Dow rose 165 (session high & over 27K), advancers a little ahead of decliners & NAZ was up 15. The MLP index retreated 2+ to the 131s & the REIT index added 4+ to the 347s. Junk bond funds continued strong & Treasuries crawled higher in price. Oil was even, just under 42, & gold rocketed ahead 21 to 1865 close to setting a record (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 coronavirus advisor Dr Anthony Fauci said it is unlikely the coronavirus will ever be eradicated. While the virus will not disappear, it's possible world leaders & public health officials could work to bring the virus down to “low levels,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases said. “I think with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine, which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get, I think when we put all three of those together, we will get control of this, whether it’s this year or next year. I’m not certain,” he added. But, he continued, “I don’t really see us eradicating it.” Fauci's comments are at odds with Pres Trump, who reiterated his claim last evening that the virus would disappear. Trump's remark comes amid warnings from experts, including at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, that Covid-19 cases & deaths could rise this fall. “The virus will disappear. It will disappear,” Trump said during a White House briefing on the pandemic. The coronavirus is not disappearing and continues to rapidly spread across the US. The virus has infected more than 3.9M in the country, killing 142K, according to Johns Hopkins University. Texas & Florida hit grim records Mon for daily coronavirus deaths based on a 7-day moving average, as hospitalizations continue to surge in 34 states. Fauci said the virus is unlike SARS, a coronavirus that emerged in the early 2000s & was contained. He said Covid-19 is incredibly efficient in transmitting from human to human and can produce a wide range of symptoms in people. He said it’s unlikely the virus will change into something like the common cold. “I have never seen infection in which you have such a broad range literally no symptoms at all in a substantial proportion of the population to some who get ill with minor symptoms to some who get ill enough to be in bed for weeks,” he added. “Others get hospitalized, require oxygen, intensive care, ventilation and death. The involvement with the same pathogen is very unique.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci warns the coronavirus won’t ever be totally eradicated
Less than 48 hours into trying to hammer out another massive coronavirus aid bill, there were signs Congress was already in danger of falling behind schedule. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hoped to unveil Senate Reps' bill — their counteroffer to a $3.4T Dem bill passed by House Dems in May — “in the next few days.” “We’re not settled yet, but we’re getting there,” Sen John Kennedy said after a Senate lunch meeting of GOP senators. There were signs of revolt in the GOP ranks. Sen Rand Paul, sarcastically suggested he had accidentally gone to the wrong meeting, because of the talk in the closed-door meeting of $105B for schools & colleges. “The majority of Republicans are now no different than socialist Democrats when it comes to debt,” Paul tweeted. A slow start is not helpful for a bill that both White House officials & House Dem leaders have publicly said they want to wrap up by Jul 31. As recently as last week, it was hoped the Senate bill would be unveiled by today. McConnell's comments came after a White House’s delegation — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin & chief of staff Mark Meadows — heard from Rep senators on a range of priorities, but the meeting ended without broad agreement.
Senate GOP effort to forge new coronavirus bill off to rocky start
The nation's top emergency official told lawmakers today that the US could face shortages of personal protective equipment in areas with climbing Covid-19 cases, calling the reliance on overseas suppliers a “national security issue.” While the US has more face masks, gloves & other PPE now compared with 2 months ago, a surge in demand in states with growing hospitalizations could cause “micro-shortages,” Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Pete Gaynor told the House Committee on Homeland Security. “We’re in a much better place than we were coming out of March and April. However, we are not out of the woods completely with PPE,” Gaynor added. Local officials have criticized federal efforts to procure essential protective equipment for health-care workers on the front lines of the pandemic, saying they've been placed into a competition among states, private entities & the US gov for critical supplies. Gaynor told the committee that FEMA is still competing for the equipment, saying that other countries, governors, mayors & tribal leaders are searching for the same supplies. The US doesn't manufacture most of the supplies but instead relies on countries in Asia to produce the equipment, Gaynor said. “It’s a national security issue,” he testified. “PPE and life saving equipment is just as important as building an aircraft carrier. We need to have that capacity here in the United States. We cannot rely on peer competitors to manage our destiny.” The US has made some strides in producing the equipment, but it could take months before the country can manufacture enough PPE to match its demand, specifically for states with growing needs as the outbreak spreads across the Sun Belt, he added. Later, Gaynor said FEMA's current challenge is ensuring hospitals, especially in states like Texas, Arizona, Florida & California, have adequate staffing to care for an increase in Covid-19 patients. “Getting volunteers from other parts of the country to go down there and help would be helpful to us to increase that bandwidth,” he said. Gaynor applauded Pres Trump for invoking the Defense Production Act that compelled companies in the US to begin manufacturing items in short supply. Dem lawmakers had urged Trump to invoke the act, but the pres said he would only do so “in a worst case scenario.”
FEMA says coronavirus hotspots may face PPE shortages
Gold rose further, getting a boost after China said the US had ordered it to close its Houston consulate, marking a further climb in tensions between the 2 countries & sparking demand for haven assets. Gold for Aug rose $21 (1.2%) to settle at $1865 an ounce (the highest since Sep 2011). The record intraday level for most-active gold futures stands at $1923 an ounce on Sep 6, 2011, with the settlement record at $1891 from Aug 22, 2011. China's foreign ministry said it was ordered to shut the consulate, which serves much of the South, in what it called an “unprecedented escalation” by the US, threatening retaliation if the decision isn't reversed. The State Dept said it ordered the closure to protect American intellectual property & private information. China also said it would take unspecified “necessary measures” after the US gov imposed trade sanctions on 11 companies it says are implicated in human rights abuses in China’s Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Gold surges toward all-time high, silver ends at highest since 2013 as U.S.-China tensions mount
Oil futures finished slightly lower, pulling back a day after settling at their highest since Mar, pressured by an unexpected weekly climb in US crude stockpiles, as rising tensions between the US & China raised the potential for a decline in energy demand. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US crude inventories rose by 4.9M barrels last week. The forecast called for a decline of 1.9M barrels. The American Petroleum Institute reported a climb of 7.5M barrels. Sep WTI crude which is now the front month contract lost 2¢ at $41.90 a barrel after trading as low as $41.14. Sep Brent crude gave up 3¢ to $44.29 a barrel, following a 2.4% gain in the previous session. The EIA data also showed crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub edged up by about 1.4M barrels, while total domestic oil production climbed by 100K barrels to 11.1M barrels a day last week.
Oil prices end with a slight loss after unexpected build in U.S. supplies
Late day buying brought the NAZ into the black & the Dow was able to add to its previous advance. Major worries include US-China relations which are sloshing around & the cornonavirus keeps fighting back against efforts to get it under control. That's raising demand for gold which looks like it wants to set a new record very soon.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
White House coronavirus advisor Dr Anthony Fauci said it is unlikely the coronavirus will ever be eradicated. While the virus will not disappear, it's possible world leaders & public health officials could work to bring the virus down to “low levels,” the director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases said. “I think with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine, which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get, I think when we put all three of those together, we will get control of this, whether it’s this year or next year. I’m not certain,” he added. But, he continued, “I don’t really see us eradicating it.” Fauci's comments are at odds with Pres Trump, who reiterated his claim last evening that the virus would disappear. Trump's remark comes amid warnings from experts, including at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, that Covid-19 cases & deaths could rise this fall. “The virus will disappear. It will disappear,” Trump said during a White House briefing on the pandemic. The coronavirus is not disappearing and continues to rapidly spread across the US. The virus has infected more than 3.9M in the country, killing 142K, according to Johns Hopkins University. Texas & Florida hit grim records Mon for daily coronavirus deaths based on a 7-day moving average, as hospitalizations continue to surge in 34 states. Fauci said the virus is unlike SARS, a coronavirus that emerged in the early 2000s & was contained. He said Covid-19 is incredibly efficient in transmitting from human to human and can produce a wide range of symptoms in people. He said it’s unlikely the virus will change into something like the common cold. “I have never seen infection in which you have such a broad range literally no symptoms at all in a substantial proportion of the population to some who get ill with minor symptoms to some who get ill enough to be in bed for weeks,” he added. “Others get hospitalized, require oxygen, intensive care, ventilation and death. The involvement with the same pathogen is very unique.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci warns the coronavirus won’t ever be totally eradicated
Less than 48 hours into trying to hammer out another massive coronavirus aid bill, there were signs Congress was already in danger of falling behind schedule. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hoped to unveil Senate Reps' bill — their counteroffer to a $3.4T Dem bill passed by House Dems in May — “in the next few days.” “We’re not settled yet, but we’re getting there,” Sen John Kennedy said after a Senate lunch meeting of GOP senators. There were signs of revolt in the GOP ranks. Sen Rand Paul, sarcastically suggested he had accidentally gone to the wrong meeting, because of the talk in the closed-door meeting of $105B for schools & colleges. “The majority of Republicans are now no different than socialist Democrats when it comes to debt,” Paul tweeted. A slow start is not helpful for a bill that both White House officials & House Dem leaders have publicly said they want to wrap up by Jul 31. As recently as last week, it was hoped the Senate bill would be unveiled by today. McConnell's comments came after a White House’s delegation — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin & chief of staff Mark Meadows — heard from Rep senators on a range of priorities, but the meeting ended without broad agreement.
Senate GOP effort to forge new coronavirus bill off to rocky start
The nation's top emergency official told lawmakers today that the US could face shortages of personal protective equipment in areas with climbing Covid-19 cases, calling the reliance on overseas suppliers a “national security issue.” While the US has more face masks, gloves & other PPE now compared with 2 months ago, a surge in demand in states with growing hospitalizations could cause “micro-shortages,” Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Pete Gaynor told the House Committee on Homeland Security. “We’re in a much better place than we were coming out of March and April. However, we are not out of the woods completely with PPE,” Gaynor added. Local officials have criticized federal efforts to procure essential protective equipment for health-care workers on the front lines of the pandemic, saying they've been placed into a competition among states, private entities & the US gov for critical supplies. Gaynor told the committee that FEMA is still competing for the equipment, saying that other countries, governors, mayors & tribal leaders are searching for the same supplies. The US doesn't manufacture most of the supplies but instead relies on countries in Asia to produce the equipment, Gaynor said. “It’s a national security issue,” he testified. “PPE and life saving equipment is just as important as building an aircraft carrier. We need to have that capacity here in the United States. We cannot rely on peer competitors to manage our destiny.” The US has made some strides in producing the equipment, but it could take months before the country can manufacture enough PPE to match its demand, specifically for states with growing needs as the outbreak spreads across the Sun Belt, he added. Later, Gaynor said FEMA's current challenge is ensuring hospitals, especially in states like Texas, Arizona, Florida & California, have adequate staffing to care for an increase in Covid-19 patients. “Getting volunteers from other parts of the country to go down there and help would be helpful to us to increase that bandwidth,” he said. Gaynor applauded Pres Trump for invoking the Defense Production Act that compelled companies in the US to begin manufacturing items in short supply. Dem lawmakers had urged Trump to invoke the act, but the pres said he would only do so “in a worst case scenario.”
FEMA says coronavirus hotspots may face PPE shortages
Gold rose further, getting a boost after China said the US had ordered it to close its Houston consulate, marking a further climb in tensions between the 2 countries & sparking demand for haven assets. Gold for Aug rose $21 (1.2%) to settle at $1865 an ounce (the highest since Sep 2011). The record intraday level for most-active gold futures stands at $1923 an ounce on Sep 6, 2011, with the settlement record at $1891 from Aug 22, 2011. China's foreign ministry said it was ordered to shut the consulate, which serves much of the South, in what it called an “unprecedented escalation” by the US, threatening retaliation if the decision isn't reversed. The State Dept said it ordered the closure to protect American intellectual property & private information. China also said it would take unspecified “necessary measures” after the US gov imposed trade sanctions on 11 companies it says are implicated in human rights abuses in China’s Muslim northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Gold surges toward all-time high, silver ends at highest since 2013 as U.S.-China tensions mount
Oil futures finished slightly lower, pulling back a day after settling at their highest since Mar, pressured by an unexpected weekly climb in US crude stockpiles, as rising tensions between the US & China raised the potential for a decline in energy demand. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US crude inventories rose by 4.9M barrels last week. The forecast called for a decline of 1.9M barrels. The American Petroleum Institute reported a climb of 7.5M barrels. Sep WTI crude which is now the front month contract lost 2¢ at $41.90 a barrel after trading as low as $41.14. Sep Brent crude gave up 3¢ to $44.29 a barrel, following a 2.4% gain in the previous session. The EIA data also showed crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub edged up by about 1.4M barrels, while total domestic oil production climbed by 100K barrels to 11.1M barrels a day last week.
Oil prices end with a slight loss after unexpected build in U.S. supplies
Late day buying brought the NAZ into the black & the Dow was able to add to its previous advance. Major worries include US-China relations which are sloshing around & the cornonavirus keeps fighting back against efforts to get it under control. That's raising demand for gold which looks like it wants to set a new record very soon.
Dow Jones Industrials
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