Dow jumped 300 (but 300 below early highs) advancers over decliners 5-2 & NAZ went up 66. The MLP index added 2+ to the 147s & the REIT index rose 2+ to the 377s. Junk bond funds inched higher & Treasuries remained weak with heavy selling. Oil declined in the 52s & gold fell 3 to 1845 (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)
The House will forge ahead next week with the process that would allow Dems to pass a coronavirus relief bill without Rep support, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. She said her chamber will move to pass a budget resolution, the first step toward approving legislation thru reconciliation. The process would enable Senate Dems to approve an aid measure without GOP votes. Pelosi said the House plans to pass a resolution & send it across the Capitol, where the Senate will also have to pass a budget measure. She expects that “by the end of the week we’ll be finished with the budget resolution.” The speaker said she hopes Dems can still win GOP support for Pres Biden's $1.9T rescue package as the White House holds talks with bipartisan lawmakers. But the House wants to prepare in case Dems fail to win over Reps skeptical of the price tag. “We have to be ready,” she added. Earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Schumer signaled the chamber would also move to pass a budget resolution soon. He said the Senate “as early as next week will begin the process of considering a very strong Covid relief bill.” Dems have pushed to inject more money into speeding up the Covid-19 vaccination effort & propping up households & businesses as a slowing but devastating virus surge batters the economy. While the US gained back ground after a drubbing early last year, more than 18M people are still receiving unemployment benefits as public health restrictions stay in place.
Pelosi says House will take first step toward passing Covid relief next week, with or without GOP
Gold futures ended lower to notch a 6th straight decline — their longest streak of session losses since Mar 2019. Prices had moved up in early dealings in the wake of some downbeat data on the US economy, then turned lower as Treasury yields climbed sharply. Rising bond yields can dull the luster of gold, which offer no yield. Meanwhile, data released today from the World Gold Council revealed that global gold demand fell last year to its lowest level since 2009. Feb gold lost $7 (0.4%) to settle at $1837 an ounce. The loss was gold's 6th straight day of declines, the longest skid for prices since the 7-session loss ended Mar 2019. Apr gold, which is now the most-active futures contract, declined by $7 (0.4%) to settle at $1841 an ounce. The Apr contract has been trading in a range of $1878-1821 for about 2 weeks. Gold prices had moved up shortly after some downbeat US economic data early today. A reading of those seeking initial jobless claims last week fell by 67K to a seasonally adjusted 847K, marking the lowest level in 3 weeks, but layoffs were still high early in 2021 as the economy wrestled with a winter surge in the coronavirus pandemic. Separately, a report on US economic growth, or GDP, showed that the economy grew at a modest 4% annual pace in the final 3 months of 2020, suggesting that the road to recovery may be longer than more optimistic expectations. The move for gold also come after the Fed held monetary policy steady, while noting that the sectors of the economy already damaged by the coronavirus pandemic are experiencing another round of pain. The central bank's interest-rate committee also said the pace of the economic recovery & employment has “moderated” in recent months.
Gold prices end lower to mark longest skid in nearly 2 years
American Airllines (AAL) shares jumped by more than 30% despite posting a record annual net loss of $8.9B, a trading frenzy fueled by mentions in a Reddit chat room. The carrier is the most-shorted US airline & the big move comes after explosive rallies in other heavily shorted stocks. The
rally cooled a few hours ago, with shares up 4%, after stock trading
platform Robinhood said it was restricting trading in AAL
to only those closing out of positions, adding the carrier to a list of other stocks in which it limited trading after their share prices shot up in recent days. Airline
analysts were quick to say the big move early today was not based on
the state of AAL's business. The airline & its competitors are
struggling to gain their footing in the coronavirus pandemic, with a recovery still elusive. The percentage of short interest in AAL shares far
outpaces that of its competitors. Short interest in AAL was 25% of
the company's float,
compared with 14% of Spirit Airlines (SAVE) & about 5% of United Airlines (UAL). The stock rose 1.54 (down 3+ mnnnn nnnnnnnnnn from its early high).
If you would like to learn more about AAL, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/AAL?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
American Airlines surges after better-than-expected earnings
Oil futures settled with a loss, as concerns over a slowdown in energy demand, due to the impact of the latest resurgence of coronavirus pandemic, undermined support provided yesterday from a bigger-than-expected drop in US crude supplies. Slowing travel activity in China amid a resurgence in COVID-19 fed expectations for weaker demand from the world's biggest energy consumer. Oil earlier found support in early trading, as prices attempted to extend gains from yesterday, when the Energy Information Administration reported a 10M-barrel decline in last week's US crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude for Mar delivery fell by 51¢ (1%) to settle at $52.34 a barrel. Mar Brent crude, which expires at the end of tomorrow's session, declined by 28¢ (0.5%) to $55.53 a barrel. Apr Brent, the most active contract, shed 43¢ (0.8%) to $55.10 a barrel. Chinese authorities have taken steps to dissuade travel around the Lunar New Year, with officials predicting Chinese will make 1.7B trips during the travel rush, down 40% from 2019. Travel was curtailed in 2020 due to the coronavirus.
Oil ends lower as demand concerns undermine support from supply decline
Stocks went up in the first 2 hours of trading, then stayed about even until the last 2 hours when there was profit taking. A lot is going on with speculators playing games shorting stocks. That is always a dangerous game, especially today with all the attention it received. When all is said & done, it's best to watch from the sidelines & let the big boys (whoever they are) make money or get beaten up. Meanwhile economic data is so-so. It has been fairly good, all considered. But the virus keeps fighting back hard. Even with some improvement recently, it's going to be around for months & will be a significant factor in limiting future economic growth. But the bulls have faith & keep hanging in there, buying stocks.
Dow Jones Industrials
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