MARKET WRAPS

Watch For:

U.S. University of Michigan Preliminary Consumer Survey for November.

Opening Call:

Stocks were poised to snap a five-week winning streak, knocked by concerns about high levels of inflation.

The S&P 500 has fallen 1% so far this week, interrupting a streak of gains that kicked off when U.S. companies began to report strong earnings in mid-October.

A pullback in recent sessions followed data showing inflation rose to a three-decade high in October and broadened to an array of goods and services. Signs that the flare-up in inflation will last longer than central bankers had forecast prompted traders to bet the Federal Reserve would raise borrowing costs by summer

Ahead of the bell in New York, Lordstown Motors dropped 11% after the electric-vehicle startup reported a loss for the third quarter. Flowers Foods rose after the Tastykake owner said revenues rose, pushing shares up 3.9% premarket.

This fall's stock rally included the S&P 500's longest run of record highs since 1997. It was driven by expectations that central banks would keep rates at low levels, said Edward Park, chief investment officer at Brooks Macdonald. "The more we get these very high CPI prints the more that is brought into question," he said, referring to the consumer-price index.

Traders in federal-funds futures are assigning a more-than 70% probability to a rate rise by June, according to CME Group, up from just over 50% a week ago.

A key question is whether the worker shortage keeps pushing wages higher, which could feed back into inflation. Investors will get a glimpse into firms' hiring ability when the Labor Department publishes data on job openings at 10 a.m. ET.

The University of Michigan's sentiment index, meanwhile, will give clues about the strength of consumer spending heading into the holiday season.

Forex:

The dollar should remain strong into the first half of 2022 as U.S. real yields adjusted for inflation rise relative to those in the eurozone, Mizuho said.

One reason for this is the Federal Reserve's tapering of bond purchases is set to end in mid-2022 with an interest rate rise expected to follow, Mizuho analysts said.

"Secondly, inflation should be falling markedly by this point," they said. "In the U.S., this drop in inflation, given the elevated levels it has now reached, will fall much more than in Europe."

The euro's earlier weakness versus the dollar largely reflects higher U.S. Treasury yields after data on Wednesday showed U.S. inflation surged in October, Unicredit said.

"Therefore, the intensity of any further EUR/USD depreciation (or, indeed, a tentative return back into the 1.15-1.16 area) will be determined by the bond markets again," Unicredit said.

Investors don't appear to be rushing for an intense drop of EUR/USD with earlier declines more moderate than the sell-off indicated by charts, which suggest it should have dropped to 1.12-1.10 and potentially lower, the Italian bank said.

Bonds:

The bond market reopened after a break for Veterans Day. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose to 1.571%, from 1.558% Wednesday.

Julius Baer has brought forward its forecast for the first interest rate hike by the Fed, expecting the rise to take place in September 2022, it said.

It affirms its expectations of rising Treasury yields, even as it trimmed their three-month target to 1.85%, Julius Baer said.

The bank's analysts shrug off worries of stagflation, saying that strong demand speaks against the stagnation story, while a lack of self-enforcing inflation dynamics should result in inflation moving lower next year, although likely settling above pre-pandemic levels.

A higher-than-expected 6.2% headline U.S. CPI data for October "strongly suggests that Fed officials will pull forward their expected timetable for raising the policy rate," said Tiffany Wilding, economist at Pimco.

Wilding expects the median Fed forecast to indicate two interest-rate hikes in 2022, when forecasts are updated at the December meeting. Thereafter three to four interest-rate rises could follow in 2023, she added.

With monthly $15 billion tapering in November and December, Pimco wouldn't be surprised to see more calls for Fed officials to speed up the taper in January, "when they will need to announce the ongoing pace, " she said.

Uncertainty about the European Central Bank's monetary policy is adding to market dislocations in the eurozone government bond market and this, coupled with a risk of a faster policy normalization by the ECB, warrants a more cautious stance on peripheral spreads, said Societe Generale.

The bank's rates strategists look for clarification of the rate normalization path at the ECB's December meeting, but even so, these dislocations may continue until early 2022, they added. In the meantime, Societe Generale sticks to opportunistic conditional trades consistent with higher rates beyond the two-year maturity area.

Insight Investment holds to its base case that inflation will be transitory rather than persistent, even as the jury is still out, said portfolio manager Scott Ruesterholz.

He expects "notable moderating forces" in the next 18 months, but sees the 6.2% inflation print in October as a clear signal for the Fed to switch gears.

"However, in our view, last week's taper announcement makes it unlikely that the Fed will hike until the taper is complete, and this is not currently scheduled until June," Ruesterholz said.

Still, Insight Investment recommends investors to look beyond the supply chain headlines and focus on "sticky" inflation drivers such as rents as steady rises in these categories do the most to jeopardize the Fed's projected transitory inflation trajectory.

Commodities:

Oil prices were on course to end the weak lower thanks to a stronger dollar and dimming demand prospects. Demand hopes have taken a knock from gloomy OPEC and IEA reports, said Helge Andre Martinsen, senior oil analyst at DNB Markets.

OPEC on Thursday noted in its report that high energy prices were dampening demand. Concerns that the U.S. was considering releasing supplies from its strategic petroleum reserve still continue to hang over oil prices, Martinsen added.

Gold weakened but remained on course for a weekly gain thanks to the U.S. inflation data. "The U.S. dollar also rallied [after the inflation data], which typically weighs on gold, but investors looked past this to focus on its traditional role as a hedge against inflation," Giovanni Staunovo, a strategist at UBS, said.

The bank raised its gold price target to $1,800 an ounce for the first quarter of 2022 but says the precious metal could rise as high as $1,900 an ounce in the short term. UBS sees prices dropping to $1,650 an ounce by the end of next year.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

General Electric's Power Business Is Facing Stiff Competition as Spinoff Looms

General Electric Co. aims to create a market-leading power company as the conglomerate breaks into three. But it faces stiff competition from rivals also repositioning their businesses to cash in on a global renewable-energy boom.

GE said this week that it plans to create a new stand-alone business it would spin off around 2024 that would combine its existing units that make wind turbines, turbines for traditional power plants and its digital businesses. Such a company would instantly become a major player in the power manufacturing space, positioned to prosper from an accelerating transition to cleaner energy sources in the midst of concern about climate change, while continuing to sell natural-gas turbines in much of the world.

Traders Rush to Stock-Options Bets on Tesla and Amazon

Stock-options activity is hitting a fever pitch, with many traders rushing to bullish bets to profit from a continued advance in everything from technology heavyweights to small companies.

Bullish call-options volumes last week hit the highest level since January, when activity touched a record, Cboe Global Markets data show. These contracts give traders the right, but not the obligation, to buy shares of companies at specific prices, by a stated date.

Elon Musk Needs to Sell Millions of More Tesla Shares to Meet 10% Pledge

Elon Musk's sale of roughly $5 billion in Tesla Inc. shares in recent days is likely just the start of his selling wave.

When the Tesla chief executive took to Twitter over the weekend, pledging to unload 10% of his stock in the electric-vehicle company he runs, he owned roughly 170 million shares. Mr. Musk has since sold about 4.5 million shares through Wednesday, according to regulatory filings.

Former JPMorgan Exec Says Bank Fired Her for Raising Compliance Concerns

A former JPMorgan Chase & Co. compliance executive has sued the bank for retaliation, saying it fired her after she pointed out gaps in its anticorruption controls and raised concerns about what she believed were misrepresentations to regulators.

Shaquala Williams, a former JPMorgan vice president, said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that among her concerns was whether the bank's conduct violated terms of settlements it reached with the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2016.

Toshiba, Like GE, Plans to Split Into Three Parts

TOKYO-Toshiba Corp. said it planned to split into three by March 2024 in response to shareholder pressure for a more focused structure, following a similar path taken by fellow industrial conglomerateGeneral Electric Co.

There has been a series of crises over the past 6 1/2 years at Toshiba, including a report this year about undue pressure on foreign shareholders and the ouster of the board's chairman.

Goldman Sachs Injects $90 Million Into Low-Code Software Maker WSO2

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is injecting $90 million into tech firm WSO2, taking a stake in a low-code software maker as companies try to cope with a shortage of developers by letting salespeople, accountants and other business-line workers make their own apps.

The Wall Street bank, which is expected to announce the deal Monday, said the 16-year-old WSO2 provides "mission-critical services" for businesses across industries and added that the move aligns with Goldman's focus on investing in high-growth software companies.

AstraZeneca Plans to Start Selling Covid-19 Vaccines at Profit

AstraZeneca PLC said it would start pricing its Covid-19 vaccine to make it profitable, ending a period in which it had pledged to roll out the shots at cost during the pandemic.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant said it would shift away from a nonprofit approach to the vaccine starting in 2022, signing new contracts that will allow it to make money off the shot. The company expects some earnings contribution from new orders in the fourth quarter of this year.

Investor Testifies as Case Against Elizabeth Holmes Winds Down

SAN JOSE, Calif.-A Texas money manager who invested more than $1 million in Theranos Inc. when it was still an early-stage healthcare startup took the stand Wednesday in the criminal-fraud trial of founder Elizabeth Holmes to detail the promises she made that helped convince him to back the company.

The testimony of Alan Eisenman underpins one of the wire fraud charges Ms. Holmes faces in a 12-count indictment, and builds on similar stories jurors have heard from other investors at trial.

Biden and China's Xi to Hold Virtual Summit on Monday

WASHINGTON-President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan to hold a virtual summit on Monday, people familiar with the matter said, as the two leading world economies pledge to work together on climate change but differences remain over Taiwan and other fronts.

The leaders have spoken twice since Mr. Biden took office in January, the last time in September, though the summit is expected to resemble a more formal bilateral meeting with staff involvement.

Record-High Job Openings Persist in Tight Labor Market

The U.S. economy has had more than 10 million open jobs since June, an extraordinary stretch of imbalance in the labor market that also includes record numbers of workers quitting their jobs.

As of Nov. 5, there were a projected 11.2 million U.S. job openings, according to estimates from the jobs site Indeed, exceeding 7.4 million unemployed workers in the U.S. labor force last month.

Derby's Take: Minneapolis Fed Chief Leans Against Launch of Fedcoin

One of the Federal Reserve's most vocal critics of private digital money is also pretty skeptical about the central bank countering those offerings with a fully digital dollar some have dubbed Fedcoin.

Speaking on Tuesday, Minneapolis Fed leader Neel Kashkari took stock of the arguments in favor of a fully digital dollar and said they aren't very strong.

Companies Order Record Number of Robots Amid Labor Shortage

Robotics orders by North American companies are on track for their biggest year, according to an industry group.

Total robotics sales for the first nine months of the year were $1.48 billion, topping a previous record of $1.47 billion set over the same period in 2017, according to the Association for Advancing Automation, or A3. Sales rose from $1.09 billion in the first nine months of last year.

How Crypto Wallets Fit Into Investors' Pockets

More players are beginning to arrive in the world of digital assets. Investors will have to think about what it means for their wallets-and for wallet stocks.

At the beginning of a person's journey into the world of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, "wallet" often refers to what a traditional bank or brokerage account already does: hold a customer's assets. It is a basic building block of crypto finance's future. A wallet can be attached to an exchange for trading, used to make purchases with crypto, or to help access the world of nonfungible tokens and decentralized finance, or "DeFi."

Eurozone Industrial Production Fell in September as Supply-Chain Strains Take Toll

Industrial production in the eurozone declined in September for the second consecutive month as delays in input deliveries stemming from global supply-chain strains held back manufacturing activity.

Output from factories, mines and utilities across the region fell 0.2% in September compared with August, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a sharper 0.7% decline.

U.S. Journalist Danny Fenster Sentenced in Myanmar to 11 Years in Prison

An American journalist detained in Myanmar was sentenced to 11 years in prison, his employer said, deepening tensions between Washington and the country's military that seized power in February.

U.S. officials have repeatedly called for the release of Danny Fenster, who has been detained at Yangon's Insein Prison with little access to his lawyer or relatives. He was arrested at Yangon International Airport on May 24 as he was heading to the U.S. to visit his family, and was later charged with five criminal offenses.

World Leaders Pressure Libya to Hold Elections on Time

Vice President Kamala Harris and other world leaders are gathering in Paris on Friday to make a diplomatic push in support of coming elections in Libya that could make or break the peace process in a country that has been torn apart by war and political crisis for a decade.

Ms. Harris, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and other European and Middle Eastern leaders are attending the gathering. France wants the election to be held as scheduled on Dec. 24 in hopes that it will provide a definitive solution to Libya's political crises since the 2011 ouster and death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Hundreds Seeking Evacuation From Afghanistan Forced to Leave Safehouses

WASHINGTON-Hundreds of Afghans have been forced to leave safe houses in Afghanistan after the volunteer group trying to help them evacuate failed to negotiate their passage out of the country and ran out of money to support them, the group said Thursday.

The Afghans include U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, former U.S. government workers and others who worked on U.S. funded projects, and their families. They have been told to return to their homes or to fund their own accommodation in hope of a future flight, the group, Task Force Argo, said.

Write to sarka.halas@wsj.com

   
 
  COP26 ROUNDUP ############### ############### 

A COP26 Deal in Scotland Would Help Investors Too

Negotiations at the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow are moving into the endgame. Wednesday's surprise joint declaration by China and the U.S. by no means guarantees a meaningful global deal, but it does improve the odds.

A successful COP26 accord would keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius and provide the tools needed to track progress in order to help make it happen. It will require nearly 200 countries to agree on the details across four key policy areas. To get there, the next two days, or possibly slightly more, will need to be a master class in horse-trading and international diplomacy as pressure mounts and time ticks down. Whatever deal emerges could have big implications for business.

Yesterday's announcement by Washington and Beijing was light on details and concrete new commitments, but it increases the chances of some sort of global deal. After months of acrimony, it lowers the tension and sends an important signal: The two biggest economies and heaviest polluters are prepared to set their many differences aside in the interests of addressing a common problem of overwhelming importance.

Track COP26 Coverage on NewsPlus

Governments from around the world are meeting in Scotland to push global climate talks forward. The meeting, which runs from Oct. 31-Nov. 12, is officially called the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Here's how to navigate COP26 coverage on NewsPlus.

U.S., China Jointly Pledge to Step Up Efforts to Fight Climate Change at COP26

GLASGOW-The U.S. and China jointly pledged at the United Nations climate summit to step up actions to fight climate change in the coming decade, injecting talks here with a surprise show of cooperation between the two rivals and the world's two biggest greenhouse-gas emitters.

But the two didn't endorse a proposal by the U.K. floated earlier in the day for countries to update their emissions-cutting plans by the end of next year. That proposal by the host of the summit was seen as a way of bridging the divide between how much governments have committed to cut and what scientists think is needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

In an unusual joint statement, Washington and Beijing pledged to work together on a number of fronts, including on reducing methane emissions. China hasn't signed onto a U.S.-led coalition that pledged last week to reduce methane emissions.

Mitsubishi Heavy Says Green Hydrogen Production May Struggle in Europe

Many of the governments involved in the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow are pushing for the adoption of technologies such as carbon capture and storage and low-carbon fuels like hydrogen.

In the U.S., the new $1 trillion infrastructure bill includes support for technology designed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while the U.K. recently announced two carbon-capture programs. Both Europe and the European Union have launched ambitious plans to spur increased use of hydrogen in recent months.

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is a major player in both emerging technologies. Its carbon capture efforts include the Petra Nova project, which recovers carbon dioxide emitted by a power plant in Texas so it can be injected into oil fields to improve their output, and a deal struck this year with U.K. power company Drax Group PLC. It is part of a consortium planning to produce hydrogen in the Humber industrial cluster in Northern England and plans to invest in what is called blue hydrogen, which is produced from natural gas.

   
 
  TODAY IN CANADA 

Earnings:

Boralex Inc. Class A (BLX.T) 3Q

Filo Mining Corp. (FIL.T) 3Q

Heroux-Devtek Inc. (HRX.T) 2Q

Home Capital Grp Inc. (HCG.T) 3Q

Intertape Polymer Grp Inc. (ITP.T) 3Q

KP Tissue Inc. (KPT.T) 3Q

MDA Ltd. (MDA.T) 3Q

Medicenna Therapeutics Corp.(MDNA.T) 2Q

New Gold Inc. (NGD.T) 3Q

Orla Mining Ltd. (OLA.T) 3Q

Sangoma Tech Corp. (STC.T) 1Q

Softchoice Corp.(SFTC.T) 3Q

Uni-Select Inc. (UNS.T) 3Q

Victoria Gold Corp. (VGCX.T) 3Q

Economic Indicators (ET):

- Nothing major scheduled

Stocks to Watch:

While Canadian Weed Producers Wilt, American Operators Like Green Thumb Thrive -- Barrons.com

American cannabis chains continued to outperform their Canadian counterparts in the September quarter -- by a widening margin. While U.S. operators like Curaleaf Holdings and Green Thumb Industries grew sales by a respective 74% and 50% over the prior-year quarter, Canadians like Cronos Group and Canopy Growth took write downs of $220 million and $87 million, respectively, because they can't sell what they've got.

The licensed cannabis industry in the U.S. now has annualized sales of $25 billion, on its way to $75 billion ...$80 billion, or more, Green Thumb chief executive Ben Kovler told Barron's Thursday. His company is preparing for the start of adult recreational sales -- within the next year or so -- in four big states: New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Virginia.

After reporting quarterly cash earnings growth of 53%, Green Thumb saw its shares (ticker: GTIBF) jump 15% Thursday to $25 on the over-the-counter market -- where the stock must trade because the federal illegality of state-licensed cannabis prevents U.S. stock exchanges from listing the shares of American operators. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted further for noncash charges) were $81 million, or about 36 cents a share, on sales of $234 million.

Other News:

No items published

Market Talk:

No items published

Expected Major Events for Friday

07:00/GER: Oct WPI

13:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales

15:00/US: Sep Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey

15:00/US: Nov University of Michigan Survey of Consumers - preliminary

16:59/GER: Sep Balance of Payments

21:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings

21:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings

All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.

Expected Earnings for Friday

Boralex Inc - Class A (BLX.T,BRLXF) is expected to report $-0.12 for 3Q.

CIRCOR International Inc (CIR) is expected to report $0.01 for 3Q.

Ceres Global Ag (CRP.T) is expected to report for 1Q.

Communications Systems (JCS) is expected to report for 3Q.

ContraFect Corp (CFRX) is expected to report for 3Q.

Energy Focus Inc (EFOI) is expected to report for 3Q.

Entree Resources Ltd (EGI,ETG.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Globalstar (GSAT) is expected to report $-0.01 for 3Q.

Great Elm Group Inc (GEG) is expected to report for 1Q.

Gyrodyne LLC (GYRO) is expected to report for 3Q.

Heroux-Devtek (HRX.T) is expected to report $0.18 for 2Q.

High Arctic Energy Services Inc (HWO.T) is expected to report $-0.09 for 3Q.

Home Capital (HCG.T) is expected to report $1.10 for 3Q.

Intertape Polymer Group Inc (ITP.T,ITPOF) is expected to report $0.46 for 3Q.

KP Tissue (KPT.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Meridian Bioscience Inc (VIVO) is expected to report $0.19 for 4Q.

MoSys Inc (MOSY) is expected to report for 3Q.

New Gold (NGD,NGD.T) is expected to report $0.03 for 3Q.

ONEX Corp (Canada) (ONEX.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

ProPhase Labs (PRPH) is expected to report $0.07 for 3Q.

Professional Diversity Network Inc (IPDN) is expected to report for 3Q.

RBC Bearings (ROLL) is expected to report $1.05 for 2Q.

Sino-Global Shipping Amer (SINO) is expected to report for 1Q.

Sotherly Hotels (SOHO) is expected to report for 3Q.

Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc (SPB) is expected to report $0.63 for 4Q.

Star Equity Holdings Inc (STRR) is expected to report for 3Q.

Supremex (SXP.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Target Hospitality Corp (TH) is expected to report $0.01 for 3Q.

Team Inc (TISI) is expected to report $-0.12 for 3Q.

Trio-Tech International (TRT) is expected to report for 1Q.

US Well Services Inc (USWS) is expected to report for 3Q.

Uni-Select (UNIEF,UNS.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Valeura Energy (PNWRF,VLE.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Vecima Networks (VCM.T) is expected to report for 1Q.

Venus Concept Inc (VERO) is expected to report for 3Q.

Vidler Water Resources (VWTR) is expected to report for 3Q.

Village Bank & Trust Financial Corp (VBFC) is expected to report for 3Q.

Xtant Medical Holdings Inc (XTNT) is expected to report $-0.17 for 3Q.

Yellow Pages Ltd (Y.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

eMagin (EMAN) is expected to report for 3Q.

Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.

ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS

ADMA Biologics Raised to Strong Buy From Outperform by Raymond James

Ashland Global Holdings Cut to Neutral From Buy by Monness, Crespi, Hardt

Beazer Homes Raised to Hold From Sell by Zelman

BJ's Wholesale Club Raised to Buy From Hold by Gordon Haskett

Costco Raised to Buy From Accumulate by Gordon Haskett

Disney Cut to Neutral From Overweight by Atlantic Equities

Duolingo Raised to Outperform From In-Line by Evercore ISI Group

Fuel Tech Raised to Buy From Neutral by HC Wainwright & Co.

GoPro Raised to Equal-Weight From Underweight by Morgan Stanley

Guild Holdings Raised to Overweight From Neutral by JP Morgan

Hims & Hers Health Raised to Overweight From Neutral by Piper Sandler

Huntington Ingalls Cut to Neutral From Buy by B of A Securities

Hycroft Mining Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by BMO Capital

Hyliion Holdings Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Barclays

Intellicheck Cut to Hold From Buy by Craig-Hallum

IPG Photonics Cut to Market Perform From Outperform by Bernstein

Kosmos Energy Raised to Overweight From Equal-Weight by Barclays

Latham Group Raised to Buy From Neutral by B of A Securities

Marathon Oil Is Maintained at Strong Buy by Raymond James

Motorola Solutions Raised to Buy From Hold by Argus Research

Nordstrom Cut to Hold From Buy by Gordon Haskett

Primoris Services Cut to Sell From Neutral by Goldman Sachs

Schrodinger Cut to Neutral From Buy by B of A Securities

Solar Capital Cut to Neutral From Buy by Compass Point

Spire Globall Raised to Outperform From Neutral by Baird

Sprouts Farmers Market Cut to Reduce From Hold by Gordon Haskett

TJX Cos Raised to Buy From Hold by Gordon Haskett

TPI Composites Cut to Hold From Buy by Stifel

Tractor Supply Raised to Buy From Accumulate by Gordon Haskett

Xometry Raised to Outperform From Sector Perform by RBC Capital

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2021 06:05 ET (11:05 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.