Dow sank 943 (close to session lows), decliners over advancers 9-1 & NAZ plunged 426. The MLP index fell 3+ to the 111s & the REIT index dropped 7+ to the 333s. Junk bond funds continued lower & Treasuries were flattish with all the uncertainty in various markets. Oil was off 2 to the 37s & gold tumbled 34 to 1877 (more on both below).
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.2180338269244485)
2 years' worth of e-commerce growth is about to be packed into one holiday season, according to a new forecast, as Americans turn in droves to online shopping to avoid crowded stores & malls during the coronavirus pandemic. Online sales this Nov & Dec are forecast to surge 33% year over year to a record $189B, Adobe Analytics said, based on web transactions of 80 of the top 100 US internet retailers. The e-commerce gains could go even higher if consumers receive another round of gov stimulus checks or if brick-&-mortar stores are forced to shut down again to curb the spread of Covid-19, said Jason Woosley, VP of commerce product & platform at Adobe. Should those 2 things occur, Adobe expects consumers could spend an extra $11B online, pushing total holiday spending past $200B. “It’s just incredible,” Woosley said. “If you would have asked me last year that we’d be talking about 33% [growth], I would have said you were crazy.” This holiday season is likely to have a whopping 18 days where digital spending tops $3B in a 24-hour window. Last year, outside of the window of Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, there were only 3 such days. The firm expects online sales will surpass $2B every day from Nov 1-21, as parents look to stock up on hot toys & new video gaming consoles. Thru Dec 31, Americans are likely to spend $28M more using their smartphones compared with 2019. That will account for 42% of all online sales during the holidays & mark 55% year-over-year growth for mobile devices. Adobe also predicts more consumers will shop online on Black Friday this year, as the appeal of standing in line before daybreak for doorbuster deals fades. Retailers are also actively courting shoppers on the web, partly via ads on Instagram & TikTok. Americans are expected to spend $10B online the day after Thanksgiving, up 39% year over year. Cyber Monday, though, is predicted to remain the biggest online shopping event of the year, bringing in $12.7B in sales, up 35% from 2019 levels. The pandemic has also instilled in many consumers a desire to shop at small businesses, many of which have struggled more than national retail chains to stay afloat. Adobe predicts small retailers that bring in $10-50M in sales annually online will report a collective 107% revenue boost during the holidays, compared with an 84% jump at larger retailers, which bring in more than $1B in e-commerce sales each year.
Surge in online holiday shopping will pack 2 years of growth into one season, Adobe says
German officials announced tough new business restrictions today meant to curb the spread of the coronavirus & France is bracing for more measures ahead of an address by the pres. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the country will implement a 4-week shutdown of restaurants, bars, cinemas, theaters & some other such facilities beginning Nov 2 to try to wrestle the virus under control. Merkel told reporters that the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care across the country has doubled over the past 10 days, adding that Germany's hospitals will hit capacity in the coming weeks if that pace continues. “These are tough measures,” she said. “We must act, and now, to avoid an acute national health emergency.” Shops, schools & day cares will remain open, but will face new restrictions on capacity. Restaurants will remain open for takeout. She implored citizens to avoid unnecessary travel. “We can say that our health system can cope with the challenge today,” Merkel said. “But if the pace of infections continues like this, then we’ll reach the limits of what the health system can manage within weeks.” Germany reported a record spike of 15K new cases yesterday. The country has reported an average of more than 11K new cases of the virus per day over the past week, up more than 61% compared with a week ago, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Amid growing fears that the surge in cases & the gov's response to it could devastate an already reeling economy, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said Nov will be a critical month. “November will be a month of truth,” Scholz said. “The increasing numbers of infections are forcing us to take tough countermeasures in order to break the second wave with targeted and temporary measures, including effective financial aid for the affected companies.” The virus is surging across much of the Northern Hemisphere as colder weather settles in, forcing people indoors & allowing it to spread more easily. European officials have attributed the surge to “pandemic fatigue,” as well, meaning that people are tired of strictly adhering to public health measures. France is also bracing for new restrictions, with Pres Emmanuel Macron set to address the nation shortly. The country has reported an average of more than 39K new cases of the virus per day over the past week, up over 54% compared with a week ago. Italy reported a record spike of 26K new cases, its Health Ministry said. The country has reported an average of more than 19K new cases of the virus per day over the past week, up over 88% compared with a week ago. “We are deeply in the second wave now,” Ursula von der Leyen, pres of the European Commission, said
Germany announces new Covid restrictions, France braces for more as virus surges
United Parcel Service (UPS) revenue rose nearly 16% in Q3 as its business
continues to be boosted by the influx of packages moving domestically & internationally during the pandemic. The delivery giant said that delivery volumes rose
13.8% in its large US domestic business as more
people shopped online. Meanwhile, intl shipments rose 12%, as a
reduction in passenger flights that normally handle cargo has given
shippers fewer options. Overall
profit rose 11.8% due to the extra business, although its US business
posted a decline in profit due to the added costs & lower margins of
delivering Ms more packages to homes. Shippers are also using
lower-priced options, while higher-priced services like next-day air
decline in the US. CEO Carol Tomé said that the business was boosted primarily
by strong demand from Asia & resurgent growth from small &
medium-size businesses shipping thru its network. Finance Chief Brian Newman said that the company is working
closely with its customers and “using our proven tools to control volume
and ensure the resiliency” of its network during the coming peak
season. For the period ended Sep 30, EPS was $2.24 compared with $2.01, in the prior-year period. Excluding some restructuring costs, EPS
was $2.28. The forecast was for EPS of $1.90 on revenue of $20.2B. But the stock tumbled 14.96 (9%).
If you would like to learn more about UPS, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/UPS?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
UPS posts strong gains as package volumes swell
Gold futures fell sharply to mark their lowest settlement in
about a month as declines in global equities, in reaction to rising
COVID-19 cases in Europe & the US, prompted investors to take refuge
in the $. Dec gold fell $32 (1.7%) to settle at $1879 an ounce. Prices,
based on the most-active contract, settled at the lowest level since
Sep 25, European equities fell & US benchmark stock indices
saw heavy losses as European countries weighed imposing a new round of
lockdowns to contain the pandemic & the US saw a continued surge in
new cases. The number of new US cases daily rose back above 70K
today after hitting a record above 80K at the end of last week. The US has reported a record 500K cases over the past week, while the 7-day average of confirmed new
cases hit a record of 7K on Mon according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Gold ends at 1-month low as investors favor the U.S. dollar amid stock market losses
Oil futures dropped, with global benchmark prices at their lowest settlement since Jun, as US gov data revealed the biggest weekly climb in domestic crude stockpiles since Jul & the continued surge in COVID-19 cases fed expectations for lower energy demand. Those bearish factors outweighed a near-term drop in crude output in the Gulf of Mexico as Hurricane Zeta neared landfall on the Gulf Coast. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US crude inventories rose 4.3M barrels last week. That followed declines in each of the previous 2 weeks and marked the biggest weekly rise since Jul. Analysts forecast a weekly climb of 200K barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute on Tues reported an increase of nearly 4.6 M barrels. The EIA data also showed crude stocks at the Cushing, Okla, storage hub edged down by 400K barrels for the week, but total oil production jumped by 1.2Mn barrels a day to 11.1M barrels. Output continued its recovery from hurricane-related disruptions earlier this month. Dec West Texas Intermediate crude, the US futures benchmark, fell $2.18 (5.5%) to settle at $37.39 a barrel, the lowest front-month contract finish since Oct 2. Dec Brent crude slid $2.08 (5.1%) to $39.12 a barrel, marking the lowest settlement for the global benchmark since Jun 12.
Oil prices drop with weekly U.S. supplies up over 4 million barrels and COVID cases on the rise
Today was another cheerless day for stocks with added selling into the close. The virus keeps fighting back hard, especially in the US & Europe, forcing govs to restrict activity. People are having a difficult time adjusting to the new lifestyle which keeps dragging on. The Dow is down an eye popping 1800 this week. Ouch!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment