Dow shot up 779 (closing near session highs), advancers over decliners an impressive 8-1 & NAZ soared 203. The MLP index rose 2+to the 98s & the REIT index surged 21 to 329. Junk bond funds continued in demand by investors & Treasuries retreated. Oil went up 2+ to 26 prior to tomorrow's OPEC+ meeting & gold was steady at 1683 (more on both below).
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.2180338269244485)
Federal Reserve officials agreed during their emergency meeting in mid-Mar that the coronavirus pandemic posed a threat to the economy, prompting them to slash interest rates near zero & agree to leave them unchanged until the US begins to recover. The central bank released minutes from 2 emergency meetings, held on Mar 2 & Mar 15. Policymakers cut the interbank lending rate by 50-basis points after the first meeting & by 100-basis points after the 2nd. At the same meeting, the Fed also said that it will buy at least $500B in Treasury securities & $200B in mortgage-backed securities over the coming months, known as "quantitative easing." In the week following the Mar 15 meeting, the Fed released plans for more than 6 new crisis-era lending facilities. “All participants viewed the near-term U.S. economic outlook as having deteriorated sharply in recent weeks and as having become profoundly uncertain,” the FOMC minutes said. "All saw U.S. economic activity as likely to decline in the coming quarter and viewed downside risks to the economic outlook as having increased significantly." The benchmark federal funds rate is now 0-0.25%, down from 1-1.25%. The cut essentially brought the nation’s interest rate to zero, where it will remain until policymakers are "confident that the economy had weathered recent events and was on track to achieve the Committee's maximum employment and price stability goals," the minutes said. As far as the eventual economic recovery from the pandemic, officials presented 2 different scenarios: One in which the US begins to rebound in H2, & a bleaker one, in which the economy does not start to recover until next year. “Participants noted that the timing of the resumption of growth in the U.S. economy depended on the containment measures put in place, as well as the success of those measures, and on the responses of other policies, including fiscal policy,” the minutes added.
US West Texas Intermediate crude surged 12% in a sudden move toward the end of trading. The spike followed a report that the oil minister of Algeria said OPEC & its allies, known as OPEC+, would discuss a massive cut that could reach 10M barrels per day at its virtual meeting tomorrow. WTI jumped 12% before paring some of those gains to settle 6.2% higher at $25.09. Intel benchmark Brent crude gained 3.0% to settle at $32.84 per barrel. The United States Oil Fund USO), which tracks the price of oil, was halted for trading temporarily amid the wild activity into the end of the session. The exchange-traded fund resumed trading shortly after the initial halt. Oil markets are facing their greatest moment of uncertainty in decades, with the coronavirus outbreak leading to unprecedented demand loss. Investors are hoping for some clarity from tomorrow's meeting, which was delayed from Mon over persistent disagreements between OPEC de facto leader Saudi Arabia, & OPEC ally Russia. The meeting will focus on whether countries can agree to communally cut crude production in order to salvage plunging prices at a time when no one is buying oil & the world is running out of places to store it.
Oil surges in sudden move toward the end of trading, production cuts eyed
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he expects New York, the financial capital of the US & the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak, will take longer to “reopen” its economy than other parts of the country. Mnuchin, a member of Pres Trump's coronavirus task force, said that the administration is eager to restart the areas of the US economy that have been ground to a halt by the deadly pandemic. But he expects that “we’ll be opening it up based on medical conditions,” rather than prioritizing states' economic output. “So obviously we’d like to open up as much GDP as we can,” Mnuchin said, but “my expectations are that places like New York are going to take a little bit longer.” Trump tweeted later that the US will reopen “sooner rather than later.” “Once we OPEN UP OUR GREAT COUNTRY,” he said, “the horror of the Invisible Enemy, except for those that sadly lost a family member or friend, must be quickly forgotten.” “Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!!” Trump wrote.
Mnuchin expects New York will take longer to ‘reopen’ from coronavirus than other parts of US
Gold futures ended slightly higher following a choppy trading session, failing to recoup recent losses that pulled prices down from their highest levels since 2012 earlier this week. Prices bounced around after minutes from the Federal Reserve's Mar 3 & Mar 15 meetings showed that Fed staff's worst-case scenario was that an economic recovery wouldn't take hold until next year. Jun gold was at $1687 an ounce in electronic trading shortly after the release of the meeting minutes & settled at $1684 an ounce, essentially even. During the trading session, traders continued to monitor the news on developments tied to the COVID-19 pandemic & its drag on the global economy. Gold remains more than 2% higher for the week & yesterday topped $1700 an ounce to trade at its highest intraday level since late 2012 in what was described as a short squeeze. Gold then lost steam to end the day lower.
The Dow soared 2400 just this week. That's better than 10%. The news on the virus front is encouraging, but any victory in that war will not be swift. It should be one step at a time. Tomorrow the report on unemployment claims comes out before the opening & that promises to be ugly. With the stock market being overbought, profit taking is expected & the stock market will be closed on Fri for a holiday. Meanwhile gold continues to have a lot of fans.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Federal Reserve officials agreed during their emergency meeting in mid-Mar that the coronavirus pandemic posed a threat to the economy, prompting them to slash interest rates near zero & agree to leave them unchanged until the US begins to recover. The central bank released minutes from 2 emergency meetings, held on Mar 2 & Mar 15. Policymakers cut the interbank lending rate by 50-basis points after the first meeting & by 100-basis points after the 2nd. At the same meeting, the Fed also said that it will buy at least $500B in Treasury securities & $200B in mortgage-backed securities over the coming months, known as "quantitative easing." In the week following the Mar 15 meeting, the Fed released plans for more than 6 new crisis-era lending facilities. “All participants viewed the near-term U.S. economic outlook as having deteriorated sharply in recent weeks and as having become profoundly uncertain,” the FOMC minutes said. "All saw U.S. economic activity as likely to decline in the coming quarter and viewed downside risks to the economic outlook as having increased significantly." The benchmark federal funds rate is now 0-0.25%, down from 1-1.25%. The cut essentially brought the nation’s interest rate to zero, where it will remain until policymakers are "confident that the economy had weathered recent events and was on track to achieve the Committee's maximum employment and price stability goals," the minutes said. As far as the eventual economic recovery from the pandemic, officials presented 2 different scenarios: One in which the US begins to rebound in H2, & a bleaker one, in which the economy does not start to recover until next year. “Participants noted that the timing of the resumption of growth in the U.S. economy depended on the containment measures put in place, as well as the success of those measures, and on the responses of other policies, including fiscal policy,” the minutes added.
Fed minutes reveal strategy to tackle coronavirus economic destruction
US West Texas Intermediate crude surged 12% in a sudden move toward the end of trading. The spike followed a report that the oil minister of Algeria said OPEC & its allies, known as OPEC+, would discuss a massive cut that could reach 10M barrels per day at its virtual meeting tomorrow. WTI jumped 12% before paring some of those gains to settle 6.2% higher at $25.09. Intel benchmark Brent crude gained 3.0% to settle at $32.84 per barrel. The United States Oil Fund USO), which tracks the price of oil, was halted for trading temporarily amid the wild activity into the end of the session. The exchange-traded fund resumed trading shortly after the initial halt. Oil markets are facing their greatest moment of uncertainty in decades, with the coronavirus outbreak leading to unprecedented demand loss. Investors are hoping for some clarity from tomorrow's meeting, which was delayed from Mon over persistent disagreements between OPEC de facto leader Saudi Arabia, & OPEC ally Russia. The meeting will focus on whether countries can agree to communally cut crude production in order to salvage plunging prices at a time when no one is buying oil & the world is running out of places to store it.
Oil surges in sudden move toward the end of trading, production cuts eyed
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he expects New York, the financial capital of the US & the epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak, will take longer to “reopen” its economy than other parts of the country. Mnuchin, a member of Pres Trump's coronavirus task force, said that the administration is eager to restart the areas of the US economy that have been ground to a halt by the deadly pandemic. But he expects that “we’ll be opening it up based on medical conditions,” rather than prioritizing states' economic output. “So obviously we’d like to open up as much GDP as we can,” Mnuchin said, but “my expectations are that places like New York are going to take a little bit longer.” Trump tweeted later that the US will reopen “sooner rather than later.” “Once we OPEN UP OUR GREAT COUNTRY,” he said, “the horror of the Invisible Enemy, except for those that sadly lost a family member or friend, must be quickly forgotten.” “Our Economy will BOOM, perhaps like never before!!!” Trump wrote.
Mnuchin expects New York will take longer to ‘reopen’ from coronavirus than other parts of US
Gold futures ended slightly higher following a choppy trading session, failing to recoup recent losses that pulled prices down from their highest levels since 2012 earlier this week. Prices bounced around after minutes from the Federal Reserve's Mar 3 & Mar 15 meetings showed that Fed staff's worst-case scenario was that an economic recovery wouldn't take hold until next year. Jun gold was at $1687 an ounce in electronic trading shortly after the release of the meeting minutes & settled at $1684 an ounce, essentially even. During the trading session, traders continued to monitor the news on developments tied to the COVID-19 pandemic & its drag on the global economy. Gold remains more than 2% higher for the week & yesterday topped $1700 an ounce to trade at its highest intraday level since late 2012 in what was described as a short squeeze. Gold then lost steam to end the day lower.
Gold ends with a modest gain, then edges lower after FOMC meeting minutes
The Dow soared 2400 just this week. That's better than 10%. The news on the virus front is encouraging, but any victory in that war will not be swift. It should be one step at a time. Tomorrow the report on unemployment claims comes out before the opening & that promises to be ugly. With the stock market being overbought, profit taking is expected & the stock market will be closed on Fri for a holiday. Meanwhile gold continues to have a lot of fans.
Dow Jones Industrials
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