In this week, the US stock remains mostly higher due to OPEC decisions and as evidence mounts that coronavirus death & infection rates may be leveling off.
OPEC & other major energy powers on Thursday ended with a tentative deal to reduce output by 10M BPD in May & June, the deepest cut ever agreed by the world’s oil producers. However, prices may not increase much in the near term, due to the collapse in overall demand. The U.S. threat of tariffs alone cannot reverse that. The U.S. imported just 401K barrels of oil per day from Saudi Arabia in January, down 44% from a year ago & among the lowest monthly total since the mid-1980s. Russia sent just 95K barrels in January.
E.U. finance ministers wrapped up talks on Thursday night, with agreement on a package of measures worth 500 billion Euros to cushion the blow of the coronavirus pandemic, but left unresolved the most contentious question of how to share the financial burden that has so bitterly divided them, a classic North vs South debate over debt. Trump administration asking Congress for an additional $250B in emergency economic aid for small U.S. businesses. That’s in addition to the $349B that’s already part of the CARES Act signed into law on March 27. Over $70B of the loans have already been processed, which encourage small enterprises to keep their employees on staff & to help them pay overhead costs, during the pandemic closures.
On Tuesday, New York reported its largest 1-day COVID-19 death toll at 713 fatalities, while the number of U.S. cases surpassed 400,000. Nationwide coronavirus infections reached 200,000 on April 1, meaning the nation has doubled its confirmed case count in just 1 week.
Bitcoin price dropped nearly $200 in minutes on Friday, April 10, to slide below $7,000 for the 1st time in 4 days; UK Prime Minister leaves intensive care unit; Bernie Sanders has suspended his presidential campaign; China reported no coronavirus deaths on Tuesday; the U.S. & the world is awash in crude; S&P turns Australia’s outlook negative; U.S. policy on commercial mining in space upsets Russia; Teladoc shares soar due to the demand for telemedicine; scientists estimate the age of whale sharks.
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