In the recap of this week, we found the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 wrapping up its best week in 8 months, as investors decide to be satisfied with Chinese government efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus & limit the economic damage from the outbreak that has now killed over 600 people. Over 300 S&P 500 companies have now reported Quarter 4 results so far, of which about 70% have topped earnings estimates. Earnings are expected to have risen 2.1% overall.
E.U. leaders & institutions begin meetings this week to start a most difficult job in 2020 which is agreeing on a new 7-year budget intangible sign of what a united Europe will look like after Brexit. Unusually tough because the departure of Britain, 1 of the top net contributors to the budget, leaves a net annual gap of more than 9B Euros on average.
A technical committee of OPEC+ adds the 8th day of meetings after failing to reach a deal among its member oil ministers. Delegates cannot agree on the threat the coronavirus poses to global consumption. Saudi Arabia is pushing for immediate & deeper output cuts, in opposition to Russia, whose budget is more resilient to lower crude prices. Oil is already down over 20% from this year’s high, falling into a bear market last week.
Tesla rallies for 6th day with shares up another 12% to over $875, follows Monday’s run that saw shares skyrocket 20%. Panasonic turned profitable in Q4, as Tesla’s battery output helped push that division forward. Tesla has climbed over 80% in 2020 alone & has more than tripled in value since October.
Millions of bees die due to Australia’s wildfires; China sees worst market sell-off in years; oil prices fall due to fears over energy demand; Chinese provinces to extend lunar new year holiday due to coronavirus; U.S Senate acquits Trump on the impeachment articles; Switzerland ranked 1st in cost of living according to CEOWORLD; Disney+ reached 28.6M paying subscribers; FBI director claims China is seeking to steal U.S. technology.
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