reopening news ?3

10:14 01-Sep-21

Equities have shrugged off this morning's ADP jobs report, which missed expectations for 660K jobs by 286K.  Last month was revised slightly downward as well.  We'll see if they accurately foreshadow the government figures on Friday morning.  Many are probably taking such data as a sign that the Fed will continue market support, but I remain skeptical of such a stance in the case of extremely bad jobs numbers.

Evidence of both reopening and a difficult labor market continues to abound, and it's important to note that this is clearly not a return to the old normal.  Telus is the latest to issue both a vaccine mandate while offering hybrid home/office work schedule, and I look for this to benefit the Lumen's build out strategy over the medium term.  Adoption of its Edge services is more in question, though, in the face of wireless enabled competition. 

However, with inflation looking ever more assured there is an argument for business optimization in tandem with the reshaping of global economies.  Despite current prices for XEBEF, NFE, and GLNG, the primary near-term beneficiaries should still be my natural gas picks, with American pricing now at $4.45, JKM at $18.22, and TTF at $17.43, even as oil declines.  Wait for it...