Week of Sept 8 2017 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“To finish first, first you need to finish.” — Warren Buffetts
1. Houston Employers Business & Valero Refineries Reopen — Houston large employers, universities and transit centers reopened Tuesday following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, which flooded the Houston area and killed at least 60 people after making landfall Aug. 25. In more moves toward recovery, some barge traffic has resumed to the large oil refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. In addition, Valero Energy says its 293K bbl/day Corpus Christi refinery and 225K bbl/day Texas City refinery, both shut down by Hurricane Harvey, have recovered to pre-hurricane levels of operation.
2. Powerful Hurricane Irma Strikes Florida — traders are bracing for another hurricane to hit the U.S., as Hurricane Irma has strengthened into one of the most powerful storms ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean. Shares of insurers already coping with damage from Hurricane Harvey and re-insurers providing insurance companies with backup protection against major disasters ended last week ‘s trading with sharp losses. Reinsurer Everest Re (NYSE:RE) fell nearly 7%, making it the biggest loser on the S&P 500, and XL Group (NYSE:XL) slumped 5.8%. November orange juice futures soared 6.2% to $1.45 per pound, the highest for a most actively traded contract since May 2016. Cruise ship companies that operate in the Caribbean, including Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) and Carnival (NYSE:CCL), also fell sharply.
3. Trump’s Move to End “Dreamers” Program — President Trump revoked the so-called “Dreamer” program that shields young unauthorized immigrants from deportation, giving Congress six months to draft a legal path for amnesty. As early as March 2018, some of the 800,000 young adults brought to the U.S. illegally as children who qualify for the DACA program – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – would become eligible for deportation without a congressional fix. In reaction, a wide range of business leaders – including JPMorgan Chase’s (NYSE:JPM) Jamie Dimon, Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) Mark Zuckerberg, Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Tim Cook, Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Sundar Pichai and Cummins’s (NYSE:CMI) condemned the decision.
4. Senate Passes Bill for Debt Ceiling & Approved More than $15B in Aid Funding for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma — the Senate has approved more than $15B in aid funding for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, attached to a debt ceiling extension and temporary government funding, by a vote of 80-17. If the House passes the bill and President Trump signs it, Congress will knock out an end-of-September deadline to raise the debt limit and avoid risking a default or government shutdown.
5. Florida Braces for Hurricane Irma — Miami is preparing for its largest evacuation in more than a decade as Hurricane Irma threatens to turn into the most expensive storm in U.S. history. U.S. orange juice and sugar futures are rallying on the news, as well as home improvement retailers like Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW), while insurers including Progressive (NYSE:PGR) and Allstate (NYSE:ALL) have stopped issuing policies in some Florida counties. The property and casualty players and the reinsurers have suffered in the wake of Harvey and ahead of Irma. Those with heavy Florida exposure are being hit the hardest: HCI Group (HCI -9.5%), Universal Insurance (UVE -10.2%), United Insurance (UIHC -8.1%). Others: Travelers (TRV -2.2%), Allstate (ALL -1.5%), Chubb (CB -1.4%), Cincinnati Financial (CINF -1.8%), Progressive (PGR -1.7%), Alleghany (Y -2.6%).
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
Tags: Hurricane Irma