Good Evening. The recovery of American stocks on Friday ended a four-day losing streak on Wall Street. Better-than-expected retail sales figures and a surprise earnings beat from Citigroup helped to boost sentiment (C).
The Dow Jones gained 2.15%, while the S&P 500 increased by 1.92%. The Nasdaq also finished in the green by 1.79%.
EARNINGS
Despite reporting better-than-anticipated profit and revenue on Friday, Citigroup Inc. (C) saw its profitability decline with Wells Fargo & Co. due to more challenging market circumstances than in the prior year.
- Reveune: $19.64 billion vs. $18.22 billion expected
- Earnings Per Share: $2.02 vs. $1.55 expected
“In a challenging macro and geopolitical environment, our team delivered solid results and we are in a strong position to weather uncertain times, given our liquidity, credit quality and reserve levels,” she added. “We intend to generate significant capital for our investors, given our earnings power and the upcoming divestitures.”
The bright spots for Citigroup included its bond trading and other trade solutions units, which turned in its best quarter in a decade “as clients took advantage of our global network”, she said. Citi’s markets unit booked a 25% boost in revenue, but its investment banking and wealth management units struggled amid lower deal flow.
SHORT TERM POWER GRID SOLUTIONS
The grid operator in Texas is directing facilities to run at a historic rate, frequently forcing them to put off maintenance so they can keep producing electricity as the scorching Texas heat drives power demand to record highs. For the time being, this has helped keep the lights on, but the short-term perspective is straining a system that is already close to breaking point…
Officials have twice in the past week urged Texans to use less electricity in the sweltering afternoons as demand veered dangerously close to exceeding supply. According to Michele Richmond, executive director of Texas Competitive Power Advocates, a generator industry group, there are already mounting concerns over how long power plants can maintain the strenuous pace while they work nonstop.
What are some things causing this? The circumstance demonstrates that the Texas system is depending on band-aid fixes for what is likely to become a long-term issue. The state is coping with an increase in demand due to a population boom. The growth of cryptocurrency mining over the past year has also brought with it the sector’s power-intensive processes. In the meantime, climate change has increased the likelihood and severity of extreme weather events that increase electricity demand, leading to circumstances like a lethal freeze in February 2021 that resulted in outages throughout the state.