In this week’s recap, Marcello talks about the effects of Tesla buying a large amount of Bitcoin, how Elon Musk is getting even more bonuses from his performance as Tesla’s CEO, and how Germany’s green electricity generation is being affected by the unfavorable weather.
Bitcoin +19.3% to $46,520.00 in the Tuesday U.S. pre-market on 02/09, as the cryptocurrency moves higher, buoyed by a $1.5B investment from Tesla, which has already brought the firm a +37% return on its investment. Rival cryptocurrency Ethereum also reached its own record level of $1,784.85 on Monday, with just a slight pullback Tuesday.
Tesla’s annual financial filing this week disclosed that CEO Musk will likely receive 3 additional stock option grants this year. At current values, those 3 options tranches will be worth $18.6B. Musk owns 170M shares outright, worth $137.2B. The nearly $123B gain in 2020 for the value of shares he already owns, dwarfs the value of the additional options he received.
Germany, which often generates 100% of its electricity from renewables, is now in the middle of a record-breaking winter with much of the country under considerable snowfall, meaning solar panels are often covered by snow, rendering them useless as weeks-long overcast sky, preventing any real solar power generation.
Bitcoin on Thursday morning surged over +8%, to an all-time high of $48,481.00, after the U.S. based Bank of NY Mellon said it had created a new unit to help clients hold, transfer & issue digital assets.
On the U.S. indices, largely upbeat corporate earnings updates have supported investor sentiment, leading to higher stock valuations in the market overall. About +82% of 355 S&P 500 firms have topped analysts estimated for Q4 profit, well above the average beat rate of +76% over the past 4 quarters.
Silver Institute: global demand for silver to rise to 8-year highs in 2021 expected to reach 1.025B ounces, rising 11% on surging interest with expected gains in the critical segments of industrial demand & physical investment Physical investment alone is projected to reach a 6-year high of 257M ounces on more demand for silver coins & bars. Silver projected prices to hit 7-year highs of $30 or more on an annual average basis.
GameStop, the struggling video game retailer at the center of a retail investment frenzy last month, that drove its stock to record high last month, (gaining 400% in 1 week), is rapidly seeing its shares coming down in price. Was down -16% to $50.00 a share on Tuesday from $483 on January 28. Last week alone, the stock tumbled over 80%. Up near 2% on Wed. in the U.S. pre-market.
On Friday Russia said it will be ready to sever ties with the European Union, if the bloc hits it with more economic sanctions. Ties between Russia & Europe, already at post-Cold War lows, are under renewed pressure over the arrest & jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The E.U. is likely at the very least, to impose travel bans & asset freezes on allies of Russian President Putin.
New applications for unemployment benefits drop in the US; Platinum reached 6-year high; Lyft a competitor to Uber, saw a Q4 net loss of $458.2M on revenues.
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