Here are five things you need to know by Monday, February 1:
1. – Stock futures increase as the Reddit crowd turns to precious metals
Equity futures were higher on Monday as anxiety over volatile retail trading, especially in GameStop stocks (GME) – Get the report and AMC Entertainment (I HAVE C) – Get the report, while day traders turned their attention to precious metals.
Dow Jones industrial average gains 236 points, S&P 500 futures rose 37 points and Nasdaq futures rose 129 points.
Silver has become the new target for retail investors over the weekend, with futures advances rising by up to 13%.
Stocks ended sharply on Friday amid continued Wall Street retail frenzy and concerns about the distribution of coronavirus vaccines. The S&P 500 saw its biggest weekly decline in October.
The Dow and S&P 500 each lost 3.3% last week, and the Nasdaq fell 3.5%.
On the stimulus front, 10 Republican senators have proposed a coronavirus aid plan of about $ 600 billion, an alternative to the $ 1.9 trillion package of the Biden administration.
2. – Silver is a new target for retail investors
Silver prices rose on Monday, while the Reddit craze around sharply shortened stocks spread to the metals market.
Spot silver traded 9.76% early Monday at $ 29.64 an ounce. Futures rose 13 percent over the weekend, with silver rising $ 30 an ounce for the first time since 2013.
Trends on Twitter: “#silversqueeze”.
People on the WallStreetBets Reddit forum threw themselves at the silver and the iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV) – Get the report, traders consider it a way to hurt the big banks, which they believe have artificially suppressed prices.
BlackRock’s (BLK) – Get the report iShares Silver Trust, the largest stock exchange traded on the metal, posted net revenue of $ 944 million on Friday, according to Bloomberg.
The scope for a short silver spill is less obvious, with money managers having a net position on silver from mid-2019, Bloomberg reported, citing futures data and options from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“Last week’s events showed that it is unwise to doubt the purchasing power of retail investors, and this has been sufficiently demonstrated again in the silver market,” said Howie Lee, an economist at OCBC Bank. “It may be a little harder for them to squeeze the silver market than they did with GameStop – the former is much bigger and more liquid – but the momentum seems to be back at the moment.”
3. – Robinhood reduces the restricted trading list to eight shares
Robinhood, the online trading application, has reduced the number of companies to which it has imposed trading limits from 50 to eight.
Opening new positions in GameStop, AMC Entertainment, BlackBerry (BB) – Get the report, Express (EXPR) – Get the report, Genius Brands (GNUS) – Get the report, Koss Corp. (KOSS) – Get the report, Brand goal (NAKD) – Get the report and Nokia (ENOUGH) – Get the report Monday will be limited, Robinhood said on its website.
GameStop fell 7.96% in Monday’s premarket trading to $ 299.13. So far, in 2021, the stock has gained 1,643%.
Last week, Robinhood said it had to limit trading to 50 shares due to the huge costs associated with settling the massive number of transactions.
“Not because we wanted to stop people from buying these shares,” Robinhood said.
The trading app went up in flames last week, after its move to impose trading restrictions, along with the limits imposed by online brokerages, sparked a rally among social media groups and elected officials, accusing a Wall Street effort of to protect themselves against newly empowered populist investors.
4. – This week’s calendar: Amazon and Alphabet Earnings, US Job Report
Revenue reports are expected Monday from Warner Music Group (WMG) – Get the report, Cirrus Logic (CRUS) – Get the report, ON Semiconductor (ON) – Get the report, Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) – Get the report and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) – Get the report.
Reports are expected over the weekend from Amazon (AMZN) – Get the report, Alphabet (GOOGL) – Get the report, Alibaba (BABA) – Get the report, United Parcel Service (UPS) – Get the report, Pfizer (PFE) – Get the report, Chipotle (CMG) – Get the report, Amgen (AMGN) – Get the report, Exxon Mobil (XOM) – Get the report, AbbVie (ABBV) – Get the report, PayPal (PYPL) – Get the report, Electronic Arts (SHE) – Get the report, Spotify (PLACE) – Get the report, Merck (MRK) – Get the report, Penn National Gaming (PENN) – Get the report, Snap (SNAP) – Get the report, Ford (F) – Get the report, Pinterest (PINS) – Get the report and Activision Blizzard (ATVI) – Get the report.
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The US economic calendar includes the Markit Manufacturing PMI (final) for January at 9:45 ET on Monday and the ISM Manufacturing index for January at 10 am and construction spending for December at 10:00 am
Economic reports expected later this week include the official January Report on Non-Agricultural Wage States, Durable Goods Orders and Factory Orders.
5. – Exxon and Chevron discussed the merger last year
The best executives of Exxon Mobil and Chevron (CLC) – Get the report last year discussed a merger of the two oil companies after the coronavirus pandemic hit oil and gas demand, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The talks were described as preliminary and not ongoing, but could return in the future, people familiar with the talks told Jurnal.
A merger of energy giants would create a company with a market value of more than $ 350 billion. Together, they will form the world’s second-largest oil company by market capitalization and production, producing about 7 million barrels of oil and gas a day based on pre-pandemic levels, the Journal said.
Saudi Aramco is number 1 in both measures.