Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — Elon Musk uses Twitter to crowdsource his financial planning. Joe Biden finally gets his infrastructure bill passed by the House of Representatives. It will allow selected companies to get lucrative government contracts. China’s export industry is still humming while the Communist Party huddles for Xi Jinping to be enshrined as President-for life. Meanwhile, Europe’s natural gas prices rise as an anticipated increase in shipments to Russia fail to materialize. The economic calendar is dotted with speeches by Jerome Powell, Fed officials and others. What’s the latest in financial markets news on Monday, November 8th?

1. Tesla shares slump as Musk takes steps to settle tax bill

Tesla stock dropped 5.3% premarket trade following Elon Musk’s announcement that he will sell 10% of the company’s stake. This would result in a temporary stock surplus of $20 billion.

The move would represent the biggest cash-out yet by the company’s CEO, who last week expressed puzzlement at how violently the stock had risen in response to an announcement of a bulk order from car rental firm Hertz Global. Musk stated himself that such deals have not yet been executed.

The last leg of the company’s extraordinary rally this year saw it add some $200 billion in market value. Hertz would probably be valued at between $4 to $5 billion in revenue and significantly less than $1 million in profits.

Musk framed the poll as a response to the Democrats’ proposal to tax unrealized stock gains. Previous statements by Musk have indicated that his principal source of income is stock options.

2. House approves final version of the Infrastructure Bill

The House of Representatives passed an infrastructure spending bill worth around $1 trillion on Friday night, in a desperately-needed boost to President Joe Biden’s fortunes after a week of stinging electoral reverses.

To pass the bill, it needed support from a few Republican legislators after being rejected by similar numbers of Progressive (NYSE.) Democrats.

This bill includes $550 billion of federal extra spending for roads, bridges broadband access, water systems and other infrastructure. There are also provisions that will allow for the development of charging infrastructure to support electric cars.

3. Stocks to Open Higher; Fed Speeches Eyed

The passage of the infrastructure bill, which allows a wide range of businesses to be eligible for government assistance in the future years, has encouraged stocks in the United States to rise.

They were at 6:20 am ET (1120 GMT) and had gained 74 points (0.2%), while the 0.1% were less than 0.1%, and 0.1% were reduced. These two products suffered from the Tesla stock’s fall.

Coty (NYSE 🙂 has a very low earnings list early in the morning, while PayPal and Tripadvisor report shortly after midnight.

A number of Federal Reserve speeches will be given, with one by Chairman Jerome Powell starting at 10:30 ET.

4. Xi might be the one they won’t forget

China’s Communist Party started a meeting that analysts say may clear the path for Xi Jinping to rule as President for the rest of his life, breaking with five decades of precedent.

The plenum, which will take place behind closed doors, brings together some 400 of the party’s top officials, and is scheduled to run through Thursday, is expected to feature a ‘resolution on history’ that will cement Xi’s place at the top.

The annual meeting usually ushers in the start of a year of national political appointments. That may be more volatile than usual, in the light of Xi’s shift in political priorities this year to rein in inequality, and the real estate crisis that has ripples throughout the economy. The country’s export sector, however remains in rude health: data on Sunday showed exports running at 27% ahead of last year’s levels in October. 

5. Chinese trade data show oil price rises; Russia is left gasping for gasoline again

Crude oil prices regained their mojo over the weekend, supported by China’s trade data and by reports that U.S. President Joe Biden may further tighten restrictions on U.S. oil pipelines, despite pressuring the world’s largest exporters to increase supply last week.

Futures rose 1.6% to $82.56 per barrel by 6:30 am ET. They were 1.4% higher at $83.86 per barrel at the same time.

But, overnight, energy markets were dominated by Europe. This was because there were signs that Russia hadn’t increased exports to Europe though it claimed so.