Coffee With Greta: An Extraordinary NATO Summit Is Underway

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NASDAQ Futures: +77 (+0.5%)

Good morning friends!

Futures are higher as the NATO summit kicks off in Brussels.

Let’s get right to it!

Extraordinary NATO Summit Kicks Off 

The extraordinary NATO summit is underway in Brussels. 

Leaders from the alliance, including President Biden, are meeting in person today and are expected to ramp-up their actions against Russia. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the emergency meeting in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said he expects the group to increase its troop presence along the eastern flank. 

That includes establishing four new battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. 

The group is also expected to announce additional sanctions against Moscow.

There will also be a G7 meeting at the summit.

This comes after the U.S. officially accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine on Wednesday. 

In a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Russia’s forces have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers, and ambulances, leaving thousands of innocent civilians killed or wounded”.

Biden will travel to Poland Friday but will not visit Ukraine.

Russian Market Reopens

The Moscow Exchange resumed limited trading today for the first time since February 25.

Trading was permitted in 33 Russian equities between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. local time. 

Short-selling was banned and foreign investors are not able to sell stocks until April 1. 

The MOEX Russia Index closed 4.4% higher.

Russian oil giant Rosneft soared 17% while Lukoil jumped 12.4

Oil Prices Slip on Iran Deal Hopes

Oil prices are slipping today on optimism for a revived Iran nuclear deal. 

West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down 0.4% to $114.50 per barrel with Brent crude futures falling 0.2% to $121.30 per barrel. 

The White House said Wednesday the U.S. and Iran had made progress in nuclear talks. 

Part of that deal would lift export restrictions on Iran, which would help ease supply concerns in the oil market.

The Energy Information Administration reported a drop in U.S. crude inventories last week. 

That stockpile declined by 2.5 million barrels for the week ending March 18 vs expectations for inventory to be unchanged. 

The EIA report also showed gasoline inventory declined by 2.9 million barrels.

Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to 53-Year Low

Weekly jobless claims tumbled to the lowest level since 1969.

The Labor Department reported 187,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits last week. 

That was down 28,000 from the previous week and sharply beat economists’ expectations for 210,000.

Continuing claims fell to 1.35 million in the week ending March 12, the lowest since 1970.

Nikola Begins Production of Electric Semi

Nikola (NKLA) shares are soaring 18.2% ahead of the open after beginning production of its fully-electric semitruck. 

The automaker announced Wednesday production of its battery-electric Tre semitruck started at its factory in Coolidge, Arizona on Monday. 

Nikola said it plans to begin deliveries of the truck in Q2 and set a goal of 300 to 500 total deliveries this year.

The battery-electric version of the Tre semitruck has an estimated range of 350 miles.

Nikola plans to make a hydrogen fuel cell semi next, which would have a 500 mile range.

That truck is expected to begin shipping in late 2023.

KB Home Slips After Earnings Miss

KB Home (KBH) shares are down 2.5%in premarket trade after missing fiscal Q1 expectations. 

The homebuilder reported earnings of $1.02 per share on $1.4 billion in revenue. 

That missed analysts’ expectations for EPS of $1.54 on $1.5 billion in revenue.

KB Home delivered 2,868 homes in the quarter vs Wall Street’s expectations for 3,180. 

The CEO said supply-chain and labor issues got worse last quarter, causing a delay in building. 

KB Home maintained its full-year guidance for home-building revenue between $7.2 billion and $7.6 billion.

The company raised its average selling price forecast by $10,000.

In Case You Missed It

• New home sales fell 2% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 772,000 units vs 805,000 expected. The drop came despite the number of listings rising 2.3% from January to 407,000 units. That represents a 6.3 month supply at the current sales pace. The median price of a new home sold in February jumped 10.7% year-over-year to $400,600 while the average sales price was $511,000.
• GameStop (GME) shares surged 14.5% on Wednesday after chairman Ryan Cohen bought more of the stock. Cohen purchased 100,000 additional GME shares Tuesday through his investment firm RC Ventures. That brought his ownership stake to 11.9%. Fellow meme stock AMC Entertainment (AMC) rallied alongside GameStop, closing 13.6% higher on Wednesday.