preliminary OPEC production estimates for guidance next week. WTI has been pummelled over the past two sessions after data showed that U.S. gasoline demand had dropped nearly 8% from a year earlier in the midst of the peak summer driving season, hit by record prices at the pump. In contrast, signs of strong demand in Asia propped up the Brent benchmark, putting it on course for its first weekly gain in six weeks. Demand in India for gasoline and distillate fuels rose to record highs in June, despite higher prices, with total refined product consumption running at 18% more than a year ago and Indian refineries operating near their busiest levels ever, RBC analysts said. "This signals much more than a strong recovery from COVID-plagued years," RBC analyst Michael Tran said in a note.

By Jeslyn Lerh and Sonali Paul SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices climbed in Asia trading on Friday, rebounding from previous declines amid supply tightness and geopolitical tensions, even though weakened demand in the United States has cast a shadow on the market this week. Brent crude futures rose $1.61, or 1.6%, to $105.47 a barrel by 0630 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.43, or 1.5%, to $97.78 a barrel. "Things are still negative on the economic front, but we are still in a structural shortfall for prompt oil and that means physical buyers will be there to support dips knowing the uncertainty of what lies ahead on the geopolitical front," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management. Innes said investors had next week's U.S. Federal Reserve decision on interest rates firmly on their minds. Fed officials have indicated that the central bank would likely raise rates by 75 basis points at its July 26-27 meeting. "While 75 is in the cards, guidance will be important and any softening in the rate hike outlook would be great for global growth," Innes added. While signs of softening U.S. demand weighed on oil prices and sent benchmark contracts sliding around 3% in the previous session, tight global supplies continued to keep the market buoyed. "Despite the sharp decline in oil prices, the outlook for the supply issue remains problematic. Until proven evidence for softened demands comes into sight, the (Ukraine) war-intensified supply shortage will keep the oil prices staying strong," said Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets. WTI has been pummelled over the past two sessions after data showed that U.S. gasoline demand had dropped nearly 8% from a year earlier in the midst of the peak summer driving season, hit by record prices at the pump. In contrast, signs of strong demand in Asia propped up the Brent benchmark, putting it on course for its first weekly gain in six weeks. Demand in India for gasoline and distillate fuels rose to record highs in June, despite higher prices, with total refined product consumption running at 18% more than a year ago and Indian refineries operating near their busiest levels ever, RBC analysts said. "This signals much more than a strong recovery from COVID-plagued years," RBC analyst Michael Tran said in a note.

RBC: È probabile che l'OPEC+ effettui un altro modesto aumento dell'offerta nel corso della prossima riunione. Molto probabilmente l'Arabia Saudita creerà un piano per compensare i membri che non hanno mai rispettato le quote di produzione mensili.

Il premier cinese Li: economia cinese in ripresa, ma le basi per la ripresa non sono ancora solide - Media di Stato. RBC: L'economia canadese entrerà in una modesta recessione. RBC stima che la crescita sarà in media dello 0,8% nel 2023. RBC prevede un calo nel secondo e terzo trimestre del prossimo anno.

Il vicepremier russo Novak: Ruolo OPEC+ in aumento a causa delle incertezze con domanda e offerta in Cina, Iran, Libia e Venezuela - RBC. La Russia non ha intenzione di passare ai pagamenti in rubli per il petrolio.

Il vicepremier russo Novak: Non ha senso lasciare di propria iniziativa il mercato energetico dell'UE. Non c'è bisogno che la Russia tagli la sua produzione di petrolio - RBC.

RECAP 6/1 +Pos Comments: $DHR + RBC $WIT + Macquarie $ROAD + Sidoti RECAP 6/1 -Neg Comments: $YY - MS

**@CNBC:** Oil prices fall off their 13-year high. RBC Capital Market's Helima Croft and Clearview Energy Partners' Kevin Book join @PowerLunch to discuss potential increases in oil production. https://t.co/aLUUA06wGv https://t.co/kObj6OfScP https://twitter.com/CNBC/status/1501670913909170182

das ist krass.... Tage, nachdem der kanadische Premierminister Justin Trudeau angekündigt hatte, er werde Notfallbefehle erlassen , um gegen Demonstranten vorzugehen und ihre Bankkonten einzufrieren, gingen fünf große kanadische Banken am Mittwochabend offline, da Kunden berichteten, dass ihre Gelder nicht verfügbar seien.... Kanadische Twitter-Nutzer berichteten, dass sie an den Geldautomaten nicht auf ihr Geld zugreifen konnten. Ein Benutzer machte ein Foto von einer Fehlermeldung an einem der Geldautomaten von RBC, die lautete: „Tap-Transaktionen sind für diese Karte nicht verfügbar.“

$SBUX (-2.6% pre) Starbucks slips after Oppenheimer, RBC rate as near-term neutral - SA

By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Waning Omicron variant worries and a timely booster shot of Chinese stimulus lifted world stock markets and oil on Tuesday, and left traders offloading safe-haven currencies and bonds again. Europe's FTSEurofirst was on track for its first back-to-back run of plus 1% gains since February. Wall Street was poised to rally [.N], while Asia had cheered record bounces by some of China's beaten down tech giants.. [.SS][.EU] The risk-on mood also helped the dollar climb against currencies such as the Japanese yen,, which had lost 0.6% overnight, as the confidence-sensitive Australian dollar also found buyers. [FRX/] Safe-harbour German government bonds went the other way with yields - which move inverse to prices - up 2.5 basis points after falling to a three-month low on Monday. [GVD/EUR] Britain's prime minister warned Omicron looked the most contagious coronavirus variant yet, but reports in South Africa said cases there had only shown mild symptoms and top U.S. infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, told CNN "it does not look like there's a great degree of severity" so far. "Good news relating to the severity of Omicron should be taken with a pinch of salt. Faster transmission could offset the benefits of milder symptoms," researchers at ING said in a note. "More broadly, it is still early days, even if markets are starting to display Omicron fatigue." The gains also came after China's central bank on Monday injected its second shot of stimulus since July by cutting the amount of cash that banks must hold in reserve. There was still uncertainty about its property sector as Evergrande teetered on the brink of default again but data showing much stronger import growth was "a positive sign on the strength of domestic demand," RBC analyst Adam Cole said. E-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)'s shares bounced from its record low to soar 12.2%, while Tencent and Meituan added 3.6% and 5.8%, respectively. [.SS] Shares in embattled developer Evergrande also edged off a record low as markets waited to see if it had made an already-overdue $82.5 million bond payment or formally slumped into default. BIDEN-PUTIN Elsewhere, Australia's S&P/ASX200 rose nearly 1% as its central bank left interest rates at a super-loose 0.1% and Japan's Nikkei advanced 1.9% as the yen dipped back. (T) "We have had the Fed hawkish turn and Omicron hitting the market with both barrels recently but this week we have seen some dribbles of better news on Omicron," Saxo Bank's head of FX strategy John Hardy said. "The yen has snapped back lower and the commodity currencies have turned higher ... it's just snap back for now though rather than a trend," he added, cautioning it was too early to make conclusions about Omicron. Also supporting the dollar in FX markets was the expectation the Federal Reserve will accelerate the tapering of its bond-buying programme when it meets next week in response to a tightening labour market. Oil prices jumped another 2% to $74.60 a barrel, adding to a near 5% rebound the day before as concerns about the impact of Omicron on global fuel demand eased. [O/R] That provided no protection for Russia's rouble, which fell 0.3% on worries a renewed conflict in Ukraine could see the United States and Europe slap heavy sanctions on Russia's banking system and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a video conference at around 1500 GMT. "God knows what the delta risk is on that meeting but the U.S. is waving around the threat of more serious sanctions," Saxo's Hardy said, adding the "nuclear option" would be banning Russian banks from the international bank-to-bank payment system called SWIFT.

Blockchain Tech Has Evolved Enough to Meet Some Demands of Financial Markets: RBC Report https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/11/19/blockchain-tech-has-evolved-enough-to-meet-some-demands-of-financial-markets-rbc-report/

RBC Proposes Options Bet on Bitcoin-Linked Tesla and MicroStrategy https://cryptonews.com/news/bank-proposes-options-bet-on-bitcoin-linked-tesla-and-microstrategy.htm

+Initiations 9/23: $ANXX $AOSL $AVDL $AVXL $BIIB $BTBT $DNMR $FSR $GTLS $HRMY $ITCI $JAZZ $JOBY $KNTE $LABP $LIDR $MCG $MRTX $OVV $OXLC $PCT $RBC $RPD $RPTX $SAGE $SFET $SITC $SWBK $UE $XFLT . -Initiations 9/23: $TSLA

Thursday, September 23, 2021 Futures Up/Down % Last Dow 162.00 0.47% 34,291 S&P 500 23.25 0.53% 4,407 Nasdaq 83.50 0.55% 15,247 U.S. stocks are looking at another move higher following strong gains on Wednesday despite the FOMC taking a more “hawkish” stance on both rates and the timeline on asset purchase tapering during yesterday’s meeting. Stocks jumped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cleared the way to ease monthly bond purchases “soon” and signaled interest rate increases may follow more quickly than expected. Stocks pared gains late as Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke at his press conference but still closed up solidly. Fed officials indicated that they see interest rates seen rising to 1% in 2023, faster than projected by the Fed in its projections in June, and then to 1.8% in 2024. Nine of eleven major S&P 500 sectors ended the day higher. However, of note, all 11 groups retreated from the moments before Powell’s press conference began, into the close. The Dow Transport index slid to 6-month lows following weakness from Fed-Ex (FDX) earnings results and guidance the night prior. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index was closed, the Shanghai Index rose 13 points to 3,642 and the Hang Seng Index gained 289 points to 24,510. In Europe, the German DAX is up over 130 points (0.89%) to 15,645, while the FTSE 100 rises about 20-points to move above 7,100. Oil prices are slipping but still holds near two-month high with global stockpiles tightening. In China news, the WSJ reported China is preparing for the “demise” of Evergrande, signaling Beijing’s reluctance to get involved and bail out the company. Events Calendar for Today 8:30 AM ET Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 320K 8:30 AM EST Continuing Claims…est. 2.65M 9:45 AM ET Markit Manufacturing PMI, Sept-F…est. 61.5 9:45 AM ET Markit Services PMI, Sept-F…est. 55.0 9:45 AM ET Markit Composite PMI-Sept-F 10:00 AM ET Leading Index MoM for Aug…est. +0.7% 10:30 AM ET Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data 11:00 AM ET Kansas City Fed Manufacturing for Sept…prior 22 Earnings Calendar: Earnings Before the Open: DRI, DYNT, IWSY, RAD Earnings After the Close: AEHR, AGTC, AIR, CAMP, $COST, MTN, $NKE, PRGS, $RSSS Other Key Events: Credit Suisse 7th Annual Oil & Gas Non-Bus Tour (virtual), 9/21-9/23 DA Davidson Diversified Industrials & Services Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23 Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference (virtual), 9/21-9/23 JPMorgan 12th Annual U.S. All Stars Conference (virtual), 9/21-9/23 Oppenheimer Fall Healthcare Life Sciences & MedTech Summit (virtual), 9/20-9/23 Roth Capital 8th Annual Solar Symposium (virtual), 9/20-9/23 Sidoti Fall Small Cap Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23 Wells Fargo 4th Annual Consumer Conference (virtual), 9/22-9/23 Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index gained 41.45 points, or 0.95%, to 4,395.64 The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 338.48 points, or 1.00%, to 34,258.32 The Nasdaq Composite jumped 150.45 points, or 1.02%, to 14896.85 The Russell 2000 Index advanced 32.38 points, or 1.48% to 2,218.56 Macro Up/Down Last Nymex -0.32 71.91 Brent -0.27 75.92 Gold 3.80 1,772.00 EUR/USD 0.0028 1.1715 JPY/USD 0.11 109.89 10-Year Note +0.003 1.335% World News China is preparing for the “demise” of Evergrande, signaling Beijing’s reluctance to get involved and bail out the company (the gov’t will only step in should the company’s failure turn disorderly) – WSJ https://on.wsj.com/3i2x8WH Sector News Breakdown Consumer Steelcase ($SCS) 2Q EPS $0.21 vs est. $0.23 on revs $724.8Mm vs est. $761.3Mm; guides 3Q revs $755-785Mm vs est. $713Mm, sees 3Q EPS $0.07-0.11 vs est. $0.09 Funko ($FNKO) entered into a new credit agreement for a term loan facility of $180M and a revolving credit facility of $100M that mature September 17, 2026 Brilliant Earth ($BRLT)33M share IPO priced at $12.00 Hyatt ($H) 7M share Secondary priced at $74.50 Sovos Brands ($SOVO)3M share IPO priced at $12.00 Energy, Industrials & Materials HB Fuller (FUL) 3Q adj EPS $0.79 vs est. $0.79 on revs $827Mm vs est. $797.6Mm; guides FY revs +17-18% vs est. +14.4%, sees FY adj EBITDA abut $460-470Mm vs est. $463Mm KB Homes (KBH) 3Q EPS $1.60 vs est. $1.62 on revs $1.47B vs est. $1.57B; qtrly homes delivered +35% to $3,425, ending backlog value +89% to $4.84B; inventory +19% to $4.66B as of Aug. 31; repurchased 4.7Mm shares for $188.2Mm Northrop Grumman ($NOC) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs with a $350 price target and General Dynamics (GD) also upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs with a $176 price target in the defense sector; L3Harris Technologies (LHX) downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs with a $207 price target, Lockheed Martin (LMT) downgraded to Neutral from Buy with $402 tgt and Woodward ($WWD) downgraded to Sell from Neutral with $102 tgt Loop Capital started Regal Beloit Corp (RBC) with a Buy rating and $180 price target and Timken (TKR) with a Hold rating and $72 price target Grinrod Shipping ($GRIN)842M share Spot Secondary priced at $13.50 Syncrude Canada, majority-owned by Suncor Energy ($SU), cut September supplies due to a mechanical disruption at its Alberta oil sands site, Bloomberg reported Financials Chinese Estates (Holdings) Ltd. is planning to sell all of its shares in China Evergrande Group, as the property investment company is worried about the recent stock-price volatility and financial condition of debt-laden Evergrande. Chinese Estates, which currently holds 751.09 million shares or a 5.66% stake in Evergrande, expects to record a realized loss on the stake of about 1.38 billion Hong Kong dollars ($177.2 million) for the year ending December Remitly Global (RELY)16M share IPO priced at $43.00 The9 ($NCTY), Polygon, an Ethereum scaling platform, and Protocol Labs, a major contributor of open-source projects are forming an ecosystem collaboration on NCTY’s Non-Fungible Token (NFT) platform NFTSTAR and GameFi Play-to-Earn projects Safehold (S$AFE)2M share Secondary priced at $76.00 Willis Towers Watson ($WLTW) raises share buyback program by $4B Raymond James Financials ($RJF) posts Private Client Group assets in fee-based accounts of $643.5B grew 33% Y/Y, thanks to the net addition of financial advisers; record client assets under administration of $1.21T rose from $945.2B in the year ago period and $1.18T in the prior month. Healthcare The FDA has granted Emergency Use Authorization for a booster dose of Pfizer ($PFE)/BioNTech’s ($BNTX) COVID-19 vaccine for those 65 and older, those who work in healthcare settings, and adults at high risk of severe COVID-19. The authorization includes people whose “frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19.” Sterling Check (STER)285M share IPO priced at $23.00 Eargo, Inc. (EAR) shares fell -50% on reports it is the target of a criminal investigation by U.S. DOJ related to insurance reimbursement claims submitted on behalf of customers covered by federal employee health plans; the co is withdrawing its financial guidance for fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 Spectrum Pharma (SPPI) Journal of Clinical Oncology Abstract listing for co.’s ‘poziotinib for patients with HER2 exon 20 mutant non–small-cell lung cancer Cigna Corp (CI) named Eric Palmer as president and chief executive officer of Evernorth, its health services unit that mainly houses its pharmacy benefit management business; also announced several other leadership changes Medirom Healthcare (MRM) rises 39%; after saying that it will buy Japanese private hair salon operator Zacc Kabushiki Kaisha in an all-cash deal of 370.0 mln yen ($3.36M) Thorne HealthTech (THRN) 7M share IPO priced at $10.00 Stifel initiated Buy ratings on Mirati Therapeutics (MRTX) with a $202 price target, Kinnate Biopharma (KNTE) with a $32 price target, and Repare Therapeutics (RPTX) with a $48 price target; Hold ratings on Ideaya Biosciences (IDYA) and Revolution Medicines (RVMD) Needham started SAGE Therapeutics (SAGE) at a Buy and added it to its Conviction List; also initiated Buy ratings on Intra-Cellular Therapeutics (ITCI), Avadel Pharmaceuticals (AVDL), Jazz Pharmaceuticals ($JAZZ), Biogen ($BIIB), Harmony Biosciences ($HRMY), and Hold ratings on Neurocrine Biosciences ($NBIX) and ACADIA Pharmaceuticals (ACAD) Technology, Media & Telecom Blackberry ($BB) shares rose 8% after earnings; Q2 EPS ($0.06) vs est. ($0.07) on revenue $175M vs est. $163.5M Facebook ($FB) chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer said in a Facebook post: “After 13 amazing years at Facebook, I have made the decision to step down as Chief Technology Officer and transition to a new part time role as Facebook’s first Senior Fellow at the company sometime in 2022 EngageSmart ($ESMT)55M share IPO priced at $26.00 Roku ($ROKU) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Guggenheim

By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian share markets were in a cautious mood on Thursday as concerns grew over the Chinese economy after a run of soft data, while the risk of a sub par U.S. payrolls report kept the dollar on the defensive. A raft of manufacturing surveys suggested supply bottlenecks were tightening again with eight of nine Asian countries reporting longer delivery times. "The spread of the Delta variant amid still-low vaccination rates in many ASEAN economies and China's zero-tolerance Covid strategy have prompted governments to impose restrictions and order factory/port closures," warned analysts at Nomura. "Input shortages and low inventories will likely lead to production cuts and delayed shipments in Q3." The uncertainty kept Chinese blue chips flat, though speculation of more fiscal stimulus offered some support. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2% from a five-week high. Japan's Nikkei added 0.2%, while South Korea fell 0.9%. Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were barely changed, while EUROSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures both dipped 0.1%. Wall Street has been preoccupied with second guessing U.S. August payrolls, due out on Friday, with the task made all the more uncertain by a disappointing reading on ADP private payrolls but a solid ISM survey of manufacturing. [nN9N2NL019[ Median forecasts are for a strong rise of 750,000 jobs, but they range from 375,000 to 1.02 million with the ADP report prompting speculation the risks are to the downside. Yet a soft number could be positive for risk assets since it would lessen pressure for an early tapering from the Federal Reserve. "A print closer to 400k rather than 800k effectively means that the Fed's condition of "further substantial progress" in the labour market will take longer to materialise, thus delaying the tapering decision from September to November," said Rodrigo Catril, a senior FX strategist at NAB. "Bad news in the labour market are good news for risk assets given the punchbowl will remain well liquefied for a bit longer." ECB HAWKS SOUND OFF Amid the jobs chatter, 10-year Treasury yields eased back to 1.30% and away from the recent top of 1.375%, while the U.S. dollar index touched a one-month low. The euro also reached its highest since early August at $1.1856 and was last holding steady at $1.1840. The single currency was aided by hawkish comments from Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann who cautioned against inflation risks and called for a slowdown in bond buying by the European Central Bank. In contrast, the Bank of Japan shows no sign of tapering its massive purchases as the country remains mired in a decades-long battle with deflation. That kept the dollar firm at 110.00 yen and comfortably within the tight 108.71 to 110.79 range that has lasted for the past two months. Commodities would likely benefit from any delay in Fed tapering, helping underpin gold at $1,812 an ounce but short of resistance around $1,823. Oil prices eased after OPEC+ agreed to stick to a policy of adding 400,000 barrels per day a month to the market, though it also defied pressure for an even larger increase. [O/R] "Ignoring calls from the White House for further barrel increases, we think that OPEC+ will stay on this current course unless there is a clear deterioration in the demand outlook," said analysts at RBC Capital Markets in a note. "Moreover, we reiterate that if there is a price bias for the majority of the OPEC+ membership, it is to the upside given the high fiscal breakevens of member states." Brent slipped 20 cents to $71.39 a barrel, while U.S. crude lost 27 cents to $68.32.

By Alun John HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asian shares were set for their best week since February on Friday as Chinese markets cheered a burst of central bank liquidity although broader enthusiasm was capped ahead of what could be a pivotal speech by the U.S. central bank chief. U.S. stock futures were up 0.2% in Asian hours, suggesting some optimism after sentiment on Thursday was dented by a deadly attack in Afghanistan, and after the Federal Reserve's more hawkish policymakers urged an end to stimulus. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.17%, up 3.78% on the week, which would be its best week since February, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.46%. Chinese blue chips rose 0.45%, a reversal of recent weeks in which mainland stocks have weighed on the region, as investors took comfort in the central bank's biggest weekly cash injection into the banking system since February. Hong Kong's benchmark rose 0.15%. Recent regulatory crackdowns have roiled sectors from property to tech and wiped half a trillion dollars from China's markets in last week alone. "A-shares (onshore Chinese shares) and Hong Kong are taking a break after some pretty extreme movements in the last two weeks," said Qi Wang, CEO of MegaTrust Investment (HK). "Investors are grappling with the regulatory risk versus still strong earnings." ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co Ltd rose 6.3% after posting strong results, for example. Australian and Korean benchmarks traded either side of flat. In early European trade, the pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.06%, but FTSE futures rose 0.08%. But the main focus of the day is still to come. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak at 1400 GMT in the Kansas City Fed's central banking conference, an event normally held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which has been used by the bank in the past to provide guidance on future policy. Analysts at RBC said in a note that while much of the summer had been spent waiting for the event, there was "skepticism that the Fed will provide more specific information around a timetable...amidst a rise in Delta variant COVID cases." Ahead of the speech, public remarks by the Fed's more hawkish speakers on Thursday urging the central bank to begin paring bond purchases weighed on Wall Street, which closed slightly lower, ending a streak of all-time closing highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.54%, the S&P 500 lost 0.58%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.64%. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said he believed the economic recovery warrants tapering of asset purchases to commence around October. Earlier, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the central bank was "coalescing" around a plan to begin tapering. The dollar and U.S. yields were little moved on Friday ahead of Powell's speech. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was 1.3441%, down from a two-week high of 1.375% set the day before, but barely changed from the U.S. close. Gold rose 0.53% to $1,801.55 per ounce as some investors sought safety ahead of the speech. [GOL/] U.S. crude rose 1.39% to $68.36 a barrel, Brent crude rose 1.46% to $72.03 per barrel, as energy companies began shutting production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a potential hurricane this weekend. [O/R]

+++ Seduta all’insegna delle vendite per le big del comparto dopo il downgrade di RBC sulle utility regolate italiane. Terna (-3,5%), Italgas (-3,4%) e Snam (-3,3%) scivolano in coda al Ftse Mib (flat), dopo che RBC ha espresso una visione piu' negativa sui rendimenti futuri consentiti.

Monday, July 26, 2021 Futures Up/Down % Last Dow -112.00 0.32% 34,839 S&P 500 -10.25 0.23% 4,393 Nasdaq -20.50 0.14% 15,077 Stocks are pulling back after another record high for stocks on Friday as markets ready for the biggest week of quarterly earnings (about 1/3 of the S&P 500 report this week) including mega-cap giants including Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla, and Boeing among them. Sentiment was hurt by China’s widening crackdown of the technology sector and a statement from Beijing that the U.S.-China relationship was “now in a stalemate and faces serious difficulties” as high-level talks began. The comment sunk Asian markets as The Nikkei Index rose 285 points to 27,833, but the Shanghai Index tumbled -82 points to 3,467 and the Hang Seng Index plunged -1,129 points (or 4.13%) to settle at 26,192. In Europe, the German DAX is down over -60 points to 15,600, while the FTSE 100 dips about -0.25% to hold just above the 7,000 level. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell to 1.246% as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s outlook. The FOMC 2-day meeting begins Tuesday and ends Wednesday with a policy statement/press conference from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. Stock averages posted strong returns last week as the S&P 500 rose 1.96%, the Dow rose 1.08%, and the Nasdaq added 2.84% in a big comeback (and then some) as the major indices rode a rally back into record territory, posting four-straight up days after a big selloff to start the week. The S&P, Nasdaq and Dow closed at all-time highs to make it four winning weeks out of five with the Dow ending above 35,000. It took 69 trading days to go from 34k to 35k, which is the longest since 29k to 30k took 218 days. The 10-year Treasury yield also had a big comeback, but ended the week around 1.29%, just below where it was last Friday (it had dropped to as low on 1.12% on Tuesday). Bitcoin prices rose above its 50-day moving average on Saturday for the first time since May 12. It rose again Sunday, its sixth consecutive day of gains, to above $38K. Bitcoin traded above the technical level after comments from Ark Investment Management LLC’s Cathie Wood and Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk helped boost its momentum. Prices took off yesterday after London’s City A.M. newspaper said Amazon ($AMZN) is looking to accept bitcoin payments by year-end – the story is boosting shares of Bitcoin miners, banks etc.: $SI, $MARA, $RIOT, $MSTR, $COIN. Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index gained 44.31 points, or 1.01%, to 4,411.79 The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238.20 points, or 0.68%, to 35,061.55 The Nasdaq Composite surged 152.39 points, or 1.04%, to 14,836.99 The Russell 2000 Index advanced 10.17 points, or 0.46% to 2,209.65 Events Calendar for Today 10:00 AM ET New Home Sales MoM for June 10:30 AM ET Dallas Fed Manufacturing for July Earnings Calendar: Earnings Before the Open: $ARLP, $BOH, $CBU, $HAS, $LII, $LMT, $OTIS, $PETS, $RPM Earnings After the Close: $ACC, $ADC, $AGNC, $AGRX, $AMKR, $AMP, $ARE, $ARI, AXTA, $BDN, $BRO, $CALX, $CATY, $CDNS, $CR, $FFIV, FRME, $FSTX, $HLX, $HMST, $HSII, $HTLF, $HXL, $IRT, $JJSF, KREF, MEDP, MEDS, $NBTB, $PKG, $RBB, $RRC, $SSD, $SUI, $TBI, $TNET, $TSLA, $UHS Other Key Events: Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2021 (virtual), 7/26-7/30 Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, 7/23-7/27, in Las Vegas Macro Up/Down Last Nymex -0.56 71.51 Brent -0.48 73.62 Gold 6.30 1,808.45 EUR/USD 0.0023 1.1794 JPY/USD -0.28 110.27 10-Year Note -0.04 1.245% World News Germany July IFO climate8 vs 102.1 cons; Expectations 101.2 vs 103.3 consensus; Assessment 100.4 vs 101.5 consensus; German IFO: Supply problems are weighing on economy in both industry & retail; majority of firms complain of materials shortage and “massive” price increases; industry says it is short of production targets Sector News Breakdown Consumer Hasbro ($HAS) Q2 adj EPS $1.05 vs. est. $0.48; Q2 revs $1.32B vs. est. $ 1.17B Travel and leisure stocks rallied in the initial reopening stage of the pandemic, but the surge has fizzled with the spread of the delta variant. Barron’s identifies six stocks that can be bargains during the next leg of the reopening. Hilton ($HLT), Host Hotels & Resorts ($HST), MGM Growth Properties ($MGP), Royal Caribbean ($RCL), Travel + Leisure ($TNL), and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts ($WH) have some attributes to withstand uncertain stretches amid the rise in Covid variant, according to Barron’s China confirmed that the country is banning for-profit school tutoring companies after a report on the possible move sent shares of tutoring firms TAL Education ($TAL), New Oriental ($EDU) and Gaotu Techu ($GOTU) plunging on Friday. Companies that teach school subjects can no longer accept overseas investments, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited a notice from China’s State Council. Listed firms can no longer raise capital through stock markets Airbnb ($ABNB) CEO told Barron’s that the industry still has room to grow despite the delta variant. The pandemic has opened up a whole new business, such as monthly rentals, as people work from new places. He expects longer stays to be the bread and butter at some point TripAdvisor ($TRIP) is the cheapest online travel stock to buy according to Barron’s saying while it has struggled to make the most of its hundreds of millions of users, that could soon change as the company has started a new travel subscription service that offers discounted hotel rates and other benefits; shares now around $36, look inexpensive, having fallen from a March peak of $65 Amazon ($AMZN) is said to be looking to accept bitcoin payments by the end of the year and its exploring its own token for next year. Amazon has been working on the plan since 2019, according to a City A.M. report, which cites an unidentified insider General Motors ($GM) and its Cruise robo-taxi subsidiary have filed a lawsuit to stop Ford Motor ($F) from using the name “BlueCruise” to market its hands-free driving technology Energy, Industrials and Materials RBC Bearings ($ROLL) is in advanced talks to buy ABB Ltd.’s ($ABB) mechanical power transmission business, for between $2.5 billion and $3 billion Bloomberg reported this weekend Lithium Americas ($LAC) rises after a U.S. federal judge ruled that LAC may conduct excavation work at its Thacker Pass lithium mine site in Nevada, which could become one of the country’s biggest lithium mines producing 30,000 tonnes Otis Worldwide ($OTIS) Q2 adj EPS 79c vs. est. 71c; Q2 revs $3.7B vs. est. $3.45B; Q2 new equipment orders were up 23.9% and backlog was up 10%; raises FY21 adjusted EPS view to $2.89-$2.93 from $2.78-$2.84 (est. $2.87) and boosts FY21 revs view to $14.1B-$14.2B from $13.6B-$13.9B Canada’s Unifor union says ~900 workers have gone on strike at Rio Tinto’s ($RIO) Kitimat aluminum smelting plant and Kemano power generating facility in British Columbia over labor contracts with the company Seadrill ($SDRLF) said it entered into agreements with creditors to raise $350 million in new financing and reduce its liabilities by over $4.9 billion Financials Robinhood ($HOOD) IPO coming soon, and Barron’s cautious on shares; notes Robinhood is a truly transformational company, but its problem is the quality and sustainability of its revenue, notes is also highly dependent on cryptocurrency trading, another area under close review by the SEC KeyCorp ($KEY), M&T Bank ($MTB) among bank stocks with yields above 3%, according to Barron’s noting this year’s rally in bank stocks appears to have slowed to a sputter, but investors should stick around given banks’ reliable dividends Healthcare Bristol Myers ($BMY) decided to voluntarily withdraw the indication for Opdivo as a single agent for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma Incyte Corporation ($INCY) said the FDA issued a Complete Response Letter regarding its Biologics License Application (BLA) for retifanlimab, an intravenous PD-1 inhibitor, for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCAC) who have progressed on, or who are intolerant of, platinum-based chemotherapy. Genetron Holdings ($GTH) announces that its Ayvakit (avapritinib) companion diagnostic (CDx) kit, developed in partnership with CStone Pharmaceuticals has entered the priority review and approval process in China. PerkinElmer, Inc. ($PKI) entered into an agreement to acquire BioLegend, a leading, global provider of life science antibodies and reagents, for approximately $5.25 billion in a combination of cash and stock, subject to certain adjustments Tonix Pharmaceuticals ($TNXP) said it will stop enrollment in the Phase 3 Rally study of TNX-102 SL 5.6 mg for the management of fibromyalgia, sending shares lower by over 30% Technology, Media & Telecom Tencent Music ($TME) shares fall -14% after Chinese regulators ordered the company to give up exclusive music streaming rights and pay half a million yuan in fines Check Point ($CHKP) Q2 EPS $1.61 vs., est. $1.56; Q2 revs $526.1M vs. est. $523.7M Consumer spending on videogames in the second quarter eked out a 2% gain against very tough pandemic comps, as data from NPD Group’s Q2 2021 Games Market Dynamics report show overall spending hit $14B for the April-June quarter, with gains across PC, cloud and non-console VR content, mobile and subscription spending as well as hardware.

$TTD RBC Capital Assumes at Outperform PT $95

$CRWD - PT raised to $295 from $255 at Mizuho $PYPL - PT raised to $365 from $342 at Guggenheim $TWLO - PT raised to $480 from $440 at Wolfe Research $CMG - PT raised to $1,800 from $1,750 at RBC Raises $COST - PT raised to $410 from $400 at Citigroup

$NOW PT Raised to $585 at Piper $MTCH RBC Capital Starts at Outperform PT $190 $PYPL PT Raised to $370 at Evercore ISI $PYPL PT Raised to $342 at Oppenheimer $MELI DZ Bank Starts at Buy PT $1900 $CRWD PT Raised to $302 at BTIG $AMZN BofA Securities reiterates Buy PT $4,360 - $BIGC Partnership Could Add $15B/Year in Fulfillment

Wednesday, July 7, 2021 Futures Up/Down % Last Dow 30.00 0.09% 34,490 S&P 500 8.00 0.18% 4,342 Nasdaq 77.00 0.52% 14,852 Stock futures are looking higher, as the Nasdaq Composite looks to extend its record-breaking streak following large cap tech outperformance yesterday (all-time highs for AMZN, GOOGL), aided by plunging Treasury yields as the fear of inflation has subsided greatly the last few weeks. The yield on the benchmark 10-year falls another 2 bps, hitting lows around 1.33% today (lowest since February). The S&P 500 looks to get back on track after having its 7-day win streak snapped yesterday, also stopping a string of record closing highs as investors await minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting later today for clues on the central bank’s next policy moves. China is widening its clampdown on tech firms listed overseas and regulators are now planning to change overseas listing rules. Oil prices looking at a healthy rebound after yesterday’s pullback. Seven of the 11 S&P sectors closed down on Tuesday, with Energy the weakest through the session as crude fell, while Financials also struggled in the face of lower rates. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index declined -276 points to 28,366, the Shanghai Index rose 23 points to 3,553 and the Hang Seng Index lost -112 points to settle at 27,960. In Europe, the German DAX is higher by 125 points to 15,635, while the FTSE 100 is up about 35 points to 7,140. Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index slipped -8.80 points, or 0.20%, to 4,343.54 The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -208.98 points, or 0.60%, to 34,577.37 The Nasdaq Composite gained 24.32 points, or 0.17%, to 14,663.64 The Russell 2000 Index declined -31.26 points, or 1.36% to 2,274.50 Events Calendar for Today 7:00 AM ET MBA Mortgage Applications Data 10:00 AM ET JOLTs Job Openings for May 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data Earnings Calendar: Earnings Before the Open: $MSM Earnings After the Close: $SAR, $WDFC Other Key Events: FOMC minutes are released from the last meeting of the policy-making committee Macro Up/Down Last Nymex 1.31 74.68 Brent 1.20 75.73 Gold 10.40 1,807.50 EUR/USD -0.0002 1.1822 JPY/USD 0.16 110.79 10-Year Note -0.024 1.346% Sector News Breakdown Consumer Didi Global ($DIDI) extends yesterday declines after China stepped up scrutiny over its data security and widened a crackdown on companies listing abroad Boston Beer ($SAM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse and raise tgt to $1,490 from $1,304 Asur ($ASR) announced that that total passenger traffic for June reached a total of 4.6M passengers, 5.1% below the 4.8M passengers reported June 2019 which reflects a lower demand for travel in general International Game Technology ($IGT) signs a contract with the Western Canada Lottery to provide 700 CrystalDual 27 video lottery terminals. LGI Homes ($LGIH) said it closed 997 homes in June 2021, up from 760 homes closed in June 2020, representing year-over-year growth of 31.2%; announced record-breaking quarterly closings of 2,856 during Q2 compared to 2,005 closings same period a year ago, a 42.4% increase year-over-year Energy, Industrials and Materials TechnipFMC ($FTI) said it was awarded a “significant” integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract from Tullow Oil for the Jubilee South East development offshore Ghana; the company defines a “significant” contract as $75M-$250M Steel Dynamics ($STLD) board authorizes a buyback of $1B in additional shares following the previous $500M program which had $51M remaining available for repurchase Oasis Petroleum ($OAS) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital Royal Dutch Shell ($RDSA) said it will boost returns to shareholders via share buybacks or dividends earlier than expected after a sharp rise in oil and gas prices helped it reduce debt; said it will increase its distribution to shareholders to 20% to 30% of cash flow from operations beginning in Q2, the company said in a trading statement before quarterly results. MSC Industrial ($MSM) Q3 adj EPS $1.42 vs. est. $1.37; Q3 revs $866.29M vs. est. $847.2M; Q3 average daily sales rose 2.2% NASA has awarded Mechanical Integrated Services and Technology II contract worth $531M to a joint venture between Aerodyne and KBR ($KBR). Financials S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he can’t schedule a summer trial in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust suit challenging Aon’s ($AON) proposed takeover of Willis Towers Watson (WLTW) – WSJ. The judge instead said he intends to hold trial proceedings for a few days starting November 18, and then again during an opening in his schedule from December 20-22 Ellington Financial ($EFC) 6M share Spot Secondary priced at $18.22 MarketAxess ($MKTX) recorded $567B in trading volume for June 2021, of which $239.5B was credit volume and $327.5B rates volume; total credit average daily trading volume and total credit trading volume dropped 10.1% Y/Y to $10.89B and $239.52B, respectively. Healthcare OncoSec Medical Inc. ($ONCS) said it has entered into a collaboration and supply agreement with Merck & Co. (MRK) to evaluate the combination of its interleukin-12 Tavo with Merck’s anti-cancer immunotherapy Keytruda in a global clinical trial. Dare Bioscience ($DARE) rises after revealing on June 30, entered into an agreement with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for development of DARE-LARC1 implant, its experimental user-controlled, long-acting reversible contraceptive (awarded grant of up to $48.95M) Savara ($SAVA) files $250M mixed securities shelf Technology, Media & Telecom Smart Global ($SGH) 3Q adj EPS $1.39 vs. est. $1.09 on sales $437.7Mm vs. est. $415.6Mm; guides 4Q net sales $440-480Mm vs. est. $439.4Mm, sees 4Q adj EPS $1.60 +/- $0.15 vs. est. $1.23 Samsung Electronics ($SSNLF) said it expects more than 53% growth in Q2 operating profit, driven by strong demand for memory chips and operations resuming at a key US factory; sees sales of ~KRW63T and operating profit of ~KRW12.5T China’s top market regulator has fined a slew of companies, including subsidiaries of Didi Global Inc. ($DIDI), for what it said was monopolistic behavior linked to nearly two dozen deals. Turkcell ($TKC) to acquire Boyut Grup Enerji, which owns the Izmir Karadag Wind Power Plant for an enterprise value of $29.6M

Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ:ZM) shares are trading higher by 5% at $364 Friday afternoon after RBC Capital assumed the stock at an Outperform rating and named it their top pick.

/*============================================= = Thursday, June 10, 2021 = =============================================*/ Futures Up/Down % Last Dow 80.00 0.23% 34,410 S&P 500 2.25 0.07% 4,211 Nasdaq -37.50 0.27% 13,766 U.S. stock futures are mixed into key monthly inflation data as the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) is set to be revealed at 8:30 AM, with an expected MoM rise of 0.4% for both headline and core prices and YoY prices to rise 4.7% (which would be the biggest YoY rise since 2008) and 3.4% (would be highest since YoY core spike since 1993) for headline and core respectively. Treasury yields have been sliding over the last week to one-month lows around 1.50% for the benchmark 10-year ahead of the data, as it appears markets have accepted the recent rise in prices as “transitory” which is what the Fed has been echoing for weeks now. While the Fed has pledged not to hike interest rates before 2023, some economists say that is wishful thinking if these levels of inflation keep up. The S&P 500 flirted with a record high Wednesday before retreating in afternoon trading, once again nearly tagging its 4,238.04-record intraday high. The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank to almost 1.47%, while the 30-year bond touched 2.148%, the lowest since March 1. On a weekly basis, the S&P 500 is on track for its smallest range as a percentage of the prior week’s close since mid-October 2017. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 97 points to 28,958, the Shanghai Index rose 19 points to 3,610 and the Hang Seng Index slipped -3 points to 28,738. In Europe, the German DAX is up over 320 points to top 15,600, while the FTSE 100 is up around 25 points to 7,105. Not much going on in individual stock news other than several new IPO’s pricing overnight and open for trading today along with momentum sectors remaining very volatile including Reddit/WSB related “meme” stocks and Bitcoin leveraged stocks. Events Calendar for Today 8:30 AM EST Consumer Prices (CPI) MoM for May…est. 0.4% 8:30 AM EST Consumer Prices (CPI) YoY for May…est. 4.7% 8:30 AM EST CPI Ex: Food & Energy MoM for May…est. 0.4% 8:30 AM EST CPI Ex: Food & Energy YoY for May…est. 3.4% 8:30 AM ET Weekly Jobless Claims…est. 370K 8:30 AM EST Continuing Claims…est. 3.602M 10:30 AM ET Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventory Data 2:00 PM EST Federal Budget for May Earnings Calendar: Earnings Before the Open: A LOT, $FCEL, JW/A, $KSPN, $SIG Earnings After the Close: $AVO, $CGRN, $CHWY, $NVGS, $PLAY, $SEAC, $TPCS, $TYME, $ZDGE Other Key Events: Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference 2021 (virtual), 6/8-6/10 Deutsche Bank Global Consumer Conference (virtual), 6/7-6/10 FBN Securities Silicon Valley Tech Tour (virtual), 6/10-6/11 Goldman Sachs Healthcare Conference (virtual), 6/8-6/10 Goldman Sachs 25th Annual European Financials Conference (virtual), 6/8-6/10 Jefferies Healthcare Virtual Conference, 6/8-6/10 Oppenheimer Virtual Software & Semiconductor Bus Tour, 6/7-6/11 Piper Global Exchange & FinTech Conference (virtual), 6/9-6/10 REITWeek 2021 Investor Virtual Conference, 6/8-6/10 Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index slipped -7.71 points, or 0.18%, to 4,219.55 The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -152.68 points, or 0.44%, to 34,447.14 The Nasdaq Composite dipped -13.16 points, or 0.09%, to 13,911.75 The Russell 2000 Index declined -16.63 points, or 0.71% to 2,327.13 Macro Up/Down Last Nymex 0.08 70.04 Brent 0.14 72.36 Gold -9.00 1,879.55 EUR/USD -0.0018 1.2162 JPY/USD -0.12 19.51 10-Year Note +0.012 1.501% World News A bipartisan group of House moderates on Wednesday unveiled an eight-year, $1.25 trillion infrastructure plan designed to help break the months-long impasse over President Biden’s top domestic legislative priority. The framework offered by the 58-member Problem Solvers Caucus calls for more than $959 billion for traditional infrastructure, including highways, bridges, rail, airports and waterways; $25 billion of that money would be set aside for electric vehicle infrastructure, including electric buses. Sector News Breakdown Consumer GameStop ($GME) Q1 adj EPS loss (-$0.45) vs. est. loss (-$0.84); Q1 sales $1.3B vs. est. $1.16B; says may offer and sell up to 5 mln shares of its common stock, from time to time, in “at-the-market” offerings – shares slip on offering; named two Amazon executives as its CEO and CFO – Matt Furlong will succeed George Sherman as CEO and Mike Recupero will succeed Jim Bell as CFO; continues to suspend guidance; says Q2 sales trends continue to reflect momentum, with may total sales increasing approximately 27% compared to last year; Oxford Industries ($OXM) Q1 adj EPS $1.89 vs. est. $1.06; Q1 sales $266M vs. est. $233.1M; raises FY21 EPS view to $4.85-$5.15 from $2.80-$3.20 (est. $3.05); raises FY21 revenue view to $1.015B-$1.05B from $940M-$980M (est. $968.86M) RH ($RH) shares rise 6%; Q1 adj EPS $4.89 vs. est. $4.10; Q1 revs $860.8M vs. est. $757.65M; raising our outlook for revenue growth in fy21 to a range of 25% to 30% from prior outlook of 15%-20%; sees 2q adj operating margin in range of 25.9% to 26.1% and Q2 revs growth 35%-37%; Q1 adjusted gross margin of 47.3% of sales vs. 41.8% a year ago and 46.1% consensus Celsius Holdings ($CELH)52M share Spot Secondary priced at $62.50 Leslie’s ($LESL) 24.5M share Secondary priced at $27.64 Energy, Industrials and Materials Blocked by US President Joe Biden, Canada’s TC Energy ($TRP) said Wednesday it had officially terminated the Keystone XL Pipeline project, throwing in the towel on a controversial initiative opposed by environmental activists. Callon Petroleum ($CPE) and Continental Resources ($CLR) downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital with a price target of $54 (up from $44) and tgt of $40 (up from $34) respectively, citing strong relative performance and believes that its upside is now in line with its peers Marathon Oil ($MRO) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital with a price target of $18 from $14 saying the stock provides an attractive opportunity to express bullishness on oil prices, while the company’s “ultra-low” break-even point and maintenance capital program support robust free cash flow generation at even depressed commodity prices Greif Inc. ($GEF) Q1 adj EPS $1.13 vs. est. $1.06; Q2 sales $1.34B vs. est. $1.26B; Net cash provided by operating activities increased by $52.5 million to a source of $152.3 million; total debt decreased by $368.9 million Financials AllianceBernstein L.P. ($AB) announced that preliminary assets under management increased to $731 billion during May 2021 from $724 billion at the end of April; firmwide net inflows, coupled with market appreciation, drove the 1% increase Franklin Resources, Inc. ($BEN) reported preliminary month-end assets under management of $1,543.5 billion at May 31, 2021, compared to $1,529.3 billion at April 30, 2021. Virtus Investment partners, Inc. ($VRTS) reported total assets under management (aum) as of May 31, 2021 of $175.5 billion. in addition, the company provided services to $3.7 billion of other fee-earning assets that are not included in assets under management. Bank of Hawaii ($BOH) announces the offering of 7.2M depositary shares for gross proceeds of $180M Clarivate ($CLVT)462M share Secondary priced at $26.00 Healthcare Aclaris Therapeutics ($ACRS)04M share Spot Secondary priced at $17.75 Apria ($APR)5M share Secondary priced at $27.00 Clover Health Investments ($CLOV) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Bank America with an unchanged price target of $10 noting the 100% rally in the past week and shares are now trading at a 70% premium to Alignment Healthcare (ALHC), its closest comp LifeStance ($LFST) 40M share IPO priced at $18.00 Technology, Media & Telecom The global semiconductor market will rise from 6.8% in 2020 to 19.7% this year to ~$527B according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics estimates. For 2022, the global semiconductor market is projected to grow by 8.8% to $573B, driven by double-digit growth of the Memory category ChipMOS ($IMOS) reports May revenue of $84.4M (+2.4% M/M; +30.7% Y/Y) TSMC’s ($TSM) May revenue rose 19.8% Y/Y and 0.9% M/M to NT$112.360B Xilinx ($XLNX) has acquired Silexica, a privately-held provider of C/C++ programming and analysis tools; terms not disclosed Genius Sports ($GENI) 22M share Secondary priced at $19.00 Materialise ($MTLS) 4M share Spot Secondary priced at $24.00 PLBY Group ($PLBY)72M share Secondary priced at $46.00 Zeta Global ($ZETA)5M share IPO priced at $10.00 1stDibs ($DIBS)75M share IPO priced at $20.00 com ($MNDY) 3.7M share IPO priced at $155.00 Jamf Holding ($JAMF)5M share Secondary priced at $33.00 Asana ($ASAN) disclosed that its CEO Dustin Moskovitz bought 500K shares of common stock on June 7th in a total transaction size of $19.7M Latch Inc. ($LTCH) 1Q revs $6.6Mm +143%, booked ARR $38.9Mm +120%, total bookings $71.7Mm +89%; says plans to increase investments in sales and marketing as well as new experiences and products; guides 2Q revs $9-10Mm with total bookings $82-87Mm and adj EBITDA ($17Mm) to ($20Mm); sees FY revs $47-51Mm with total bookings $290-325Mm and adj EBITDA ($75Mm) to ($95Mm) Verint Systems ($VRNT) Q1 adj EPS $0.44 vs. est. $0.35 on revs $202Mm vs. est. $196.5Mm, cloud revs up more than 35% YoY; guides FY adj EPS $2.23 at midpoint vs. est. $2.19, sees FY revs $860Mm +/- 2% vs. est. $861.7Mm (sees cloud revs +30-35%, sees new PLE bookings 10+%)

$ESTC 6/03/21 Jefferies Maintains Buy 150.0 6/03/21 Monness, Crespi, Hardt Maintains Buy 212.0 6/03/21 Canaccord Genuity Maintains Buy 155.0 6/03/21 Citigroup Maintains Buy 175.0 6/03/21 Rosenblatt Maintains Buy 180.0 6/03/21 RBC Capital Maintains Outperform 194.0 6/03/21 Barclays Maintains Overweight 180.0

/*============================================= = Wednesday June 02 2021 = =============================================*/ U.S. stock futures are looking flat after a muted trading session overnight, with markets listless in its return from the three-day Memorial Day Weekend yesterday as investors look ahead to U.S. jobs data and for the moment appear unphased by any inflationary pressures. Markets have been gradually rising the last two-weeks, moving back near record highs for major averages on lighter volumes as we head into the summer. Some upcoming catalysts might be seen in the coming sessions, when the Labor Department releases its jobs report on Friday, before a high-profile FOMC meeting set for in mid-June. Oil prices traded near two-year highs on Wednesday after OPEC and its allies said they gradually would increase production in July as expected. On the economic calendar, investors will be eyeing the Fed’s Beige Book this afternoon. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rose 131 points to 28,946, the Shanghai Index fell -27 points to 3,597, and the Hang Seng Index declined -170 points to 29,297. In Europe, the German DAX is up around 20 points to 15,590, while the FTSE 100 is up a few points to 7,085. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped late day as declines in healthcare and technology overshadowed energy and financial gains, as investors weighed the latest round of U.S. economic data for signs of a rebound and rising inflation. The energy sector posted its biggest one-day gain in nearly four months as oil prices rose while healthcare stocks dropped after a weak profit forecast from Abbott Labs weighed on testing and medical equipment stocks. Smallcaps outperformed again as the Russell 2000 advanced over 1% again led by energy stocks. While the S&P 500 remains less than 1% of its record high (came within 4 points of its all-time high intraday) after four straight months of gains, investors are worried about whether rising inflation could hit equity prices. Market Closing Prices Yesterday The S&P 500 Index slipped -2.08 points, or 0.05%, to 4,202.04 The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 46.85 points, or 0.14%, to 34,575.31 The Nasdaq Composite dipped -12.26 points, or 0.09%, to 13,736.48 The Russell 2000 Index rose 25.01 points, or 1.10% to 2,293.99 Events Calendar for Today 7:00 AM ET MBA Mortgage Applications Data 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data Earnings Calendar Earnings Before the Open: $AAP, $DCI, $LE Earnings After the Close: $AI, $AMSC, $CLDR, $EDR, $ESTC, $GWRE, $MIND, $NCNO, $NTAP, $PVH, $SMAR, $SMTC, $SPLK, $SPTN, $SPWH Macro Up/Down Last Nymex 0.73 68.45 Brent 0.89 71.14 Gold -3.40 1,898.00 EUR/USD -0.0036 1.2177 JPY/USD 0.32 109.80 10-Year Note -0.009 1.606% Sector News Breakdown Consumer Overstock’s ($OSTK) tZERO Is Looking for a Buyer, according to CoinDesk. The company is exploring a number of options, including a SPAC merger, said tZERO VP of Investor Relations Michael Mougias. https://bit.ly/3pfoXIX Scotts Miracle-Gro ($SMG) boosts FY21 view for EPS $9.00-$9.30 (from prior $8.60-$9.00) and company-wide sales up 17%-19% vs. et. $9.15 and $4.65B, led by continued strength in both U.S. consumer and Hawthorne segments Advance Auto Parts ($AAP) Q1 adj EPS $3.34 vs. est. $3.08; Q1 sales $3.3B vs. est. $3.28B; Q1 comp sales rose 24.7%; raises FY21 revenue view to $10.4B-$10.6B from $10.2B-$10.4B and ups its FY21 comp sales view to 4%-6% from 2%-4%. AMC Entertainment ($AMC) shares looking higher by another 30% in pre-market trading, as individual traders on social media forums were unfazed after Hedge fund Mudrick Capital Management sold 8.5 million freshly issued AMC shares at a profit on Tuesday, immediately after buying them. Tesla ($TSLA) is recalling nearly 6,000 U.S. vehicles because brake caliper bolts could be loose, with the potential to cause a loss of tire pressure; the recall covers certain 2019-2021 Model 3 vehicles and 2020-2021 Model Y vehicles – in filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Energy, Industrials and Materials Donaldson ($DCI) Q3 EPS 66c vs. est. 58c; Q3 revs $765M vs. est. $707.59M; raises FY21 adj EPS view to $2.28-$2.34 vs. est. $2.21; expects full-year sales to increase between 9%-11% YoY, compared with prior guidance of between 5%-8% ProPetro Holding ($PUMP) files mixed securities shelf Orion Energy Systems ($OESX) 4Q EPS $0.04 vs. est. $0.10 on revs $35.5Mm vs. est. $39.1Mm; guides FY22 revs at least +28% vs. est. +34.3% Westport Fuel Systems ($WPRT) announces $100M offering of common shares Tellurian ($TELL) should start construction this summer on the Driftwood LNG export terminal in Louisiana, Executive Chairman Souki said RBC initiated Sector Perform ratings on Couer Mining ($CDE) with a $10 target and Pan American Silver (PAAS) Financials $SOFI was initiated with an Outperform rating and $25 price target at OpCo First Bancorp ($FBNC) to acquire Select Bancorp ($SLCT) for $18.10 per share in an all-stock transaction with a total current value of approximately $314.3 million, based on First Bancorp’s stock price as of May 28, 2021 Healthcare Amazon ($AMZN) said it will no longer screen its workers for cannabis (except for positions subject to regulation by the U.S. Department of Transportation) and will drop weed-testing requirements for recruitment as it supports a proposed U.S. legislation to legalize cannabis at the federal level (watch pot stocks $TLRY, $CGC, $CRON, $GTBIF, $CURLF) Eli Lilly ($LLY) got permission for restricted emergency use of bamlanivimab & etesevimab to treat covid-19 Edwards Lifesciences ($EW) announces that its Acumen Hypotension Prediction Index (HPI) software with the Acumen IQ finger cuff has received U.S. FDA clearance. iRhythm Technologies ($IRTC) said Mike Coyle has decided to resign from his position as president and CEO and a member of the company’s board, effective June 1, due to personal matters. Douglas Devine, the company’s CFO, has assumed the role of interim CEO while a search for a permanent CEO is conducted; reiterates Q2 guidance of ~4% sequential volume growth over Q1 Moderna, Inc. ($MRNA) entered into an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) for fill/finish sterile manufacturing services and supply packaging for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine Invitae ($NVTA) files to sell 26.63M shares of common stock for holders Stealth Biotherapeutics ($MITO) receives orphan drug designation from the European medicine’s agency for elamipretide for the treatment of Barth syndrome ADC Therapeutics ($ADCT) files to sell 5.56M shares of common stock for holders Technology, Media & Telecom Ambarella ($AMBA) 1Q adj EPS $0.23 vs. est. $0.17 on revs $70.1Mm vs. est. $68.6Mm; guides 2Q revs $74-77Mm vs. est. $69.5Mm, adj gr margin 61-62%, adj op exp $36-37.5Mm Digital Turbine ($APPS) Q4 adj EPS 25c vs. est. 19c; Q4 revs $95.01M vs. est. $88M; sees Q1 non-GAAP EPS 31c vs. est. 21c; sees Q1 revs $188M-$192M vs. est. $101.94M; sees Q1 non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA2 $32M-$34M. Hewlett Packard Enterprises ($HPE) Q2 EPS 46c vs. est. 42c; Q2 revs $6.7B vs. est. $6.62B; raises FY21 EPS view to reflect momentum in demand to $1.82-$1.94 from $1.70-$1.88 (est. $1.84); guides Q3 EPS 38c-44c vs. est. 43c Medallia ($MDLA) raises FY22 revenue view to $566M-$570M from $563M-$567M; 1Q adj EPS ($0.08) vs. est. ($0.07) on revs $131.4Mm vs. est. $127.4Mm; guides 2Q subscription revs $113-114Mm, total revs $137-139Mm vs. est. $135.3Mm, adj loss ($12.5Mm) to ($11.5Mm); guides FY subscription revs $467-471Mm, total revs $566-570Mm vs. est. $564.7Mm Zoom Media ($ZM) Q1 adj EPS $1.32 vs. est. $0.99; Q1 res $956.2M vs. est. $906M; raises FY adj EPS view to $4.56-$4.61 from prior $3.59-$3.65 (est. $3.77); sees Q2 EPS $1.14-$1.15 vs. est. $0.94 and sees Q2 revs $985.0M-$990M vs. est. $941.6M; Q1 Number of customers contributing more than $100,000 in TTM revenue up 160% YoY; Q1 approximately 497,000 customers with more than 10 employees, up 87% YoY; Q1 free cash flow $454.2M vs. est. $280.4M

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