Wednesday Morning Reads
Reads:
- El Salvador’s Glitched Rollout
- High Natural Gas Prices
- Japan Bulls Pray
- Inflation Is Popping
- George Soros Warns
- Money, Mimicry and Mind Control
- Plant-Based Foods Expand
- Next Food Frontier
- JPMorgan to Buy Majority Stake
- PayPal Snaps Up Japanese Buy-Now-Pay-Later
- This 17-Year-Old Korean CEO Made $1 Million in Sales
- Cash Is King for America’s Pandemic Newlyweds
Futures:
premium:
SeekingAlpha
Crypto crumble
Cryptocurrencies and related stocks are facing less volatility this morning following Tuesday's plunge, which came as Bitcoin became legal tender in El Salvador.
El Salvador's rollout was not without its glitches, with the country's digital wallet having to come offline for fixes. But social media also highlighted positive stories, such as one user tweeting about successfully paying for breakfast at McDonald's with Bitcoin. El Salvador President Nayib Bukele also took to Twitter to provide updates on the rollout and the country's holdings, noting that it was buying the dip. The country now holds 550 Bitcoins, according to the latest update.
Bukele also took a swipe at the IMF, which has said it has economic and legal concerns with the move to make the crypto legal tender, which could complicate negotiations for a much-needed $1B assistance package. "Thanks for the dip @IMFNews. We saved a million in printed paper," he tweeted, with many on the platform then speculating that the IMF had tried to push the price of Bitcoin (BTC-USD) lower, although without specific evidence.
Bitcoin is trading around $45K, having fallen as much as 17% to below $43K yesterday. Ethereum (ETH-USD) is trading around $3,300 after falling below $3,000 yesterday, while Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) is at 24 cents, having held above 21 cents during the selloff.
Bitcoin mining stocks such as Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT), Bit Digital (NASDAQ:BTBT) and Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) are up slightly in premarket trading. Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) is also higher, while Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC:GBTC) is flat.
Air leaving the balloon: Yesterday, the talk was about a coordinated effort by retail investors to buy into Bitcoin in the afternoon, highlighted on the Bitcoin subreddit. While it is unclear how many went through with the plan, it fizzled as the price kept sliding. Instead, cryptocurrency watchers speculated that much of the buying interest, both retail and institutional, came leading into Tuesday and then a classic sell-the-news move was triggered.
“When this move was first announced, it didn’t have nearly as big of an impact on price as some may have expected it might, possibly because El Salvador’s population is less than New York City’s, but also because the announcement was light on details and people were on the fence about how this was going to be implemented," Leah Wald, CEO of Valkyrie Investments, told CNBC.
“Social media platforms were very cautious over the weekend that a plunge could occur following El Salvador’s big day,” Edward Moya, OANDA senior market analyst, wrote in a note. But while the Bitcoin subreddit had plenty of accusations of market manipulation, there were also optimistic posts about McDonald's (MCD) and other big companies moving to accept the crypto.
“There’s been a giant realization that crypto is not just Bitcoin being bought as a hedge against bad monetary and fiscal policy. More importantly, it’s the web 3.0,” billionaire Mike Novogratz said on Bloomberg. “No investor wants to miss the next internet. I think we just got too excited and this was a little air being popped out of the balloon.” (9 comments)
NIO offering
NIO (NYSE:NIO) says it filed to sell up to $2B worth of ADSs through an at-the-market equity offering program.
The electric vehicle company entered into an equity distribution agreement with the sales agents relating to the at-the-market offering. Sales of the ADSs under the at-the-market offering will be made from time to time or not at all, at NIO's discretion. Sales may be made at market prices prevailing at the time of sale or at negotiated prices.
NIO plans to use the proceeds from the at-the-market offering to further strengthen its balance sheet, as well as for general corporate purposes. (73 comments)
Intel takes on TSMC
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) plans to invest up to $95B to build semiconductor production facilities in Europe, another step in the company's plan to become a global foundry player amid the chip shortage.
Intel plans for two chip factories at a new European site and could expand it further up to an 80-billion-euro investment over about a decade, according to comments from Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger at an auto industry event.
The company will commit chip manufacturing capacity at an Ireland factory to automotive chips, which use an older process technology than consumer electronics. (62 comments)
Sponsored By StartEngine
Why Kevin O’Leary loves StartEngine - and you can invest too
Startup investing was traditionally only for the wealthy. StartEngine is changing that. Now anyone can invest in startups for as little as $100.
StartEngine is backed by Mr. Wonderful, their strategic advisor, shareholder and paid spokesperson (Additional details here). StartEngine’s highlights include:
$400M raised for 500 companies
Led by CEO, Howard Marks (Previous founder of Activision [ATVI])
190% YoY revenue growth
Now you can invest in StartEngine and shape the future of investing.
Disclaimer:
This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc. This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. For more information about this offering, please view StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc’s offering circular and see the selected risks. PAST PERFORMANCE MAY NOT BE INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.
Facebook Glasses
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Ray-Ban (OTCPK:ESLOF) have a teaser up that appears to promote their planned smart glasses with an event coming Thursday.
The release of new glasses was set up by Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg in the company's July earnings call: "Looking ahead here, the next product release will be the launch of our first smart glasses from Ray-Ban in partnership with EssilorLuxottica. The glasses have their iconic form factor, and they let you do some pretty neat things." The glasses would be "progress on the journey toward full augmented reality glasses in the future," he said then. (17 comments)
Cinema comeback?
Cinema stocks rallied yesterday, led by AMC (NYSE:AMC), after the latest Marvel (NYSE:DIS) superhero film shook up a traditionally slow weekend at theaters. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” broke Labor Day records, drawing $75.5M over three days and $90M domestically for the four-day holiday period.
The film had been tabbed with high expectations for a $45M-$50M opening, but Thursday previews pointed to enthusiasm for more. The $75.5M three-day total is second only to fellow Marvel film “Black Widow” ($80M) in the pandemic era, passing “F9's” $70M and “A Quiet Place Part II's” $48M. (39 comments)
New Netflix record
Saying that it expects Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) to see big gains in international markets over the coming years, Atlantic Equities analyst Hamilton Faber raised his price target on the company's stock to $780 a share. Faber's move makes his target price the highest among Wall Street analysts who cover Netflix and represents an almost 29% increase over the $606 level where Netflix traded on Monday.
Among Faber's reasons for taking such a positive view of Netflix is what he sees as the potential for more growth in several countries through the decade. Faber said that he expects the company to reach 292 million subscribers worldwide in 2024, and 311 million subscribers in 2025, with Japan adding 14 million subscribers, India adding 12 million subscribers, and Latin America not including Brazil to increase by at least 11 million subscribers over that period. (11 comments)
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan +0.89%. Hong Kong -0.12%. China -0.04%. India -0.28%.
In Europe, at midday, London -1.15%. Paris -1.17%. Frankfurt -1.49%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.33%. S&P -0.29%. Nasdaq -0.23%. Crude +0.67% at $68.81. Gold +0.1% at $1799.95. Bitcoin -9.1% at $46026.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -1.6 bps to 1.355%
Today's Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
10:00 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey
1:00 PM Results of $38B, 10-Year Note Auction
1:10 PM Fed's Williams: Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy
2:00 PM Fed's Beige Book
3:00 PM Consumer Credit
6:00 PM Fed's Kaplan: Economic and Monetary Policy
Companies reporting earnings today »
What else is happening...
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) scoops up video-editing software start-up Clipchamp.
Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) strengthens transplant business with acquisition of Kadmon (NASDAQ:KDMN) for $1.9B.
Biden $65B pandemic preparedness initiative could benefit multiple health care industries.
Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) draws another cautious look from ARK Invest after apparent mishap.
Boston Beer (NYSE:SAM) carves out more market share even as hard seltzer demand shrinks.
Coupang (NYSE:CPNG) jumps to two-week high as sentiment turns positive.
Clover Health (NASDAQ:CLOV) nears a two-month high as Reddit chatter grows louder.