Dow rose 114, advancers over decliners 3-2 & NAZ jumped 173. The MLP Index was off 1+ to the 128s & the REIT index added 2+ to 347. Junk bond funds were little changed & Treasuries finished a little lower in price. Oil was bid higher in the 41s & gold soared to a new record, up 33 to 1931 (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)
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow maintained the m US economy is rapidly recovering from the worst downturn since the depression despite a resurgence in coronavirus cases across the country. "There's a huge housing boom. There's a retailing boom. That's an automobile boom. Trucking is still very strong," Kudlow said. "We've had a jobs boom, so far. And contrary to some poor reading, unemployment claims and continuing claims are falling rapidly, and the July jobs number on unemployment and job increases I think is going to look pretty good." Data last week showed that sales of existing homes jumped 20.7% in Jun after falling 9.7% the month before. Another report showed that manufacturing came back strong in Jun, expanding for the first time since Feb. And although the Labor Dept's weekly jobless claims report showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose for the first time in nearly 4 months, continuing claims -- or the people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid -- shrank by more than 1M, suggesting employers are recalling laid-off workers. "We're looking carefully at any moderation in the story. I get that, and there will be some in July. But I think the 'V-shaped' recovery and the 20 percent second-half growth is still very much intact," he added. He conceded that spikes in COVID-19 cases in Texas, California & Florida have flattened economic activity in those states but noted that most parts of the country have rolled back earlier restrictions & allowed businesses to reopen. His comments come as Rep senators prepare to unveil the next $1T stimulus package, which is expected to extend — but reduce substantially — just-expired expanded unemployment benefits, send a fresh round of $1200 stimulus check to American adults earning less than $75K in Aug & funnel 10s of Bs of $s in aid to schools & universities. Congress has already approved 3 massive stimulus packages totaling nearly $3T to offset the economic pain triggered by the outbreak of the virus & subsequent lockdown.
Coronavirus outbreak show signs of slowing in Arizona, Texas and Florida
Gold futures climbed past $1900 an ounce to tally their highest settlement & intraday on record, as investors continued to fret over the state of the COVID-19 battered global economy & weakness in the $, amid concerns over the sustainability of recent stock gains. Aug gold rose an eye popping $33 (1.8%) to settle at $1931 an ounce after trading as high as $1941. The settlement topped the previous record of $1897 from Fri & today's close also topped the previous intraday record of $1923 from Sep 6, 2011. Last week, prices rose 4.8%, the biggest weekly percentage climb since the week ended Apr 9 & some analysts say the never-before-seen level of $2K an ounce is within reach. US stocks closed lower on Fri, with the heavy NAZ Composite marking its first back-to-back decline since mid-May. The FOMC will make an announcement on monetary policy on Wed. In China, the US says it has closed its consulate in Chengdu, a move ordered by Beijing after the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston last week. Virus outbreaks & the effect on global economies has also seen investors flocking to gold. While investors have been consumed by concerns about outbreaks across the southern states, Spain emerged as a fresh worry amid a resurgence of the virus, notably in the northeast region of Catalonia. The UK gov put Spain back on a list of countries it deemed unsafe for travel & ordered travelers to isolate for 14 days upon return from the popular holiday destination.
Oil futures gave up early losses to finish higher, buoyed by a drop in the $ to its lowest in 2 years, but the continued spread of COVID-19 & its impact on the economy, as well as US-China tensions limited the rise in prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for Sep tacked on 31¢ (0.8%) to settle at $41.60 a barrel, after trading as low as $40.48. Sep Brent crude, the global benchmark, also edged up by 7¢ to $43.41 a barrel. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 world-wide climbed above 16.2M, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, & the death toll rose to 649K. The US case tally climbed to 4.2M & the death toll rose to 147K. US.-China tensions were on the rise last week, with Beijing ordering the US to close its consulate in the western Chinese city of Chengdu, days after the US ordered the closure of China's Houston consulate. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, Senate Reps were expected later today to release their proposal for a 2nd round of coronavirus spending. Also, traders watched for news on disruptions to crude & natural-gas production in the Gulf of Mexico after Hanna, which hit the South Texas coast as a hurricane over the weekend.
Oil gets a boost from a weaker dollar, but coronavirus worries limit the price rise
The price advance for gold was impressive. At the same time, stocks (i.e. tech stocks on the NAZ) are in strong demand. The FOMC meeting this week will probably not get a lot of attention. Not much for those guys to do with all that is going on fighting the virus & opening up the economy & schools. More earnings reports are do this week.. Later today, those guys in DC will share their thoughts about throwing more money around, trying to help the economy. The Dow keeps stumbling along, staying close to 26K, not far from its record highs reached earlier this year
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow maintained the m US economy is rapidly recovering from the worst downturn since the depression despite a resurgence in coronavirus cases across the country. "There's a huge housing boom. There's a retailing boom. That's an automobile boom. Trucking is still very strong," Kudlow said. "We've had a jobs boom, so far. And contrary to some poor reading, unemployment claims and continuing claims are falling rapidly, and the July jobs number on unemployment and job increases I think is going to look pretty good." Data last week showed that sales of existing homes jumped 20.7% in Jun after falling 9.7% the month before. Another report showed that manufacturing came back strong in Jun, expanding for the first time since Feb. And although the Labor Dept's weekly jobless claims report showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose for the first time in nearly 4 months, continuing claims -- or the people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid -- shrank by more than 1M, suggesting employers are recalling laid-off workers. "We're looking carefully at any moderation in the story. I get that, and there will be some in July. But I think the 'V-shaped' recovery and the 20 percent second-half growth is still very much intact," he added. He conceded that spikes in COVID-19 cases in Texas, California & Florida have flattened economic activity in those states but noted that most parts of the country have rolled back earlier restrictions & allowed businesses to reopen. His comments come as Rep senators prepare to unveil the next $1T stimulus package, which is expected to extend — but reduce substantially — just-expired expanded unemployment benefits, send a fresh round of $1200 stimulus check to American adults earning less than $75K in Aug & funnel 10s of Bs of $s in aid to schools & universities. Congress has already approved 3 massive stimulus packages totaling nearly $3T to offset the economic pain triggered by the outbreak of the virus & subsequent lockdown.
Kudlow explains why 'V-shaped' rebound is still 'intact,' despite COVID-19 spikes
Coronavirus outbreaks in Arizona, Florida &
Texas appear to be slowing down as more people practice social
distancing and states halt reopening plans. Yesterday, Arizona reported a 13% drop in the 7-day average of new Covid-19 cases, logging 2627 newly diagnosed cases over the previous 24 hours,
down from 3022 the previous week, according to data
compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The state has also begun to see signs that its Covid-19 hospitalizations
may be slowing down. As of yesterday, coronavirus hospitalizations also fell by 14% from the previous week to a 7-day average of 2919. Cases in Texas have fallen almost 19% over the
previous week, topping roughly 8404 new daily cases based on a 7-day moving average yesterday. Since its peak in average new daily cases on Jul 20 of 10,572, the
number has slightly fallen. Although Texas is showing signs that its new infections
are starting to slow, it hit a record-high in average hospitalizations
of 10,840 Covid-19 patients yesterday. The same day, the state also
broke a grim record of average daily new deaths of 152. Florida has just begun seeing its curve start to flatten since
reaching a record-high average of daily new cases of 11,870 on Jul 17. Yesterday, the state had 10,544
average new cases, which is a 8% decrease compared with a week ago. However, the state is still reporting growth in hospitalizations & fatalities as the virus continues to hit densely populated cities in southern Florida. Secretary of Health & Human Services Alex Azar said that
officials are starting to see a leveling-off of cases in hard-hit states
due to people “stepping up to the plate.” “It’s due to the fact
that people are actually wearing masks. They’re wearing their masks.
They’re social distancing. They’re engaging in good personal hygiene,”
Azar said. For the first time since Jun 12, the rate of growth in average daily
new Covid-19 cases fell across the US yesterday compared with a week
ago. Nationally, there were an average of 66K daily cases new cases yesterday, a 1.6% decrease from the previous week, based on a 7-day
moving average.
Coronavirus outbreak show signs of slowing in Arizona, Texas and Florida
Gold futures climbed past $1900 an ounce to tally their highest settlement & intraday on record, as investors continued to fret over the state of the COVID-19 battered global economy & weakness in the $, amid concerns over the sustainability of recent stock gains. Aug gold rose an eye popping $33 (1.8%) to settle at $1931 an ounce after trading as high as $1941. The settlement topped the previous record of $1897 from Fri & today's close also topped the previous intraday record of $1923 from Sep 6, 2011. Last week, prices rose 4.8%, the biggest weekly percentage climb since the week ended Apr 9 & some analysts say the never-before-seen level of $2K an ounce is within reach. US stocks closed lower on Fri, with the heavy NAZ Composite marking its first back-to-back decline since mid-May. The FOMC will make an announcement on monetary policy on Wed. In China, the US says it has closed its consulate in Chengdu, a move ordered by Beijing after the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston last week. Virus outbreaks & the effect on global economies has also seen investors flocking to gold. While investors have been consumed by concerns about outbreaks across the southern states, Spain emerged as a fresh worry amid a resurgence of the virus, notably in the northeast region of Catalonia. The UK gov put Spain back on a list of countries it deemed unsafe for travel & ordered travelers to isolate for 14 days upon return from the popular holiday destination.
Gold price marks highest settlement and intraday price on record
Oil futures gave up early losses to finish higher, buoyed by a drop in the $ to its lowest in 2 years, but the continued spread of COVID-19 & its impact on the economy, as well as US-China tensions limited the rise in prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for Sep tacked on 31¢ (0.8%) to settle at $41.60 a barrel, after trading as low as $40.48. Sep Brent crude, the global benchmark, also edged up by 7¢ to $43.41 a barrel. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 world-wide climbed above 16.2M, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, & the death toll rose to 649K. The US case tally climbed to 4.2M & the death toll rose to 147K. US.-China tensions were on the rise last week, with Beijing ordering the US to close its consulate in the western Chinese city of Chengdu, days after the US ordered the closure of China's Houston consulate. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, Senate Reps were expected later today to release their proposal for a 2nd round of coronavirus spending. Also, traders watched for news on disruptions to crude & natural-gas production in the Gulf of Mexico after Hanna, which hit the South Texas coast as a hurricane over the weekend.
Oil gets a boost from a weaker dollar, but coronavirus worries limit the price rise
The price advance for gold was impressive. At the same time, stocks (i.e. tech stocks on the NAZ) are in strong demand. The FOMC meeting this week will probably not get a lot of attention. Not much for those guys to do with all that is going on fighting the virus & opening up the economy & schools. More earnings reports are do this week.. Later today, those guys in DC will share their thoughts about throwing more money around, trying to help the economy. The Dow keeps stumbling along, staying close to 26K, not far from its record highs reached earlier this year
Dow Jones Industrials
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