Financial Daily Dose 5.13.2021 | Top Story: Stocks Continue Slide as CPI Shows Price Jump in U.S.

Stocks fell again on Wednesday, the third day of losses in a row, and bond yields rose, spurred on by a 4.2% CPI increase as compared to a year ago. Though analysts were expecting that surge, the confirmation of those expectations only reinforced the inflation fears currently unsettling the Street - NYTimes and WSJ

Colonial Pipeline has resumed use of its gas and jet fuel pipeline after a 5-day shutdown following a ransomware attack. While it will take “several days for deliveries to return to normal,” the news was welcome as panic over gas shortages was hitting parts of the U.S. southeast - WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch

Big win for Amazon, as an EU appellate court has rejected European regulators’ 2017 $300 million penalty against the company over alleged unfair tax treatment. The court found that regulators “did not sufficiently prove that Amazon had violated a law meant to prevent companies from receiving special tax benefits from European governments” - NYTimes and WSJ

The Times helps sort out the “untold story” of the recent nonfungible token craze. NFTs are “digital files created using blockchain computer code” that, to owners of the digital art associated with the tokens, “represent[] a unique relationship with the artist and the art” that’s “essentially impossible to duplicate” - NYTimes

In the latest edition of Elon giveth [to Bitcoin] and Elon taketh away, it appears that Big E now has environmental concerns about the cryptocurrency that have prompted Tesla to stop accepting it for vehicle purchases - TechCrunch and WSJ and Bloomberg and NYTimes

And speaking of cryptos, Facebook has revamped its ill-fated dollar-backed Libra cryptocurrency (and rebranded it Diem) in an effort to address concerns from U.S. regulators over its potential use in money laundering and other illicit transactions - WSJ and MarketWatch and Mashable

The Biden administration has asked Mexico to investigate potential labor violations at a General Motors facility there, “a significant step using a new labor enforcement tool in the revised North American trade deal” known as the “rapid response” mechanism - NYTimes and MarketWatch and Law360

Geely-owned Volvo Cars is reportedly considering a potential Nasdaq listing via IPO, a move that “would cap a decadelong turnaround of the car maker known for its understated Scandinavian design and reputation for safety” - WSJ

A New York federal judge has refused to freeze access to the $504 million in accidental payments from Citi to a group of creditors on a Revlon loan during the appeal of “his shocker February decision that declared the money now belongs to the lenders” – Law360

The excellent Sarah Vowell on the problem plaguing Bozeman, MT—the gorgeous city near the middle of I-90’s journey through Big Sky Country: it’s just too popular these days - NYTImes

Stay safe and get vaxxed,
MDR