Dow dropped 730 near session lows, decliners over advancers 5-1 & NAZ declined 259. The MLP index dropped 6 to 131 & the REIT index fell 5+ to the 337s. Junk bond funds saw a little selling & Treasuries remained strong in the PM. Oil was lower in the 38s & gold went up 9 to 1780 (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)
Florida banned alchohol consumption at its bars after its daily confirmed coronavirus cases neared 9K, a new record that is almost double the previous mark set just 2 days ago. The Florida agency that governs bars announced the ban on Twitter just minutes after the Dept of Health reported 8942 new confirmed cases, topping the previous record of 5500 set Wed. State officials have attributed much of the new outbreak to young adults flocking to bars after they reopened in most of the state about a month ago, with many of them ignoring social distancing restrictions aimed at lowering the virus's spread. More than 24K new cases have been reported since Sat, more than a 1/5 of the 112K cases confirmed since Mar 1. The dept had not updated its death total, which still stood at 3327. The 7-day average for positive tests dropped slightly to 13.4%, down 1 percentage point from yesterday but still triple the rate of 3.8% of Jun 1. Florida's record-setting week for newly confirmed coronavirus cases got even worse with almost 9K reported today, nearly double the just-set mark & 5 times more than where the state record stood 2 weeks ago. The 7-day average for hospitalizations is also creeping up, hitting 172 on Thurs, about 70% higher than it was Jun 1.
The possibility of a surge in Covid-19 infections is likely to remain a threat to the US economy until a vaccine is developed, & a full recovery is still far off, Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Pres Ether George said. The shutdowns enacted to control the virus disproportionately hit hospitality, education, health & retail, & it will take a while for the economy to recover fully, George in Kansas City. “While we saw strong job gains in these industries in May, with employment increasing by 2 million jobs, a full recovery is still far off,” she added. The Fed's efforts to boost market liquidity & improve market functioning thru asset purchases & a slate of emergency lending facilities seem to have worked, George said. But economic activity may not fully rebound, & the possibility of a new surge of infections is likely to remain a “persistent risk” until a vaccine is developed, she cautioned. State & local govs, in particular, are struggling to balance their budgets after the pandemic led to a sharp drop in tax revenues, she said. Given the uncertainty over the outlook, it will be difficult for policymakers to determine the correct path for monetary policy. “Overall, it might be a while before the dust settles and we gain insight on whether further accommodation is necessary or not,” she added.
As coronavirus cases spike mostly across the American South & West, the country will soon “be seeing more deaths,” White House health adviser Dr Anthony Fauci warned. Deaths caused by Covid-19 lag behind other data points such as hospitalizations, which lag confirmed infections as the disease can take weeks to fully develop in a person. The US reported 40K new cases yesterday, more cases in a single day than ever before, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. As cases have risen in recent weeks, new deaths have steadily decreased, but Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, warned that trend might not last for long. “There are more case. There are more hospitalizations in some of those places & soon you’ll be seeing more deaths,” Fauci said. “Even though the deaths are coming down as a country, that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to start seeing them coming up now.” The virus is infecting mostly young people now, Fauci noted, as opposed to earlier in the outbreak when older & more vulnerable people were exposed, leading to more severe symptoms among patients & driving the death rate up. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, otherwise healthy young people are less likely to become severely sick & die from Covid-19 compared with older people. Officials in some states with expanding outbreaks, such as Florida & Texas, have pointed to the shift in infections toward younger people as an indication that the states are effectively protecting their most vulnerable residents. But Fauci said a backdrop of greater infection means more risk for everyone in the community. “The young people who are infected and don’t know they’re infected ... they may be inadvertently infecting the people who are susceptible to greater complications. Then you start seeing greater hospitalizations and deaths,” Fauci said. “It may take a few weeks, but we’ll see that and that’s my concern.” Today, VP Mike Pence said that Americans can “take some comfort in the fact that fatalities are declining all across the country.” He added that roughly ½ of all new cases in the US are among people younger than 35 years old, which he called “very encouraging news.” “This week, there were two days where we lost less than 300 Americans and you can see from this chart what has been a precipitous decline from some of the worst moments of this pandemic as it impacted areas of New York and New Jersey and the Northeast,” he said at a White House coronavirus task force briefing with Fauci & others. “The reality is we’re in a much better place.” At the briefing, however, Fauci emphasized that if young people fail to take precautions to curb the spread of the virus, they will infect older & vulnerable people.
As U.S. coronavirus cases spike, country will ‘be seeing more deaths,’ Dr. Fauci says
Gold futures finished higher to score a gain for the week, as a rise in infections of COVID-19 raised the potential for another round of shutdowns to prevent the spread, feeding haven demand for bullion. US states saw a single-day record rise of close to 40K infections Thurs, led by Florida, Texas, California & Arizona, surpassing the 36K from Apr 24 as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Against that backdrop, the $ traded little changed as gold futures settled, but looked to end lower for the week. A weaker $ can provide support for assets priced in the currency by buyers using alternative monetary units. Aug rose $9 (0.6%) to settle at $1780 an ounce after tapping an intraday low of $1754 & posting declines in each of the past 2 sessions. Prices on Tues had settled at the highest for a most-active contract since 2012. For the week, gold saw for an advance of 1.6%, its 3rd weekly rise in a row.
Oil futures declined, as a record rise in US coronavirus cases & growing infections in parts of the world pointed to long-term challenges for a recovery in crude-oil demand, pulling US prices down by more than 3% for the week. Several southern states saw confirmed cases rise by more than 30% over the past week. West Texas Intermediate (WRI) crude for Aug fell 23¢ (0.6%) to settle at $38.49 a barrel, following a 1.9% gain yesterday. Global benchmark Brent oil for Aug shed 3¢ to end at $41.02 a barrel after a 1.8% advance in the previous session. For the week, WTI saw a 3.4% decline, while Brent lost 2.8%. Data from Baker Hughes showed little change in the weekly US oil-rig count, which fell by just 1 to stand at 188. The number of active US oil rigs has not seen an increase since the week ended Mar 13. Helping to provide some support for prices was a report, using satellite data, pointing to a pick up in traffic in China, Europe & the US, that could be upbeat for energy uptake. However, that contrast with a survey of economists that indicates expectations for a deeper global recession than earlier estimates, which could ultimately prove a headwind for oil prices in the future.
Oil futures decline, with U.S. prices down over 3% for the week as spread of coronavirus looks to hurt demand recovery
The Dow finished lower for the week.& more importantly in the red for Jun. It's down 1% from its post recovery high in early Jun, but able to hold above 25K. The economic recovery is stumbling along, making investors nervous. Meanwhile, safe have gold is looking to go over 1800 & possibly reach a new record around 1900. Without any dramatic events coming, the bears have taken control of the stock market,
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Florida banned alchohol consumption at its bars after its daily confirmed coronavirus cases neared 9K, a new record that is almost double the previous mark set just 2 days ago. The Florida agency that governs bars announced the ban on Twitter just minutes after the Dept of Health reported 8942 new confirmed cases, topping the previous record of 5500 set Wed. State officials have attributed much of the new outbreak to young adults flocking to bars after they reopened in most of the state about a month ago, with many of them ignoring social distancing restrictions aimed at lowering the virus's spread. More than 24K new cases have been reported since Sat, more than a 1/5 of the 112K cases confirmed since Mar 1. The dept had not updated its death total, which still stood at 3327. The 7-day average for positive tests dropped slightly to 13.4%, down 1 percentage point from yesterday but still triple the rate of 3.8% of Jun 1. Florida's record-setting week for newly confirmed coronavirus cases got even worse with almost 9K reported today, nearly double the just-set mark & 5 times more than where the state record stood 2 weeks ago. The 7-day average for hospitalizations is also creeping up, hitting 172 on Thurs, about 70% higher than it was Jun 1.
Bars ordered to stop selling alcohol as new virus cases surge in Sunshine State
The possibility of a surge in Covid-19 infections is likely to remain a threat to the US economy until a vaccine is developed, & a full recovery is still far off, Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Pres Ether George said. The shutdowns enacted to control the virus disproportionately hit hospitality, education, health & retail, & it will take a while for the economy to recover fully, George in Kansas City. “While we saw strong job gains in these industries in May, with employment increasing by 2 million jobs, a full recovery is still far off,” she added. The Fed's efforts to boost market liquidity & improve market functioning thru asset purchases & a slate of emergency lending facilities seem to have worked, George said. But economic activity may not fully rebound, & the possibility of a new surge of infections is likely to remain a “persistent risk” until a vaccine is developed, she cautioned. State & local govs, in particular, are struggling to balance their budgets after the pandemic led to a sharp drop in tax revenues, she said. Given the uncertainty over the outlook, it will be difficult for policymakers to determine the correct path for monetary policy. “Overall, it might be a while before the dust settles and we gain insight on whether further accommodation is necessary or not,” she added.
Fed's George says full economic recovery is still far off
As coronavirus cases spike mostly across the American South & West, the country will soon “be seeing more deaths,” White House health adviser Dr Anthony Fauci warned. Deaths caused by Covid-19 lag behind other data points such as hospitalizations, which lag confirmed infections as the disease can take weeks to fully develop in a person. The US reported 40K new cases yesterday, more cases in a single day than ever before, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. As cases have risen in recent weeks, new deaths have steadily decreased, but Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, warned that trend might not last for long. “There are more case. There are more hospitalizations in some of those places & soon you’ll be seeing more deaths,” Fauci said. “Even though the deaths are coming down as a country, that doesn’t mean that you’re not going to start seeing them coming up now.” The virus is infecting mostly young people now, Fauci noted, as opposed to earlier in the outbreak when older & more vulnerable people were exposed, leading to more severe symptoms among patients & driving the death rate up. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, otherwise healthy young people are less likely to become severely sick & die from Covid-19 compared with older people. Officials in some states with expanding outbreaks, such as Florida & Texas, have pointed to the shift in infections toward younger people as an indication that the states are effectively protecting their most vulnerable residents. But Fauci said a backdrop of greater infection means more risk for everyone in the community. “The young people who are infected and don’t know they’re infected ... they may be inadvertently infecting the people who are susceptible to greater complications. Then you start seeing greater hospitalizations and deaths,” Fauci said. “It may take a few weeks, but we’ll see that and that’s my concern.” Today, VP Mike Pence said that Americans can “take some comfort in the fact that fatalities are declining all across the country.” He added that roughly ½ of all new cases in the US are among people younger than 35 years old, which he called “very encouraging news.” “This week, there were two days where we lost less than 300 Americans and you can see from this chart what has been a precipitous decline from some of the worst moments of this pandemic as it impacted areas of New York and New Jersey and the Northeast,” he said at a White House coronavirus task force briefing with Fauci & others. “The reality is we’re in a much better place.” At the briefing, however, Fauci emphasized that if young people fail to take precautions to curb the spread of the virus, they will infect older & vulnerable people.
As U.S. coronavirus cases spike, country will ‘be seeing more deaths,’ Dr. Fauci says
Gold futures finished higher to score a gain for the week, as a rise in infections of COVID-19 raised the potential for another round of shutdowns to prevent the spread, feeding haven demand for bullion. US states saw a single-day record rise of close to 40K infections Thurs, led by Florida, Texas, California & Arizona, surpassing the 36K from Apr 24 as compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Against that backdrop, the $ traded little changed as gold futures settled, but looked to end lower for the week. A weaker $ can provide support for assets priced in the currency by buyers using alternative monetary units. Aug rose $9 (0.6%) to settle at $1780 an ounce after tapping an intraday low of $1754 & posting declines in each of the past 2 sessions. Prices on Tues had settled at the highest for a most-active contract since 2012. For the week, gold saw for an advance of 1.6%, its 3rd weekly rise in a row.
Gold futures finish higher, tally a gain for the week as COVID-19 spread spurs haven demand
Oil futures declined, as a record rise in US coronavirus cases & growing infections in parts of the world pointed to long-term challenges for a recovery in crude-oil demand, pulling US prices down by more than 3% for the week. Several southern states saw confirmed cases rise by more than 30% over the past week. West Texas Intermediate (WRI) crude for Aug fell 23¢ (0.6%) to settle at $38.49 a barrel, following a 1.9% gain yesterday. Global benchmark Brent oil for Aug shed 3¢ to end at $41.02 a barrel after a 1.8% advance in the previous session. For the week, WTI saw a 3.4% decline, while Brent lost 2.8%. Data from Baker Hughes showed little change in the weekly US oil-rig count, which fell by just 1 to stand at 188. The number of active US oil rigs has not seen an increase since the week ended Mar 13. Helping to provide some support for prices was a report, using satellite data, pointing to a pick up in traffic in China, Europe & the US, that could be upbeat for energy uptake. However, that contrast with a survey of economists that indicates expectations for a deeper global recession than earlier estimates, which could ultimately prove a headwind for oil prices in the future.
Oil futures decline, with U.S. prices down over 3% for the week as spread of coronavirus looks to hurt demand recovery
The Dow finished lower for the week.& more importantly in the red for Jun. It's down 1% from its post recovery high in early Jun, but able to hold above 25K. The economic recovery is stumbling along, making investors nervous. Meanwhile, safe have gold is looking to go over 1800 & possibly reach a new record around 1900. Without any dramatic events coming, the bears have taken control of the stock market,
Dow Jones Industrials
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