Crude oil’s roller coaster ride, explained

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The global oil benchmark Brent closed above the $85-level Tuesday for the first time since October 2018 and then reversed the rally and slumped over 1 percent Wednesday.

While Brent rose 1 percent Tuesday, the US benchmark of crude oil — West Texas Intermediate — closed at levels last seen seven years ago. On Wednesday, however, it fell 1 percent from these high levels. US WTI was trading at $82.04, Brent crude slumped to $84.20.

Crude oil has been hit by two dominating factors this year, which led to it rallying to multi-year highs and trading above levels fundamentals could not justify. One, an energy crunch due to coal and natural gas shortage. And two, the global economic recovery and a faster rebound in demand than what oil-producing nations expected.

Also Read | Crude reality: Brent near $85 per barrel isn’t a zero-sum game for all

Tuesday: Why did oil rise? 

While US oil inventories are at a three-year low, a lot of substitution demand is coming from coal, natural gas industries, sending the prices to multi-year highs.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Russia went back on its word to supply natural gas to Europe. Earlier, President Vladimir Putin had said Russia would be prepared to help Europe with natural gas. While days ago, Kremlin’s support calmed investors, its reversal sent the prices surging.

Russia signalled it won’t ease natural gas supplies unless it gets a go-ahead to start commercial flows via the Nord Stream 2. Nord Stream 2 is a contentious undersea natural gas pipeline that would transfer gas from Russia to Germany. But the United States and several other European countries are building pressure to halt the pipeline, calling it a “bad deal for Europe”.

Further experts are saying this tightness in the markets can spill well over in 2022. Rystad Energy, an independent energy research company said the situation would only improve from the supply side by the fourth quarter of 2022.

Echoing the sentiment, IHS Markit, an information provider, said oil at $100 per barrel is a possibility in the next two to three months, considering the strong winter demand and low global inventories. It said the prices will moderate once winter supplies flood the markets.

The oil minister of Iraq, Abdul-Jabbar Ismail on Wednesday said he expects the oil prices to rise to $100 per barrel in the first half of 2022.

Now, the speculators are playing the bullish bets, the most active trade being $100 for December 2021 and $200 in December 2022.

Read Here: Economic rebound seeing pressure on coal demand: Daniel Yergin of IHS Markit

Wednesday: Why did oil fall?

Crude oil prices eased Wednesday after China stepped up efforts to tame the rising coal prices to ease the shortage in the country. This led to prices of Chinese coal falling, which in turn pulled oil down from the highs.

“China is planning to take steps to combat the steep rises in the domestic coal market … which could put considerable pressure on the coal price there are reverse the fuel switch to oil,” Commerzbank, a major German bank, told Reuters.

Further, the American Petroleum Institute also reported a rise in oil inventories. The institute said crude oil inventories rose by 3.29 million barrels last week.

Also Read | Oil supplies are tight politically, not structurally: Bank Julius Baer

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Moneycontrol Pro hits new milestone of 400,000 subscribers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Moneycontrol Pro, the subscription-based financial platform from Network18 & Media Investments Ltd, crosses 400,000 active and paying subscribers.

We were able to achieve this feat in about 30 months after launch due to the unwavering support and encouragement of our readers and subscribers. Our heartfelt thanks to you.

Since its inception in April 2019, Moneycontrol Pro has constantly strived to add value to its offerings by keeping the subscriber’s interests at the core.

Content has been a key differentiator. We have strived to help subscribers on their wealth creation journey by providing clutter and noise-free information, actionable investment solutions, exclusive trading recommendations, independent equity analysis, and sharp opinion that helps enhance the understanding of business and finance.

Pro also entered into transformative collaborations, best exemplified by the editorial content partnership with the Financial Times. Another notable addition was the monthly webinars called MC Pro Masters Virtual. These online summits help users gain a larger perspective on important events that have a bearing on their investments through insightful conversations with leaders and experts. The average attendance in these seminars is 25,000.

Pro provides users information not available elsewhere (for example, exclusive research on companies not covered by brokerage analysts) and presented by the most reliable names in the industry.

Over time our offerings have only expanded in terms of new content, coverage and user experience. In recent months we have launched a host of exclusive features such as:

1. Know Before You Invest: Comprehensive analysis of a stock for wiser investment.
2. Big Shark Portfolios: Meet the big sharks of the investment world and know where and how they invest.
3. Economic Calendar: Track major economic events across the world and their impact on markets.
4. New and Improved Research Page: Our research team covers 214 companies across 24 sectors.
5. You can now enjoy the Pro experience on a desktop
6. Exclusive trackers on herd immunity and the economic recovery.
7. Discounts on various online trading events such as Option Omega, Quants League, and Traders Carnival.
8. Exclusive offers for Pro users from a vast array of brands.
9. That’s not all. Over the next few months, we have lined up more exclusive features, events and offers for Pro users.

For instance, soon, you will be able to gift an article. We are also tying up with more brands and launching more intraday webinar series.

If you are not a part of the PRO family yet, click here to subscribe today!

Currently, we are running a limited time period offer for MC Pro at Rs 365 for a year. That’s just one rupee a day. This offer can be availed by applying a special coupon code — PRO365 — on the android app or desktop. iOS users can apply this coupon through the desktop and use the same login on their device to access Pro.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Ola Electric scooter deliveries from November; full payment now only after test drives

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Ola Electric had committed to begin deliveries of its electric scooters from this month. That plan, however, has run into delays and is also likely to affect the company’s next phase of sales.

Ever since the company showcased the product in August, there has been a lot of anticipation building around the product coming into the market.

It is now understood that Ola Electric’s plan to offer test drives has now been pushed to November.

It was supposed to start taking the final payment of S1 and S1 pro from October 18 and begin deliveries from October 25. However, the company has now decided to ask the customers to make full payment only after taking a test drive thereby raising questions about timely deliveries of the already booked units.

At this point, the company is looking to start these test drive camps only in select metros, to begin with. So the smaller towns and cities will have to wait for a little bit longer.

Watch the accompanying video of CNBC-TV18’s Alisha Sachdev for more details.

Also Read: Foxconn plans to make EVs in India, Europe, Latin America

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, IRCTC, Nestle and more: Key stocks that moved the most on Oct 20

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

IRCTC under pressure: IIFL downgrades stock to ‘sell’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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On Tuesday, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation or IRCTC did a high of around Rs 6,300 per share, the market capitalisation was around Rs 1 lakh crore. In the last 24 hours, it lost close to around Rs 70,000 crore in terms of market capitalisation.

As IRCTC continues its recent slide, IIFL has downgraded the stock to a ‘sell’ at a target price of Rs 4,100. IIFL said risk-reward is extremely unfavourable after the big move.

Also Read: IRCTC in tailspin; crashes 18%; broader market sell-off weighs on stock

The note said after IIFL initiated the coverage on the stock, it is up 210 percent and has massively outperformed the Nifty. After the big outperformance, the stock now trades at 88 times FY23 price to earnings and hence, it seems the risk-reward is unfavourable.

According to the IIFL note, their Blue sky scenario target is just 7 percent away from the current market price and hence they see the upside very much limited.

Also Read: Midcaps slide 2.5%; IRCTC, Navin Fluorine, Deepak Nitrite drag

After this big move on that particular stock, at the current price, the stock implies that that the company is going to generate free cash flow of almost 27 percent for the next seven to eight years and it expects this is something which is not sustainable.

Additionally, after the big move with the market capitalisation of almost Rs 1 lakh crore, now there is a risk of even the government diluting some of the stakes at such a high price and hence that could be a bit of an overhang as well.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rupee rallies 47 paise to close at 74.88 against US dollar

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The rupee surged by 47 paise to close at 74.88 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday on easing global crude oil prices. A surging American currency in the overseas market and losses in the domestic equity markets put some pressure on the rupee, forex dealers said.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened strong at 75.10 against the greenback and later gained strength to settle at 74.88, higher by 47 paise over its previous close of 75.35. The local unit moved in a range of 74.83 to 75.13 in the day trade.

The currency market was closed on Tuesday for the Id-E-Milad’ holiday. Forex traders said the rupee’s rise was mainly supported by softening crude oil prices in international markets.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.83 percent to USD 84.37 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, surged 0.12 percent to 93.84.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 456.09 points or 0.74 percent lower at 61,259.96, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 152.15 points or 0.83 percent to 18,266.60. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 505.79 crore, according to exchange data.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Apple’s macOS Monterey downloads available from October 25; check eligible devices, features, details

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Beginning October 25, Apple Macbook laptops and desktop variants will start getting macOS Monterey as a free update, the Cupertino-based technology giant announced Monday. The launch of the successor of macOS Big Sur was first announced in June. Initially, it was limited to beta builds on some systems, but now it has a stable release date. macOS Monterey has features that will deliver a more fluid experience to users of Apple devices.

Apple launched new MacBook Pro variants with the macOS Monterey at the Apple Unleashed event on October 18.

macOS Monterey features

macOS Monterey brings with it a number of behind-the-scenes changes to enhance user experience. Its biggest update is Universal Control that allows users to shuttle between an iPad and a Mac seamlessly using the mouse and keyboard. The user can drag and drop content back and forth using the Universal Control feature. It can be operated with an Apple Pencil, which will help the user bring sketches from the iPad to a Keynote slide on Mac.

Also Read | Buy iPhone 12 for just Rs 38,250, iPhone 12 mini for Rs 26,449; Check top offers

The new macOS Monterey also adds AirPlay to Mac, which enables users to present, play, and share content from iPhone or iPad to the Mac without using a wire. Similarly, one can use Mac’s sound system as an AirPlay speaker for audio and visual content.

With Quick Notes on macOS Monterey, the user can take notes while browsing a website.

The operating system also comes with Shortcuts that helps automate tasks on Mac. The Shortcuts feature was launched on iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 in 2020. macOS Monterey, however, has a dedicated Shortcuts Editor for Mac with which users can customise shortcuts as per their choice.

Apart from this, the macOS Monterey update will have a new Safari browser and Tab Groups to help users save and manage multiple tabs.

FaceTime will also get new improvements with a new grid view and spatial audio support.

The SharePlay feature can be used to share TV shows, movies, music, and projects with others within a FaceTime call.

Devices that are eligible

A host of Apple devices will support macOS Monterey update, including those that were launched years ago. Apart from the new Macs and MacBooks, the update will be available on iMac that was released in 2015 and later, iMac Pro that came in 2017 and later, MacBook Air from early 2015 and later, MacBook Pro that was released in early 2015 and later, Mac Pro that came in late 2013 and later, all Mac minis from late 2014 onwards, and all MacBooks from early 2016 onwards.

Also Read | Apple Unleashed Event: MacBook Pro, Airpods 3 and more; all you need to know

Apple will not force users to upgrade with the new macOS Monterey. Users can, therefore, wait for feedback from those who get it first.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Jack Dorsey tweets ‘705742’ and sets crypto twitter abuzz

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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“705742”. That’s what Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted today, but did not offer any explanation prompting many to speculate that the figure could be related to digital currencies.

Square CEO and a long-time Bitcoin-backer Jack Dorsey last week said the company might jump into the Bitcoin mining business. The price of Bitcoin rose above $62,000 following Dorsey’s tweets.

This could be the reason why some users thought the number in his latest tweet might be a BTC price target.

One user Joseph of Diamond hands @CryptoCPA said: “Is this $BTC price projection?”

Another user Chatoshi @chatoshi_san tweeted: “Twitter and Squares combined Bitcoin purchase target”.

Others queried if it was a block number. Kevin Wood @kwoodnh said: “Something interesting in that block?”

One user thought there was nothing special about the number.  Crypto Swap Crypto @CryptoSwpCrypto said: “Nothing special just some numbers. Cool down everyone, you’re rushing for nothing.”

Dorsey is popular for his tweets about the crypto market. His previous tweet came last Friday where he spoke about how Square Inc, the company in which he is CEO, is considering following a hardware wallet model.

“Square is considering building a Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide. If we do this, we’d follow our hardware wallet model: build in the open in collaboration with the community. First some thoughts and questions.”

In September, Twitter said it would let users send and receive tips using Bitcoin.

Twitter has not yet replied to the comments on Dorsey’s tweet.

In March this year, Dorsey auctioned off his first tweet, which read “just setting up my twttr,” for charity to a Malaysia-based buyer.

The tweet, which was bought with ether cryptocurrency, was valued at an equivalent of $2.9 million. Dorsey’s first tweet was published on March 21, 2006.

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3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Closing Bell: Sensex sheds 456 points as market extends losses to second day

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian equity benchmarks suffered sharp losses on Wednesday, declining for a second straight day after a rally that lasted seven trading sessions. Weakness across sectors, led by automobile, metal, fast moving consumer goods, pharma and consumer durable shares pulled the market lower.

The Sensex index ended 456.1 points or 0.7 percent at 61,260 and the broader Nifty50 benchmark shed 136.5 points (0.7 percent) to settle at 18,282.3.

Hindalco, BPCL, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Hindustan Unilever and UPL — ending between 2.3 percent and 3.9 percent lower — were the worst hit among the 39 laggards in the Nifty50 universe.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and Adani Ports — closing between 0.6 percent and four percent higher — were among the gainers.

Broader markets also tumbled, as the midcap and smallcap indices fell more than two percent each.

ALSO READ: Midcaps slide; IRCTC, Navin Fluorine, Deepak Nitrite worst hit

IRCTC, Deepak Nitrite, Dixon, Balaji Amines and DCM Shriram — closing between 7.1 percent and 19.1 percent lower — were among the top laggards in the midcap and smallcap indices. Vodafone Idea, Union Bank, BHEL, Mazagon Dock and Sterlite Tech — rising between 4.1 percent and seven percent — were among the top performers.

“The ongoing market correction is not an overreaction and can sustain in the near-term due to high valuations. However, in the future, Indian corporates will benefit from the reforms and China Plus One strategy,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

However, he also said that the long-term trend of the market remains intact due to further reopening of the economy, the low interest rate cycle, and fiscal as well as private spending.

Catch highlights of the Oct 20 session here

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow