LiveWire

Elon Musk has offered to buy 100% of Twitter for USD54.20 per share in cash. He says he believes that Twitter should be private to go through the changes that need to be made. The Tesla CEO says his offer is final and if not accepted he would need to reconsider his position as a shareholder. Tesla shares were lower by 1.6% in pre-market as traders view Elon's involvement in Twitter as a distraction from focusing on Tesla. Twitter shares are up 11% to USD50.9 in pre-market.

According to a Bloomberg analysis, over the past two decades earnings seasons have delivered stronger than average weekly S&P500 returns. Earnings season, usually propels stocks to above-average returns, especially during periods of high economic and policy uncertainty. Earnings will begin on Wednesday with JPM and BlackRock earnings. In the meantime, markets continue to sell off as market sentiment is damaged by a hawkish Fed, commodity market disruptions, China's lockdowns, and the overall prospect of an economic slowdown.

US stock futures continued to whipsaw in pre-market trading, after falling for two days on expectations of a rapid Fed tightening that includes potential 0.5% interest hikes at the next meeting and continuous reduction of the Fed balance sheet, at twice the pace that it did in 2017. Several Fed officials will speak later today and US initial jobless claims numbers will give some clues on the conditions of the labor market. Adding to the uncertainty, EU countries are holding talks for a fifth round of sanctions on Russia, which could include restricting imports of energy products. Separately, the European Parliament on Thursday called for an “immediate full embargo” on Russian imports of oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gas.

Elon Musk has taken a 9.2% ownership in Twitter Inc to become the platform's biggest shareholder, a week after saying on Twitter he might shake up the social media industry. Twitter shares surged more than 20% in premarket trading after regulatory filing revealed the purchase. The stake is worth USD2.89 billion, based on Friday's close. Twitter is under pressure to move faster in building new products and make the business more profitable. It has steadily grown over the years, but its stock has lagged behind industry peers.

The Cboe Volatility Index, or Vix, fell below the threshold level of 20, a sign that investors are not fearful of a market pull-back. That might leave it vulnerable to a rapid rise if demand for protection increases, after an 11% gain for the S&P 500 since early March. Stocks are falling slightly today, with hopes for peace in Ukraine fading and soaring inflation data in Europe pouring cold water on momentum. Concerns that the Treasury curve signals a looming recession, is also weighing on indices.