Dow fell 89, decliners over advancers 3-2 & NAZ went up 68. The MLP index was off 1+ to the 116s & the REIT index fell 2 to 345. Junk bond funds edged up in price & Treasuries were in demand by investors. Oil climbed to the high 38s & gold inched up 1 to 1906.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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Gift giving will be in short supply during a holiday season marred by the pandemic. That's not a good sign for already-struggling retailers. 28% of consumers will shell out less on gifts this holiday season compared to last, according to a new Gallop poll. Gallup surveyed 1035 American adults between Sep 30 & Oct 15 & found participants estimated they will spend an average of $805 on gifts this year. That's less than the $942 spent last year & the lowest spending projection Gallup has measured since 2016, signaling sluggish sales for retailers already grappling with losses from COVID-19-related shutdowns earlier this year. Holiday spending typically increases year-over-year, jumping 3.3% on average since 2000, with sales climbing more than 5% in strong years & 2% in weaker years, according to the National Retail Federation. The last time forecasted holiday sales were this bad was during the financial crisis in 2008 & in the aftermath during the recession in 2009. With COVID-19 cases spiking again & the uncertainty surrounding the next round of stimulus checks, fewer Americans are seemingly willing to spend money on nonessential purchases like gifts. Indeed, separate research from a COVID Response Tracking Studty bt NORC at the University of Chicago in Jul suggested that roughly a ¼ of Americans say they burned thru some of their savings & lost income, with 2 in 10 reporting job loss.
COVID drives holiday gift spending to 4-year low, according to Gallup poll
Orders to US factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose a stronger-than-expected 1.9% in Sep with a key category that tracks business investment showing a solid gain as well. The uptick in orders followed a smaller 0.4% increase in Aug & was the best gain since an 11.8% surge in Jul, the Commerce Dept reported. Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key category seen as a proxy for business investment spending, rose 1% in Sep after bigger gains in Jul & Aug. While the activity was significantly greater than the modest 0.5% advance many economists had been expecting, US factories continue to face significant headwinds. The pace of durable goods orders has slowed after an initial burst in demand as the country re-opened after shutdowns in the spring to contain the virus. In addition to the new surge of infections now underway, analysts are worried that any boost from the $3T in support Congress passed in the spring is fading. Congress so far has been unable to renew programs to boost unemployment benefits & provide support to small businesses. For Sep, orders in the volatile transportation sector rose 4.1% with demand for motor vehicles & parts rising 1.5%. Even orders in the troubled commercial airline industry were up by $1.8B after having fallen $3.2B in Aug as many airlines struggling to cope with weak travel demand cut back on previous orders. Orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least & years, totaled a seasonally adjusted $237B in Sep. For the first 9 months of this year, orders are down 10.1% from the same period in 2019.
September factory orders up 1.9%, economists see risks ahead
Pfizer (PFE) touted in its earnings report that nearly 36K people have received a 2nd vaccination in its coronavirus vaccine phase 2/3 clinical trial that has 42K participants. PFE is one of the companies on the cutting edge of a coronavirus vaccine. Earlier in Oct, the company said it may apply for emergency-use authorization of its vaccine by late Nov. Its vaccine candidate was "well tolerated with mild to moderate fever
in fewer than 20% of the participants ... across all populations,"
PFE said. EPS was 39¢ & EPS, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 72¢. The results topped expectations of
70¢. The drugmaker posted revenue of $12.1B in the period. PFE
expects full-year EPS of $2.88-2.93,
with revenue of $48.8-49.5B. "In
the first nine months of the year, our Biopharma business grew 7%
operationally, despite a COVID-19-related negative impact of
approximately 2%, driven by the strong performance of many of our key
brands," PFE exec Frank D'Amelio said.
“I am pleased with our performance so far this year, including our
ability to maintain a steady supply of medicines to the patients who
rely on them around the world during these uniquely challenging times.
This performance adds to our confidence in our ability to achieve our
expectation of at least a 6% compound annual revenue growth rate through
2025 for New Pfizer.” The stock lost 42¢.
If you would like to learn more about PFE, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/PFE?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Pfizer earnings report touts COVID vaccine progress in clinical trial
Following yesterday's decline, investors were not motivated to return today. Tech stocks are doing well, but the rest of the stock market does not have many friends. The fight with Covid is not going well & that is on everybody's' minds.
Dow Jones Industrials
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