Chapter 1: What are the current trends in Wall Street futures?
Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. And just like that, it's February. Today is Monday, February 2nd. I'm Julie Morgan. Wall Street could be looking at another red day with futures falling. NASDAQ 100 futures are down 0.8%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.5%, and Dow futures are down 0.2%.
Spot gold is down 3.6% to 47.10% as of the time of this recording, after crashing nearly 10% on Friday when prices plunged below $5,000 an ounce. Silver is down 4% at $81. The federal government entered a partial shutdown early Saturday morning, even after the Senate passed a funding package hours earlier. The shutdown is expected to be brief.
According to an interview with NBC News, House Speaker Mike Johnson is confident that the partial shutdown will end by Tuesday, saying there would be enough Republican votes to clear the federal spending package. The Senate on Friday approved a five-bill spending package for government agencies through September and another measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks.
The legislation must be approved by the House, which returns to Washington today. Oil prices are down more than 5%, set for the largest single-session decline in over six months, after President Trump noted that Iran was seriously talking with Washington, signaling potential de-escalation.
Chapter 2: How are oil prices affected by geopolitical tensions?
Brent crude futures and West Texas intermediate crude are each down in the 5% range. Both contracts slid from multi-month highs after Trump's weekend comments eased military strike fears. ANZ analysts said in a note that the distinct shift in his messaging has eased concerns of supply disruptions. The note goes on to say this removes some risk premium out of the market, even as U.S.
military presence in the region continues to build. It said nevertheless tension remains high. Iran's supreme leader warned of a regional war if the U.S. were to attack. At a meeting on Sunday, OPEC Plus agreed to keep its oil output unchanged for March. Bitcoin briefly dipped below support before bouncing back above $75,000 in a V-shaped recovery.
According to data from Coinglass, over $850 million in bullish bets were wiped out in a matter of hours on Saturday when prices started to crumble. eventually adding up to nearly $2.5 billion. These liquidations occur when traders borrow money to bet that the price will rise. Once the price hits a certain trapdoor, exchanges automatically sell their holdings to repay the debt.
This creates a domino effect. Forced selling leads to lower prices, which trigger even more liquidations. The report added across the board nearly 200,000 traders had their accounts blown out on Saturday. Furthermore, crypto markets saw another wave of forced selling over the past 12 hours, with $510 million in leveraged positions wiped out.
CoinDesk reported that long trades comprised the bulk of losses at 391.6 million, while shorts accounted for 118.6 million. Here's a look at a few other articles that are trending. President Trump jokes about suing his new Fed nominee over rates. Ford and Xiaomi deny a report that they're in talks for an EV partnership.
And according to Bloomberg, Disney is close to naming the head of its parks division as the next CEO. A couple of items on our Catalyst watch for the day. The CFO and chief commercial officer of Lululemon will start to share leadership roles as co-CEOs, while the company continues its search for a full-time replacement for Calvin McDonald.
And the National Automobile Dealers Association's annual four-day convention in Las Vegas begins. The event brings together dealers, manufacturers, and technology vendors. Xpeng is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market.
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Chapter 3: What caused the recent drop in Bitcoin prices?
XPEV is down 5% after delivering 20,011 vehicles in January, down 47% from December, and 28% year-over-year. And on today's economic calendar, both items at 10 a.m., the ISM Manufacturing Index and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening.
For a full offering of news, analysis, ratings, and data on stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Learn more at SeekingAlpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.