Any chance of recovery from Thursday’s sell-off was thwarted by Netflix’s earnings report (ticker: NFLX). The streaming giant reported earnings of $ 1.33 per share, beating estimates of 82 cents per share with sales of $ 7.7 billion, in line with expectations. However, the company also announced fewer new subscribers, only 8.28 million in the fourth quarter of 2021, down from 8.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Even worse, Netflix reached 2.5 million in the current quarter, which is significantly below analysts’ estimates of 6.93. million. Shares fell by 20%.

This unnerves investors in other Internet names facing consumers from the growth that was strong during much of the pandemic.




Dreamstime Russia is a key center for bitcoin mining, which is a highly energy-intensive process.


Bitcoin fell 10% to $ 38,900, fell well below the psychologically important level of $ 40,000 and hit six-month lows.

Cryptocurrency markets were in turmoil on Friday as Russia watched the bitcoin ban, while US stock sales continued to plague cryptospace.

Ether,
the second largest cryptocurrency fell 13% and lost support to $ 3,000 when it traded around $ 2,790. The track has expanded to alt-coins including Solana, Cardano, Polkadot, Terra and Avalanche. The widely popular “meme” tokens Dogecoin and Shiba Inu were similarly down.

Overall, the crypt market has lost $ 200 billion in market value over the last 24 hours, down 11% to $ 1.8 trillion.

Russia may be adding to the fear that seems to be clenching the cryptocurrencies. The country’s central bank has issued a sharp report on cryptocurrencies, including a potential ban on mining and trading. Russia accounts for about 10% of the world’s bitcoin mining capacity, making it the main network transaction processing center.

Russia’s central bank said cryptocurrencies were used for illegal activities and posed a risk to financial stability and monetary policy.

Bitcoin and other digital assets are popular in Russia. The central bank said the value of cryptotransactions of citizens is estimated at $ 5 billion a year. However, the ownership or possession of bitcoins and cryptocurrencies by private Russian citizens may still be permitted.

“The potential risks to financial stability associated with cryptocurrencies are much higher for emerging markets, including Russia,” the central bank said.

Russia can follow the Chinese path in a vigorous fight against bitcoin; Last year, Beijing banned bitcoin mining and largely banned its citizens’ trade. Both countries are also facing energy shortages and rising electricity prices, making bitcoin mining a target for both financial and energy regulators. Russia’s central bank said bitcoin mining “creates unproductive electricity consumption.”

The crypto markets did not slip at first after news from Russia. The sell-off may have been triggered by other factors, including Thursday’s late jump in US stock markets.

While bitcoin and other digital assets should theoretically be traded independently of major financial markets, they appear to correlate with other high-growth risk-sensitive investments, such as a number of technology stocks.

and


tarek


Nasdaq Composite,
which is heavily burdened by technology companies, has fallen firmly into correctional territory this week, by more than 10% from its all – time high in mid – November.

The stock spill – triggered by the Federal Reserve’s tighter monetary policy – may not be over for cryptocurrencies.

Breaking the bitcoin below the level of around $ 39,500 is also a bearish sign, says Fundstrat, by extending a two-month descending pattern that could push the bitcoin to lows from last summer around $ 29,000. “It seems that the technical damage from this week will require a little more down before it stabilizes,” says Fundstrat.

The futures market suggests that more investors are betting on the fall of bitcoin. Perpetual bitcoin futures contracts turned to more short positions – bets on declines – than bets on price gains, Fundstrat Global Advisors said in a note on Friday.

“Bears are winning against margin traders who are almost all underwater,” a report on DecenTrader said Friday. If bitcoin trades well below $ 38,000, the market could experience a “liquidation event” similar to the sharp sell-off last December 4th. This time, it could bring bitcoin down to $ 33,000.

Other technical analysts also see further declines. Bitcoin liquidation could increase due to margin challenges and forced liquidations on decentralized trading platforms, where bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies are embedded in “smart contracts” that automatically adjust to market prices. When prices collapse, contracts may automatically liquidate collateral or require additional collateral.






As for oil, traders are preparing for a higher offer. As demand has risen sharply – and the price has risen by almost 30% since Omikron’s November low – oil producers are building up stocks. Oil reserves rose 515,000 barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration. Gasoline inventories increased by 5.9 million barrels.

The decline in cryptocurrencies is usually Russia, where they are popular among citizens. The country is also the center of mining – a process that generates new digital currency tokens. Russia’s central bank has proposed a ban on cryptocurrency mining as part of a broader ban that includes preventing people from trading or trading bitcoins.

New earnings reports elsewhere also reveal that inflation continues to cause companies to increase costs, damaging their profit margins. This just doesn’t help the stock prices of companies that haven’t reported yet. Several companies “reported higher costs as an impact on profitability, which supports margin concerns,” wrote Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research.

Sure, earnings results exceed estimates, but investors may demand even higher earnings than have been observed so far. According to Credit Suisse, the overall profit of the S&P 500 at the beginning of the fourth quarter exceeded expectations by 5.9%. According to Wells Fargo, the average share price response on the trading day after the gain was an increase of 0.3%.

Overseas, the pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 1.9% and the Tokyo Nikkei 225 fell 0.9%.

Here are five stocks on the move:




platoon

Shares (PTON) shot up 7%. Shares fell 24% on Thursday after a report that the company, which manufactures equipment for home exercise, including bicycles and treadmills, is stopping production. The CEO of the company rejected the report as untrue.






) shares fell 2.5% after the company reported earnings of 42 cents per share, beating estimates of 41 cents per share with sales of $ 3.4 billion, above expectations of $ 3.3 billion. Higher costs were part of the equation, and labor and ancillary costs increased $ 115 million year-over-year. Fuel costs doubled to $ 282 million. These higher costs caused the company’s operating profit margin to decline year-on-year.


teto

PPG Industries

Shares (PPG) fell 2.3% after the company reported earnings of $ 1.26 per share, beating estimates of $ 1.20 per share with sales of $ 4.19 billion, above expectations of $ 4 billion. Its raw material costs increased by 30% year-on-year.




KB homepage

Shares (KBH) rose 0.3% after being upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Seaport Research Partners.




Devon Energy

(DVN) shares fell 3.6% after being reduced to neutral from Buy at




Goldman Sachs
.

Email Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com and Jacob Sonenshin at jacob.sonenshine@barrons.com