Dow went up 118, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ was off 4. The MLP index added 3 to the 135s & the REIT index rose 2 to 379 (a high since mid Mar). Junk bond funds remained in demand & Treasuries inched higher. Oil climbed higher in the 41s & gold fell 5 to 1880.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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An experimental Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer (PFE) & BioNTech (BNTX) was 95% effective in final
results from a pivotal study & is showing signs of being safe, key
pieces of data as the companies prepare to ask health regulators to authorize use. PFE
plans to seek authorization for the vaccine within days, leaving the vaccine on track to go into distribution by
the end of the year if approved by health regulators. Out of 170 adult volunteers in the nearly 44K-subject trial who
developed Covid-19 with at least one symptom, 162 received a placebo,
while 8 got the vaccine. The
resulting 95% effectiveness rate puts the shot's performance on par with
shingles & measles vaccines. It is also consistent with the vaccine's
showing in a peek last week at how it did in an analysis of the first
94 subjects to fall sick. Researchers
haven't found any serious safety issues. The
vaccine appeared to be well tolerated following a review of data from
8K study subjects. A severe side effect was fatigue, reported by 3.8% of the subjects. Also, 2% of subjects reported headaches. The
companies said they have collected the 2 months of safety data on
about 19K study subjects requested by the Food & Drug
Administration but are still reviewing all those results. The company is waiting to fully analyze the data & compile required
documentation before asking for authorization, a spokeswoman said. PFE stock rose 66¢ & BNTX jumped 4.77 .
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
If you would like to learn more about BNTX, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/BNTX?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Pfizer announces new breakthrough on coronavirus vaccine
Lowes (LOW) sales for the recent qtr grew, continuing gains & yielding
more online orders during the Covid-19 pandemic, though profit fell
because of higher expenses. The home-improvement retailer posted EPS of 91¢, compared with $1.36 last year. Adjusted EPS were $1.98, meeting expectations. Sales rose 28% to $22.3B. Analysts were looking for $21.2B. Sales grew 30% for the 2nd qtr. Sales
on Lowes.com more than doubled. Sales in all merchandising departments
grew more than 15%, while all regions' sales rose more than 20%, CEO Marvin Ellison said. Comparable sales grew 30.1% & comparable sales for US home improvement rose 30.4%. Selling, general & administrative expenses grew to $4.77B from $3.77B. During the qtr, the company spent $245M in Covid-related support for frontline hourly associates. LOW expects to buy back $3B in stock in Q4. For Q4, it expects EPS of $1.10-1.20 on a reported & adjusted basis. It sees
comparable sales growth of about 15-20% from a year ago. For the 4th qtr in the prior year, the company posted EPS of 66¢ on sales of $16B. The company expects Q4 adjusted operating income as a percentage of
sales to be about flat compared with the prior-year period due to
Covid-19-related operating expenses, $150M in expenses related to
the overhaul of the layout of US stores & investments for its
supply-chain network. The stock fell 9.44 (6%).
If you would like to learn more about LOW, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/LOW?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Lowe’s 3Q sales rise, profit shrinks
Dr Scott Gottlieb urged Americans to take steps to prevent coronavirus deaths, suggesting it could be the final time an aggressive pandemic response is needed in the US. The former FDA chief in the Trump administration also called the gov to step in & provide more economic stimulus. “This may be the last time we have to do it, so we really should do what we can to try to preserve life over the next two or three months, recognizing that there’s really a better future ahead of us, with respect at least to Covid-19 in 2021,” Gottlieb said. Capitol Hill & the White House have been deadlocked for months over another round of fiscal support for the US economy, after many of the key programs from earlier stimulus legislation expired at the end of Jul. Gottlieb said that passing an additional relief bill is critical to help keep businesses afloat, particularly those that state & local govs order to close in the coming months such as bars & restaurants. “We need to think about what temporary sacrifices we’re willing to make, including economically, with Congress stepping in for another round of PPP,” Gottlieb added, referring to the Paycheck Protection Program, a small business loan offering created in the Mar coronavirus relief bill. Gottlieb said that optimistic developments around Covid-19 vaccines are why “we see the light at the end of the tunnel” of a health crisis that killed 249k people in the US this year. More than 11.3M in the US have been infected.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb urges Covid stimulus, sacrifices: ‘This may be the last time’
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