Stocks seen wavering amid investors' risk-off mood
Stocks look set to start the week under pressure with investors looking to U.S. inflation data amid the Federal Reserve's hawkish tilt, and the impact of omicron as risk aversion grips financial markets.
Asian futures pointed to benchmarks opening lower. Australia fluctuated at the open, while U.S. futures edged up. U.S. stocks extended a weekly slide Friday after a mixed U.S. jobs report fanned volatility.
Shock to crypto daredevils joins list of scary omens in markets
A hawkish turn from the Federal Reserve and the omicron variant have erased more than 10% off the market value of cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency lost as much as 21% since Friday's stock-market close and swung wildly throughout the weekend. The decline brought it down to around $42,290 at one point, well below its record high of near $69,000 just a few weeks ago.
Big drops in an asset like Bitcoin have the potential to lower confidence among the larger population of bettors, a concept described as negative wealth effect.
High-flying tech stocks are bordering on correction territory
The stock-market drubbing is hitting the once-favored technology giants hard.
The so-called NYSE FANG+ Index tracking the tech industry's giants brushed up against a correction on Friday -- with a drop of 9.99% from its closing peak on Nov. 4. That leaves it just shy of the 10% tumble that would mark a full-fledged correction in the eyes of traders.
Hedge funds suffer big losses on biotech rout
Biotech stocks have fallen to earth with a thud in 2021 after soaring last year amid excitement over the development of Covid-19 vaccines, dealing big losses to some hedge funds. The sector is being buffeted by concerns Congress will move to put a lid on drug pricing and a surfeit of early-stage biotech shares as the IPO market booms.
The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, an equal-weighted index of biotech stocks, has fallen about 22% so far this year through Friday, and is down 37% from its Feb. 8 peak. The ETF has tumbled nearly 9% since Thanksgiving. Biotech is the worst-performing of all 11 S&P 500 sectors this year, a time when the broader index has notched a total gain of nearly 21%.
Charlie Munger says he wishes cryptocurrencies had 'never been invented'
Billionaire investor Charlie Munger still isn't a fan of cryptocurrency.
"I wish they'd never been invented," Munger said at the Sohn conference in Sydney on Friday, according to The Australian Financial Review. "Of course," he said. "I don't welcome a currency that's so useful to kidnappers and extortionists and so forth, nor do I like just shuffling out of your extra billions of billions of dollars to somebody who just invented a new financial product out of thin air."
Buy now pay later boom shows no signs of slowing this holiday season
7% of shoppers said they will be using buy now, pay later as a payment method for holiday purchases this year, according to a CNBC/Momentive Small Business Survey. The credit card alternative has exploded in popularity as online shopping has boomed during the pandemic and more retailers and payment providers have adopted it.
The use of BNPL globally during Cyber Week — from Nov. 23 to Monday — jumped 29% year over year, according to Salesforce data.
Elon Musk being allowed to "make the rules" in space, ESA chief warns
Josef Aschbacher, the new director-general of ESA, said that Europe's readiness to help the rapid expansion of Musk's Starlink satellite internet service risked hindering the region's own companies from realising the potential of commercial space.
He said Musk's Starlink was already so big that it was difficult for regulators or rivals to catch up. "You have one person owning half of the active satellites in the world. That's quite amazing. De facto, he is making the rules, the rest of the world including Europe.
Apple's iPhone successor comes into focus
$Apple (AAPL.US)$ is raising the stakes with what analysts say are plans for a headset or smart glasses that will offer access to a layer of information, objects and data spread across our view of the real world like so much digital pixie dust—a so-called augmented reality, or AR. While the company hasn't disclosed its plans, analysts and other industry insiders expect Apple's first AR device could be announced by the end of 2022.
Source: Bloomberg, WSJ, CNBC, Financial Times

Asia stocks to start week higher; bonds decline
Asia stocks are poised to start the week higher as investors weigh solid corporate earnings against concerns about inflation and the economic recovery.
Futures rose in Japan and Hong Kong. Australia ticked higher at the open, while U.S. contracts fluctuated. Wall Street stocks advanced on Friday, with the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ chalking its best week since July as earnings buoyed sentiment.
El-Erian says investors should prepare for bigger market swings
"I worry a little bit that this wonderful world we've been living in of low volatility, everything going up, may come to a stop with higher volatility," El-Erian, the chief economic adviser at and president of Queens' College, Cambridge, said on "Fox News Sunday."
"If I were an investor, I would recognize that I'm riding a huge liquidity wave thanks to the Fed, but I would remember that waves tend to break at some point, so I would be very attentive," he said.
Apple shrugs off supply-chain woes as shares head for best week in six
Component shortages that have derailed revenue forecasts across the corporate universe came calling for $Apple (AAPL.US)$ this week. The response from shareholders? They bought more of the stock.
Apple shares rose 0.8% on Friday and wrapped up their best week in six, despite expectations that the tech giant will deliver millions fewer iPhone 13 devices this year than originally planned due to supplier constraints. The shortfall could total as many as 10 million units, people with knowledge of the matter said.
'Crazy' bets on $200 oil invade the options market
A roaring trade in bullish crude-oil options says the 2021 energy rally is far from over.
Traders once again are betting that the U.S. oil benchmark will surge above $100 a barrel, from a recent $82. Wagers across the Atlantic are even more aggressive. Some traders are betting Brent crude, the global benchmark, will hit a record high of $200 a barrel by December 2022, according to data from provider QuikStrike.
Saks e-commerce unit begins IPO preparations
The fast-growing e-commerce business of luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue is aiming to go public soon at a valuation roughly triple what it was pegged at earlier this year, in a sign of the boom times for online department-store sales.
Saks is interviewing potential underwriters this week for an initial public offering that could take place in the first half of 2022 and targets a valuation of around $6 billion, people familiar with the matter said. It was last valued at $2 billion in March.
Facebook plans to hire 10,000 people in the EU to build its vision for a 'metaverse'
$Meta Platforms (FB.US)$ said it plans to create 10,000 high-skilled jobs in the EU over the next five years. The recruitment drive is part of Facebook's ambition to create a digital world known as the "metaverse." A number of other companies, including Microsoft, Roblox and Epic are investing in their own versions of the metaverse.
Elon Musk is now worth $230 billion—as much as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined
Elon Musk has entered rarified air in the world billionaire rankings. The 50-year-old's net worth is $230 billion as of Friday morning, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Gates sits in fourth place with $130 billion and Buffett is No. 10 with $102 billion.
U.S. to lift travel ban Nov. 8, allowing vaccinated international visitors into the country
The White House previously said it planned to lift the travel restrictions, first set by the Trump administration early in the pandemic, in early November. The measure is a relief for large airlines like Delta, United and American, which have struggled to return to profitability with international travel curbed since winter 2020.
Source: Bloomberg, WSJ, CNBC