Dow lost 76 (closing at the lows), decliners over advancers 2-1 & NAZ slid back 19. The MLP index added 1+ to the 274s & the REIT index slid lower in the 358s. Junk bond funds fell & Treasuries
inched higher. Oil rose to the 57s (more below) & oil went up 9 to
1254 when stocks were sold.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.436816258127915)
Rep Sen Marco Rubio says he's a "no" vote on the sweeping tax package, unless the child tax credit is more generous to low-income families. The bill would expand the child tax credit to $2K from $1K. He wants a further expansion, & his opposition undercuts Rep leaders trying to muscle the tax bill thru the Senate next week. In a conversation with reporters, Rubio did not specify how high he wants the credit to go. House & Senate leaders have agreed on the bill in principle but are still finalizing the legislation that they plan to unveil tomorrow. A spokesman says Rep Mike Lee is another Senator who is undecided on the bill.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell by 11K last week to 225K, the lowest in nearly 2 months & another sign that workers are enjoying job security. The Labor Dept said that the less volatile 4-week average also fell, by 7K to 235K. Overall, 1.89M Americans are collecting unemployment checks, down more than 7% from a year earlier & close to a 4-decade low reached in Nov. Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They've been below 300K a week for nearly 3 years, the longest stretch in more than 4 decades. The low levels reflect the strength of the job market & the overall economy. The unemployment rate has fallen to a 17-year low of 4.1%. Employers, who added 228K jobs last month, are holding onto workers & often struggling to find new ones. The economy grew at a sprightly 3.3% annual pace from Jul thru Sep, fastest in 3 years.
US import prices surged in Nov amid an increase in the cost of imported petroleum products, leading to the largest year-on-year increase in 7 months. The Labor Dept said that import prices jumped 0.7% last month after a downwardly revised 0.1% gain in Oct. The forecast called for import prices to increase 0.7% in Nov after a previously reported 0.2% rise in Oct.
Oil prices were up slightly as a pipeline outage in Britain continued to lift Brent crude prices. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 16¢ (0.3%) to $56.76 a barrel & Brent crude futures were up 47¢ (0.8%) at $62.91 a barrel. Prices have been supported by an outage on the Forties crude pipeline that was expected to last several weeks. Operator Ineos declared force majeure on crude oil, gas & condensate deliveries from the pipeline. A fall in US crude inventories last week also lent some support. Stocks fell by 5.1M barrels in the latest week, the 4th consecutive week of decline, to 443M barrels, the lowest since Oct 2015. The front month of the US crude curve for Feb & Mar remains in backwardation. Crude backwardation, in which the futures contract trades below the crude oil’s expected spot price at the contract's maturity, is an indicator of a tight market. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the oil market to have a surplus of 200K barrels per day (bpd) H1-2018 before reverting to a deficit of about 200K bpd in H2-2018. That means 2018 overall should show “a closely balanced market.” The IEA said US crude output next year would increase by 870K barrels per day, up from its Nov forecast of 790K bpd.
The stock market is feeling the pressure in the Senate for passing a tax bill. In the next week, AT A MINIMUM, there will be a lot of wrangling as a few Senators insist on putting in their favorite fixes for taxes. Half a dozen Senators are shaky. With the thin margin the Reps have, the fate of the tax bill is unclear. Making matters worse, those guys have to pass a bill to extend funding for the gov in fiscal 2018 or there will be a shutdown at the end of next week. The stock market can be expected to play defense until the tax bill & funding the gov issues are settled.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
Rep Sen Marco Rubio says he's a "no" vote on the sweeping tax package, unless the child tax credit is more generous to low-income families. The bill would expand the child tax credit to $2K from $1K. He wants a further expansion, & his opposition undercuts Rep leaders trying to muscle the tax bill thru the Senate next week. In a conversation with reporters, Rubio did not specify how high he wants the credit to go. House & Senate leaders have agreed on the bill in principle but are still finalizing the legislation that they plan to unveil tomorrow. A spokesman says Rep Mike Lee is another Senator who is undecided on the bill.
The Latest: Rubio demands bigger child tax credit in bill
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell by 11K last week to 225K, the lowest in nearly 2 months & another sign that workers are enjoying job security. The Labor Dept said that the less volatile 4-week average also fell, by 7K to 235K. Overall, 1.89M Americans are collecting unemployment checks, down more than 7% from a year earlier & close to a 4-decade low reached in Nov. Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They've been below 300K a week for nearly 3 years, the longest stretch in more than 4 decades. The low levels reflect the strength of the job market & the overall economy. The unemployment rate has fallen to a 17-year low of 4.1%. Employers, who added 228K jobs last month, are holding onto workers & often struggling to find new ones. The economy grew at a sprightly 3.3% annual pace from Jul thru Sep, fastest in 3 years.
Applications for US jobless aid drop by 11,000 to 225,000
US import prices surged in Nov amid an increase in the cost of imported petroleum products, leading to the largest year-on-year increase in 7 months. The Labor Dept said that import prices jumped 0.7% last month after a downwardly revised 0.1% gain in Oct. The forecast called for import prices to increase 0.7% in Nov after a previously reported 0.2% rise in Oct.
US import prices surge in November
Oil prices were up slightly as a pipeline outage in Britain continued to lift Brent crude prices. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 16¢ (0.3%) to $56.76 a barrel & Brent crude futures were up 47¢ (0.8%) at $62.91 a barrel. Prices have been supported by an outage on the Forties crude pipeline that was expected to last several weeks. Operator Ineos declared force majeure on crude oil, gas & condensate deliveries from the pipeline. A fall in US crude inventories last week also lent some support. Stocks fell by 5.1M barrels in the latest week, the 4th consecutive week of decline, to 443M barrels, the lowest since Oct 2015. The front month of the US crude curve for Feb & Mar remains in backwardation. Crude backwardation, in which the futures contract trades below the crude oil’s expected spot price at the contract's maturity, is an indicator of a tight market. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects the oil market to have a surplus of 200K barrels per day (bpd) H1-2018 before reverting to a deficit of about 200K bpd in H2-2018. That means 2018 overall should show “a closely balanced market.” The IEA said US crude output next year would increase by 870K barrels per day, up from its Nov forecast of 790K bpd.
Oil prices up slightly on pipeline outage support
The stock market is feeling the pressure in the Senate for passing a tax bill. In the next week, AT A MINIMUM, there will be a lot of wrangling as a few Senators insist on putting in their favorite fixes for taxes. Half a dozen Senators are shaky. With the thin margin the Reps have, the fate of the tax bill is unclear. Making matters worse, those guys have to pass a bill to extend funding for the gov in fiscal 2018 or there will be a shutdown at the end of next week. The stock market can be expected to play defense until the tax bill & funding the gov issues are settled.
Dow Jones Industrials
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