Stock futures jump
U.S. stock futures were trading in the green territory on Monday, even as market participants continued to digest last week’s data that showed inflation rose at the fastest 12-month pace since in 31 years.
Market focus today will be on President Joe Biden’s virtual meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The meeting was announced by the White House last week and has been in the works since October.
According to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Biden and Xi will “discuss ways to responsibly manage the competition between the United States and the P.R.C., as well as ways to work together where our interests align.”
As of 5:45 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow Jones were indicated 90 points, or 0.25% to 36,103.
S&P 500 futures added 9.5 points, or 0.2% to 4,687.75 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up 34.5 points, or 0.21% to 16,227.25.
Traders bet on crude soaring above $200 a barrel
Meanwhile, a bullish crude trader has reportedly placed bets that prices will rally more than 200% amid the ongoing energy crisis and surging consumer prices.
Bloomberg reported Friday that one trader has wagered that Brent crude will rise from its current level of around $80 a barrel and reach $250 a barrel.
According to the report, the equivalent of 5 million barrels of Brent $250/$300 call spreads traded late Thursday. The trader would only profit if oil jumps to levels not expected by Wall Street since prices hit record highs in 2008.
The report said the contracts followed 4 million barrels of $200/$215 Brent call spreads and 8 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at the same level for December 2022.
Bloomberg put the cost of all the contracts combined at $1 million, adding that it’s the first time this year that bets have been made on crude topping $200.
As of 5:45 a.m. ET, WTI futures were down 88 cents, or 1.1% to $78.81 a barrel. Brent crude futures dropped $1.05, or 1.28% to $81.12 a barrel.
Elon Musk lashes out at Bernie Sanders over taxes
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is in the headlines again after trolling Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Twitter (NASDAQ: TWTR) over the weekend.
Musk attacked Sanders after the longtime wealth redistribution advocate tweeted on Saturday: “We must demand that the extremely wealthy pay their fair share. Period.”
On Sunday, Musk responded to the senator’s saying, “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive.”
The tech billionaire later followed with a second tweet, saying, “Want me to sell more stock, Bernie? Just say the word…”
The controversial Tesla boss has seen his personal wealth jump by nearly $250 billion since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis.
According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of Tesla stock over the last week after running a poll on his Twitter asking his followers whether he should sell the stock.
Tesla stock fell 2.46% to $1,008 per share in the pre-market trading session Monday.
