Dow slid back 37 after a strong opening, decliners over advancers 4-3 & NAZ added 16. The MLP index lost 1+ to 122 & the REIT index pulled back 1 to 318. Junk bond funds were mixed & Treasuries rose in price. Oil crawled higher in the 16s & gold dropped 11 to 1733.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
One out of every 4 American adults say someone in their household has lost a job to the coronavirus pandemic, but the vast majority expect those former jobs will return once the crisis passes, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The economic devastation by COVID-19 is clear: 26.4M have lost their job in the past 5 weeks, Ms of homeowners are delaying mortgage payments & food banks are seeing lines of cars that stretch for miles. 46% of all Americans say their household has experienced some form of income loss from layoffs, reduced hours, unpaid leave or salary reductions. And yet, the survey finds a majority of Americans still feel positive about their personal finances. One possible reason: Among those whose households have experienced a layoff, 78% believe those former jobs will definitely or probably return. Another positive sign: The percentage of workers who say their household has lost a source of income is not significantly different from a few weeks ago. 71% of Americans now describe the national economy as poor, up from 60% 3 weeks ago & 33% in Jan. At the same time, 64% call their personal financial situation good — a number that remains largely unchanged since before the virus outbreak began. Some of the resiliency can likely be traced to the nearly $2T rescue package enacted by Congress that expanded jobless benefits, extended forgivable loans to small businesses & provided a gov check to most Americans — money that has helped stabilize some families' finances. The country is split on whether the economy will rebound over the next year. 45% expect it will improve, while 37% say it will worsen. Just 17% expect it to stay the same. The survey found Americans overwhelmingly support stay-at-home orders & other efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus — 61% described efforts in their area as about right, while 26% said they didn’t go far enough — even as those actions have forced an untold number of businesses to close. Lower-income households & those with less education appear especially hard hit by job losses – 29% of those whose families earn less than $50K a year said their household experienced a job loss, compared with 22% of those who make more. Similarly, 28% of those without a college degree experienced a household layoff, while just 19% with a degree said the same.
Congress delivered a nearly $500B infusion of coronavirus spending, rushing new relief to employers & hospitals buckling under the strain of a pandemic that has claimed almost 50K American lives & 1 in 6 jobs. The measure passed almost unanimously, but the lopsided tally belies a potentially bumpier path ahead as battle lines are being formed for much more ambitious future legislation that may prove far more difficult to maneuver thru Congress. The bipartisan measure neared passage as lawmakers gathered in DC as a group for the first time since Mar 27, adopting stricter social distancing rules while seeking to prove they can do their work despite the COVID-19 crisis. Lawmakers' face masks & bandanas added a somber tone to their effort to aid a nation staggered by the health crisis & devastating economic costs of the pandemic. Anchoring the bill is the Trump administration's $250B funding request to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, a fund to help small-& medium-sized businesses with payroll, rent & other expenses during the pandemic, which ran out last week after approving nearly 1.7M loans. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Tues the Small Business Administration has processed more loans for small business coronavirus relief than it has in total for the past decade, with over 1M companies with less than 10 workers receiving PPP funding. It also contains $100M demanded by Dems for hospitals & a nationwide testing program, along with a $60B set-aside for small banks & an alternative network of community development banks that focus on development in urban neighborhoods & rural areas ignored by many lenders. There's also $60B for small business loans & grants delivered thru the SBA's existing disaster aid program.
US consumer sentiment fell for a 3rd straight month as people weigh the coronavirus pandemic & the possibility of an economic re-opening, data released by the Univ of Mich showed. The consumer sentiment index fell to 71.8 in Apr from 89.1 in Mar. The forecast called for 67. That decline comes after a sharp drop in current economic conditions. The coronavirus pandemic has led to more than 26M job losses over the past 5 weeks, more than the employment gains since the last recession. Those sharp job losses have sparked some calls for re-opening the economy & easing stay-at-home regulations imposed to curb the virus spread. “Consumers’ reactions to relaxing restrictions will be critical, either putting further pressure on states to reopen their economies, or exerting added pressure to extend the restrictions even if it has negative consequences for economic prospects,” said Richard Curtin, chief economist for the Surveys of Consumers said. “The risks associated with these decisions are not equally balanced, with an incorrect decision to reopen having serious repercussions.” “The necessity to reimpose restrictions could cause a deeper and more lasting pessimism across all consumers, even those in states that did not relax their restrictions,” Curtin added. More than 860K coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the US, including nearly 50K deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
US consumer sentiment falls for a third consecutive month
The Dow is down about 800 for the week as it is stabilizing around 24K. That represents a significant advance from the lows near 18K, but still below the recent records in the 29Ks. Even though there are plenty of dark clouds around, investors appear to be fairly optimistic about the future.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
| CL=F | Crude Oil | 17.01 | +0.51 | +3.1% |
| GC=F | Gold | 1,743.40 | -2.00 | -0.1% |
One out of every 4 American adults say someone in their household has lost a job to the coronavirus pandemic, but the vast majority expect those former jobs will return once the crisis passes, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The economic devastation by COVID-19 is clear: 26.4M have lost their job in the past 5 weeks, Ms of homeowners are delaying mortgage payments & food banks are seeing lines of cars that stretch for miles. 46% of all Americans say their household has experienced some form of income loss from layoffs, reduced hours, unpaid leave or salary reductions. And yet, the survey finds a majority of Americans still feel positive about their personal finances. One possible reason: Among those whose households have experienced a layoff, 78% believe those former jobs will definitely or probably return. Another positive sign: The percentage of workers who say their household has lost a source of income is not significantly different from a few weeks ago. 71% of Americans now describe the national economy as poor, up from 60% 3 weeks ago & 33% in Jan. At the same time, 64% call their personal financial situation good — a number that remains largely unchanged since before the virus outbreak began. Some of the resiliency can likely be traced to the nearly $2T rescue package enacted by Congress that expanded jobless benefits, extended forgivable loans to small businesses & provided a gov check to most Americans — money that has helped stabilize some families' finances. The country is split on whether the economy will rebound over the next year. 45% expect it will improve, while 37% say it will worsen. Just 17% expect it to stay the same. The survey found Americans overwhelmingly support stay-at-home orders & other efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus — 61% described efforts in their area as about right, while 26% said they didn’t go far enough — even as those actions have forced an untold number of businesses to close. Lower-income households & those with less education appear especially hard hit by job losses – 29% of those whose families earn less than $50K a year said their household experienced a job loss, compared with 22% of those who make more. Similarly, 28% of those without a college degree experienced a household layoff, while just 19% with a degree said the same.
Poll reveals whether Americans believe jobs lost to pandemic will return
Congress delivered a nearly $500B infusion of coronavirus spending, rushing new relief to employers & hospitals buckling under the strain of a pandemic that has claimed almost 50K American lives & 1 in 6 jobs. The measure passed almost unanimously, but the lopsided tally belies a potentially bumpier path ahead as battle lines are being formed for much more ambitious future legislation that may prove far more difficult to maneuver thru Congress. The bipartisan measure neared passage as lawmakers gathered in DC as a group for the first time since Mar 27, adopting stricter social distancing rules while seeking to prove they can do their work despite the COVID-19 crisis. Lawmakers' face masks & bandanas added a somber tone to their effort to aid a nation staggered by the health crisis & devastating economic costs of the pandemic. Anchoring the bill is the Trump administration's $250B funding request to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, a fund to help small-& medium-sized businesses with payroll, rent & other expenses during the pandemic, which ran out last week after approving nearly 1.7M loans. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Tues the Small Business Administration has processed more loans for small business coronavirus relief than it has in total for the past decade, with over 1M companies with less than 10 workers receiving PPP funding. It also contains $100M demanded by Dems for hospitals & a nationwide testing program, along with a $60B set-aside for small banks & an alternative network of community development banks that focus on development in urban neighborhoods & rural areas ignored by many lenders. There's also $60B for small business loans & grants delivered thru the SBA's existing disaster aid program.
Small businesses get $500B coronavirus relief boost as House passes stimulus package
US consumer sentiment fell for a 3rd straight month as people weigh the coronavirus pandemic & the possibility of an economic re-opening, data released by the Univ of Mich showed. The consumer sentiment index fell to 71.8 in Apr from 89.1 in Mar. The forecast called for 67. That decline comes after a sharp drop in current economic conditions. The coronavirus pandemic has led to more than 26M job losses over the past 5 weeks, more than the employment gains since the last recession. Those sharp job losses have sparked some calls for re-opening the economy & easing stay-at-home regulations imposed to curb the virus spread. “Consumers’ reactions to relaxing restrictions will be critical, either putting further pressure on states to reopen their economies, or exerting added pressure to extend the restrictions even if it has negative consequences for economic prospects,” said Richard Curtin, chief economist for the Surveys of Consumers said. “The risks associated with these decisions are not equally balanced, with an incorrect decision to reopen having serious repercussions.” “The necessity to reimpose restrictions could cause a deeper and more lasting pessimism across all consumers, even those in states that did not relax their restrictions,” Curtin added. More than 860K coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the US, including nearly 50K deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
US consumer sentiment falls for a third consecutive month
The Dow is down about 800 for the week as it is stabilizing around 24K. That represents a significant advance from the lows near 18K, but still below the recent records in the 29Ks. Even though there are plenty of dark clouds around, investors appear to be fairly optimistic about the future.
Dow Jones Industrials
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