Coffee With Greta: U.S. to Provide Natural Gas to Europe
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DJIA Futures: +91 (+0.3%)
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NASDAQ Futures: +50 (+0.3%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are higher as the market looks for its second straight winning week.
Let’s get right to it!
Europe Strikes Natural Gas Deal with U.S.
The U.S. announces a deal to provide Europe with more liquefied natural gas.
The U.S. and EU agreed to form a joint task force aimed at boosting energy security for Ukraine and Europe for the next two winters.
The “Task Force For Energy Security” will be chaired by a representative from the White House and a representative from the European Commission.
The U.S. will work with international partners to provide at least 15 billion cubic meters more of LNG to the EU this year.
Under the deal, the EU must work toward ensuring demand for 50 billion cubic meters per year of extra LNG from the U.S., until at least 2030.
Oil Prices Slip
Oil prices are continuing to slip as supply concerns ease.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down nearly 3% and under $109 per barrel while Brent crude futures are down 3% to $115 per barrel.
But both are still on track for the first weekly gain in three weeks.
Today’s drop comes as oil exports are expected to resume on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on Russia’s Black Sea Coast.
That terminal was shutdown due to storm damage this week and it was expected to take a month to fix.
But Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister said exports will resume from one of three mooring points today.
The EU also remains split on whether to impose a ban on Russian oil.
OPEC sources say the group warned Europe that would hurt consumers in the bloc.
Bed Bath & Beyond Jumps on Deal with Ryan Cohen
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) shares are up 10.7% ahead of the open after reaching a deal with activist investor and GameStop (GME) Chairman Ryan Cohen.
In a press release, the company announced three people from Cohen’s investment firm RC Ventures will join the Bed Bath & Beyond board of directors.
Two of those people will join a strategy committee to explore alternatives for the Buybuy Baby chain.
This comes after Cohen revealed a nearly 10% stake in the company earlier this month and called on the board to restructure the business.
NIO Slips on Weak Guidance
NIO (NIO) shares are down 6.1% after Q1 guidance came in short.
The Chinese electric automaker reported an adjusted Q4 loss of $0.16 per share on $1.55 billion in revenue.
The loss was in-line with analysts’ expectations and revenue beat estimates for $1.52 billion.
NIO said it delivered 25,034 vehicles last quarter vs 24,945 expected.
But the company forecast Q1 revenue between $1.51 billion and $1.57 billion vs analysts’ expectations for $1.66 billion.
NIO expects to deliver between 25,000 to 26,000 vehicles in Q1.
Wall Street was looking for delivery guidance of 27,958 vehicles.
Honest Shares Tumble on Weak Q4
Honest Co (HNST) shares are tumbling 18.2% ahead of the open after missing Q4 expectations.
The consumer-goods company reported a loss of $0.10 per share on $80.4 million in revenue.
That was worse than analysts’ expectations for a loss of $0.07 per share on $84.7 million in revenue.
Sales in Honest’s household and wellness business tumbled 68%.
The company blamed that drop on “reduced COVID-19-related consumer demand for sanitizing and disinfecting products and face masks”.
Honest forecast a 15% year-over-year decline in Q1 sales and said it expects full-year sales growth to be flat.
Cannabis Stocks Rally
Cannabis stocks are rallying after the House announced it will consider the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act next week.
Tilray Brands (TLRY) shares are up 14.9% ahead of the open after rallying 21.9% on Thursday.
Shares of the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (MJ), which tracks the cannabis sector, are up 6.9% after jumping 7.9% Thursday.
The House Rules Committee will hold a hearing on the MORE Act Monday.
The full House could then vote on it as early as next week.
The bill would remove marijuana from the federal controlled substances list, eliminate all criminal penalties associated with it.
It would also impose a federal tax on marijuana sales.
A similar bill was approved by the House in December 2020 but was never considered by the Republican-controlled Senate at the time.
How Are Consumers Feeling?
The University of Michigan releases its final March consumer sentiment index at 10:00 a.m. ET.
That index is expected to be unchanged from the flash reading of 59.7 earlier this month.
That reading was the lowest since September 2011, as consumers worried about the impact of the Ukraine war and inflation.
The survey also includes consumers’ 5-year and 1-year inflation expectations.
Pending Home Sales Preview
The National Association of Realtors reports pending home sales for February at 10:00 a.m. ET.
That report is expected to show the number of contracts signed to purchase a home rose 1.0% last month after tumbling 5.7% in January.
Pending sales represent home sales that are expected to close in 30 to 60 days.
In Case You Missed It
- Weekly jobless claims tumbled to a 53-year low last week. The Labor Department reported 187,000 Americans filed initial claims, the lowest total since 1969. Continuing claims also fell to 1.35 million, the lowest since 1970.
- Chip stocks led Thursday’s market rally. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) jumped 5.1% while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 4.9%. Nvidia (NVDA) led those gains, rallying 9.8% for its best day since November. And Intel’s (INTC) 6.9% gain marked its best day in more than a year. The rally comes after Nvidia unveiled new products this week and Intel’s CEO testified in Congress in support of expanding chip manufacturing in the U.S.