Delta Drops, Oil Spikes

Don't look now, but crude oil is moving higher and more in tandem with declines on the Delta variant than other exogenous factors.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) above $70.00 automatically puts $75.00 into view; although, it can be a long slog, I find it intriguing that oil stocks in general continue to trail the move in crude. That means a continued move in black gold could at some point spark an outsized move in oil related stocks. 

All eyes on tomorrow's jobs report.  A miss not only buys the Fed more time but will green-light efforts in DC for even more unemployment insurance, woefully ignoring ten million job openings and building on the unfair narrative that is pressuring businesses to pay more, even for unskilled workers.  

Here's the catch - Wall Street loves it. Keep the money printing going... send out those checks, and at some point, allow people to go out without restrictions to spend all that "found" money.

A strong report could trip up the market, especially ahead of a three-day weekend. In the long run, we need a stronger economy to justify higher stock prices. 

Meanwhile, I'm surprised material names are not higher as President Biden picked up on the storm and heavy rains in the northeast to push for infrastructure. Of course, he mentioned stuff we all acknowledge is infrastructure - but they are angling for that $3.5 trillion plan. I predicted on Monday Hurricane Ida and the aftermath would be used to promote it as well.