Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — Tesla, (NASDAQ) had its best quarter yet but it struggled to grow on its huge valuation. Donald Trump has announced that he will be returning to social media. Intel (NASDAQ:) and AT&T (NYSE:) will report earnings in the course of the day. China and the U.S. release weekly unemployment claims figures. Evergrande It is getting closer to becoming formally in default. Moscow ordered the opening of all restaurants and bars to shut down against the backdrop of record numbers of deaths and infected people. This is what to do in the financial markets Thursday 21st Oct.

1. Tesla records quarter

Tesla had its strongest quarter yet for profit and revenue, but the stock has struggled to capitalize on its gains. This makes its value look stretched even by Tesla’s own standards. The stock currently trades at 20 times sales and 451 times last year’s earnings.

Already, the company reported records in production and deliveries for the period September through September. Its best-ever operating margin – achieved despite an unfavorable product mix and the well-documented sectoral problems involving shipping and component shortages – painted a picture of a company that is no longer dependent on emissions credits to turn a profit.

The only negative note was the exclusion of CEO Elon Musk during the annual analyst call. This left CFO Zachary Kirkhorn warning that supply chain issues as well as higher input costs could still impact future quarters.

2. Trump returns to social media

Donald Trump has returned to social media ahead of his widely anticipated run for Presidency in 2024.

Trump announced on Wednesday that he will establish a new social media platform called TRUTH Social “to challenge the tyranny of Big Tech”. After his supporters stormed Capitol Square on January 6, Trump was expelled by Twitter (NYSE 🙂 and Facebook (NASDAQ :).^Th in an effort to stop Congress certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.

Trump Media and Technology Group will own the platform. The merger with Digital World Acquisition (a SPAC listed in September) will make it public.

Facebook stock and Twitter stocks reacted moderately to this news. Their decline was less than 1% compared to benchmark stock futures.

3. Stocks to Open Lower; Jobless Claims Due

As earnings keep pouring in, U.S. stocks will open lower tomorrow. Wednesday’s round of results were solid enough to push the to within a whisker of its record high close in August, but consolidation is likely to be the order of the day ahead of the release of weekly at 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT), the day’s only major economic release.

At 6:20 AM ET (1010 GMT), the points were down 100, or 0.3%. They were also down 0.2%, and down 0.1%.

The day’s earnings roster is headed by AT&T before the open and by Intel after the close. Medical devices group Danaher (NYSE:) already put out results ahead of expectations, as did Anglo-Dutch consumer giant Unilever (NYSE:), which followed Nestle (SIX:) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:) in saying it expects to be able to pass higher input prices on to consumers.

4. Russia’s first autumn lockdown

The pandemic isn’t over yet. Russia has ordered a seven-day shutdown of its factories and the capital of Russia is directing all bars, restaurants, and shops to shut down starting Oct. 28.

This is despite record-breaking levels of new cases and death. It’s a result popular opposition to the Sputnik vaccine that was developed locally. The first vaccine to protect against Covid-19 authorized by any G20 nation. Less than one-third of the country’s 140 million population is fully-vaccinated.

The U.K. government was forced to deny that Covid-19 preventive measures will be reintroduced after it dropped mask mandates earlier this summer and refused to accept vaccination passes. The number of new cases is at an alarming rate, with over 60,000. Deaths are at between 130 and 140 per day.

5. Evergrande continues to rumble towards formal default

China Evergrande (HK:) inched closer to a formal default after failing to complete the sale of a key money-making asset to help meet its short-term obligations.

The stricken developer’s stock fell as much as 14% in Hong Kong as it resumed trading after a three-week hiatus, after announcing the end of talks to sell a stake in its property services unit to Hopson Developments.

Evergrande will be without payment for the first dollar bond until Friday, so the grace period is over. Others are also missing payments almost daily on their dollar bonds.  The stability of the yuan was a reflection of confidence in government reassurances about systemic risk mitigation.