Dow rose 70 (helped by buying into the close), decliners over advancers about 2-1 & NAZ retreated 27. The MLP index jumped up 4+ to the 245s & the REIT index fell 6+ to the 349s. Junk bond funds edged higher & Treasuries were a tad lower. Oil was up 1+ to the 52s when Saudi Arabia announced it would cut oil shipments to the US & gold slid back 4 to 1246.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.2180338269244485)
The US ran a $205B deficit in Nov, a jump of $66B (48%) from the same month a year ago, the Treasury Dept announced. Nov's worse budget picture is mostly due to a $44B calendar-related shift in when payments got sent out. The US took in 1% less in revenue, mostly as individual withheld & FICA taxes fell by 2%, while corp taxes fell by 23%. Customs duties doubled to $6B, on the impact of rising tariffs. The 18% jump in spending came from a 35% jump in Medicare payments, a 27% increase in defense spending & a 74% increase in Veterans Affairs costs. For the fiscal year as a whole, the deficit has grown by 51% to $305B. The Treasury Dept says that adjusted for timing-related transactions, the deficit would have been $270B over the last 2 months compared to $250B during the same period the prior year, with tax revenue up by 1% but spending up by 4%. The budget picture is deteriorating as the US taxes individuals & companies less & spends more, mostly on defense & benefit payments to an aging population. A growing economy is softening the blow, however, & it's unclear at this point whether the annual deficit will top $1T this year.
Apple (AAPL), a Dow & NAZ stock, will invest $1B in a new campus in Austin, Texas. The 133-acre campus will be located in North Austin & will accommodate an initial 5K employees, with capacity for 15K employees in total. The new campus will be located less than one mile from its existing Austin facilities & will house a range of jobs in engineering, R&D, operations, finance, sales & customer support. The expansion will make it the largest private employer in Austin. "Apple is proud to bring new investment, jobs and opportunity to cities across the United States and to significantly deepen our quarter-century partnership with the city and people of Austin," CEO Tim Cook said. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said AAPL's decision to expand in Texas "is a testament to the high-quality workforce and unmatched economic environment that Texas offers." Yesterday, AAPL also announced plans to open new sites & add over 1K employees in Seattle, San Diego & Culver City over the next 3 years. It said it will also expand its existing operations in Pittsburgh, NY, Boulder, Boston & Portland, Oregon. The company also announced that it has added 6K jobs to its US workforce in 2018 & is on track to create 20K jobs across the country by 2023. It plans to invest $10B in U.S. data centers over the next 5 years, including $4.5B this year & next. Yesterday, it said "preparations are underway" for its newest data center in Waukee, Iowa & is also expanding its data centers in North Carolina, Arizona & Nevada. Pres Trump has attacked Apple for producing many of its devices outside of the US. In Sep, he warned AAPL it could face more tariffs, ordering the company to "make your products in the United States instead of China." The stock went up 1.85.
If you would like to learn more about AAPL, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/AAPL?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Apple to invest $1 billion in new Texas campus
US oil futures saw a sharp move higher late in the session to finish nearly 3% higher. Saudi Arabia plans to slash shipments to US refiners within weeks to help prevent a buildup of American crude stockpiles. Saudi Aramco warned US refiners to brace for a steep drop in cargoes next month according to leakers briefed on the plans of the state-controlled oil company. Jan West Texas Intermediate oil rose $1.43 (2.8%) to settle at $52.58 a barrel.
This has been a difficult month & qtr for stocks. Trade news has been a major drag & the prospects for more interest rate hikes (i.e. next week) have brought gloomy thoughts to investors. Problems in major euro countries are not helping matters, as worries grow about an economic slowdown around the globe next year. The Dow reached a record above 27K at the start of Oct (see below) & has been falling to around 24K (with 2 spikes) since then. Tough times for stocks should continue.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
A brutal Q4 for the stock market is
exacting a substantial price on investor psychology, particularly for
the mom & pop crowd. Pessimism among retail investors is at
the worst level in 5½ years, according to the latest American
Association of Individual Investors (AAII) survey. The 48.9% of those
who think the S&P 500 will be negative in 6 months is up 18.4 percentage points from last week's reading & is the highest since Apr 2013. The drop came just before the market turned a mild upswing in an otherwise nasty period. Worries about rising interest rates,
a testy trade showdown between the US & China, & fears about
slowing growth both domestically & abroad have hit stocks hard
since early Oct. The S&P 500 is off more than 9%, while the Dow has fallen about 7.2% & the NAZ is off 11.6%. The surge in pessimism has come with a corresponding slide in
bullishness. Optimism tumbled 17 percentage points during the week,
falling to 20.9% & representing the worst level since May 2016. Neutral sentiment edged down 1.3 percentage points to 30.2%, just below its historical average of 31%. Those hoping the market
turns around actually can take some solace from the AAII numbers. Such
sentiment indicators are contrarian in nature, particularly at extremes, & this survey is no different. The last time the bears were this plentiful presaged a sharp
turn higher. The S&P 500 rallied 16% from the Apr 11 low
thru the end of 2013. Investor behavior has gotten more defensive lately, with money flowing out of equity funds & cash allocations among AAII respondents hitting a 33-month high in Nov. In this week's survey,
investors remained generally upbeat about the economy, with 25%
expecting a continued expansion in 2019 though at a slower pace. Just 13% see a recession in the year ahead.
The US ran a $205B deficit in Nov, a jump of $66B (48%) from the same month a year ago, the Treasury Dept announced. Nov's worse budget picture is mostly due to a $44B calendar-related shift in when payments got sent out. The US took in 1% less in revenue, mostly as individual withheld & FICA taxes fell by 2%, while corp taxes fell by 23%. Customs duties doubled to $6B, on the impact of rising tariffs. The 18% jump in spending came from a 35% jump in Medicare payments, a 27% increase in defense spending & a 74% increase in Veterans Affairs costs. For the fiscal year as a whole, the deficit has grown by 51% to $305B. The Treasury Dept says that adjusted for timing-related transactions, the deficit would have been $270B over the last 2 months compared to $250B during the same period the prior year, with tax revenue up by 1% but spending up by 4%. The budget picture is deteriorating as the US taxes individuals & companies less & spends more, mostly on defense & benefit payments to an aging population. A growing economy is softening the blow, however, & it's unclear at this point whether the annual deficit will top $1T this year.
U.S. budget deficit jumps to $205 billion in November
Apple (AAPL), a Dow & NAZ stock, will invest $1B in a new campus in Austin, Texas. The 133-acre campus will be located in North Austin & will accommodate an initial 5K employees, with capacity for 15K employees in total. The new campus will be located less than one mile from its existing Austin facilities & will house a range of jobs in engineering, R&D, operations, finance, sales & customer support. The expansion will make it the largest private employer in Austin. "Apple is proud to bring new investment, jobs and opportunity to cities across the United States and to significantly deepen our quarter-century partnership with the city and people of Austin," CEO Tim Cook said. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said AAPL's decision to expand in Texas "is a testament to the high-quality workforce and unmatched economic environment that Texas offers." Yesterday, AAPL also announced plans to open new sites & add over 1K employees in Seattle, San Diego & Culver City over the next 3 years. It said it will also expand its existing operations in Pittsburgh, NY, Boulder, Boston & Portland, Oregon. The company also announced that it has added 6K jobs to its US workforce in 2018 & is on track to create 20K jobs across the country by 2023. It plans to invest $10B in U.S. data centers over the next 5 years, including $4.5B this year & next. Yesterday, it said "preparations are underway" for its newest data center in Waukee, Iowa & is also expanding its data centers in North Carolina, Arizona & Nevada. Pres Trump has attacked Apple for producing many of its devices outside of the US. In Sep, he warned AAPL it could face more tariffs, ordering the company to "make your products in the United States instead of China." The stock went up 1.85.
If you would like to learn more about AAPL, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/AAPL?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Apple to invest $1 billion in new Texas campus
US oil futures saw a sharp move higher late in the session to finish nearly 3% higher. Saudi Arabia plans to slash shipments to US refiners within weeks to help prevent a buildup of American crude stockpiles. Saudi Aramco warned US refiners to brace for a steep drop in cargoes next month according to leakers briefed on the plans of the state-controlled oil company. Jan West Texas Intermediate oil rose $1.43 (2.8%) to settle at $52.58 a barrel.
Oil settles sharply higher after report the Saudis plan to cut shipments to U.S. refiners
This has been a difficult month & qtr for stocks. Trade news has been a major drag & the prospects for more interest rate hikes (i.e. next week) have brought gloomy thoughts to investors. Problems in major euro countries are not helping matters, as worries grow about an economic slowdown around the globe next year. The Dow reached a record above 27K at the start of Oct (see below) & has been falling to around 24K (with 2 spikes) since then. Tough times for stocks should continue.
Dow Jones Industrials
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