Jitters grip tech stocks as bond yields spike

Good morning.

Brace yourself. Treasury yields are on the rise this morning despite Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s dovish position on inflation and interest rates. Clearly, the markets aren’t buying his argument—at least this morning they aren’t.

The steep upward trajectory of the 10-year Treasury—the note is carrying a 1.74% handle as I write—is pushing down U.S. Futures, particularly Big Tech. There could be fireworks at the open, at least for the Nasdaq.

Let’s see how the rest of the markets are faring.

Markets update

Asia

• The major Asia indexes are solidly higher in afternoon trading, with the Hang Seng up 1.3%.
• The taper tantrum of 2013 was bad news for emerging markets, including those in Asia. But don’t expect a repeat of that sell-off should Treasury yields continue to climb, S&P Global tells CNBC.
• Investors have little concern over AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, apparently. Its Korean partner in making the vaccine, SK Bioscience, listed on Thursday and saw shares pop by 160%.

Europe

• The European bourses were mixed this morning with the Stoxx Europe 600 up nearly 0.3% at the open.
• The Russian ruble fell sharply on Wednesday after President Joe Biden vowed his opposite number in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, “will pay a price” for meddling in the November election, as U.S. Intelligence reports conclude. Biden essentially called Putin a killer in an ABC News interview.
• European auto stocks were broadly higher on Wednesday despite data showing the worst decline in car sales in nearly eight years. The enthusiasm comes down to a single buzzy acronym: EVs.

U.S.

• U.S. Futures  are slipping as yields rise. That’s after a late-day, Fed-fueled rally lifted all three exchanges on Wednesday, pushing the DJIA above 33,000 for the first-time ever.
• Procrastinators, rejoice! The IRS will push back the tax deadline to May 17, which means I will be back on my bicycle this weekend, and not sifting through receipts.
• SPACs set a new annual record earlier this week—and it’s only March! As of Tuesday, the blank-check listings had already topped $83.7 billion for the year, surpassing last year’s record haul. Bull Sheet needs a SPAC. You know how to reach me.

Elsewhere

• Gold is up, trading around $1,735/ounce.
• The dollar is up.
• Crude is edging lower with Brent trading below $68/barrel.
• Bitcoin bulls liked what they heard from the Fed yesterday. The cryptocurrency has risen above $58,000 overnight.

***

Buzzworthy

Fed up, up, up

Buy-backs are back!

Corporates were big net buyers last week. They spent $3.7 billion on their own stocks, “the second highest [volume] on record,” BofA Securities detailed in a recent investor note.

Pandemic, shm-andemic

Bread recipes, move over

***

Have a nice day, everyone. I’ll see you here tomorrow… Until then, there’s more news below.

Bernhard Warner
@BernhardWarner
[email protected]

As always, you can write to [email protected] or reply to this email with suggestions and feedback.

Today's read

Stimulus effect. Über-bull Dan Ives at Wedbush Securities sees big upside for tech stocks, Bitcoin and "other sectors" now that stimulus checks are in the mail, and direct payments have hit bank accounts. He's put a 16,000 year-end handle on the Nasdaq, helped by stimmies. 

The bond king goes stonks crazy. Legendary investor Bill Gross, once known as the "bond king," made a cool $10 million on call options, trading GameStop at the height of its frenzy. He was also down about as much earlier in the trade.

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Market candy

Quote of the day.

Short selling... May have already hit rock-bottom.

That's the assessment of S&P Global Market Intelligence, which finds that the collective short interest positions in the S&P 500 sat at 2.28% at the end of February. That's remarkably bullish by historic standards. There had been a buildup in shorts to close out 2020, but the GameStop frenzy all but popped that position.