Dow slid back 53, advancers over decliners about 2-1 & NAZ went up 26. The MLP index gained 4 to 142 & the a REIT index recovered 1+ to 362 after yesterday's selloff. Junk bond fund crawled higher & Treasuries were weak. Oil jumped 2+ to the high 49s & gold was about even at 1947 after yesterday's surge.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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US auto sales for General Motors (GM) declined 11.8% in 2020 but showed strong signs of a recovery in Q4. GM's
domestic sales rose 4.8% during the last 3 months of last year
compared with the same period in 2019. Retail sales for the entire auto
industry returned to pre-pandemic levels in Q4, the
company added. Commercial fleet customers also started to return toward
the end of the year. GM's
strong Q4 is likely a good sign for the auto industry
overall. The majority of automakers are scheduled to report their US
sales today. Domestic vehicle sales in 2020 were expected to be off by at least 15% compared with 2019. The stock rose 59¢..
If you would like to learn more about GM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/GM?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
GM’s U.S. sales rose 4.8% in the fourth quarter in an otherwise dismal year
US manufacturers grew faster in Dec as new orders matched a pandemic high, signaling they are weathering the record coronavirus outbreak better than other major industries. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index rose to 60.7% from 57.5% in the prior month, marking the highest level in almost 2½ years. The forecast called for the index to total 57%. Readings over 50% indicate growth. New orders, production & employment all rose in Dec. The index for new orders climbed to 67.9% from 65.1%. The production gauge increased 4 points to 64.8%. The employment barometer rose 3.1 points to 51.5%, moving into positive territory for the 2nd time in 3 months. Employment had been negative for 14 straight months — the weakness preceded the pandemic — before climbing back above 50% in Oct 16 of the 18 industries tracked by ISM expanded in Dec, unchanged from the prior month. The ISM index is compiled from a survey of senior execs who are asked whether business is getting better or worse. The gauge tends to rise or fall in tandem with the health of the economy. What the index doesn't reveal is just how well companies are doing. Even though the latest ISM reading is historically high, manufacturers aren't actually faring as well now as they were one year ago. A full recovery will take awhile. The economy is expected to make a stronger rebound later in the year if the vaccines prove effective & become more widespread, but the next few months could be rocky. Manufacturers are likely to outperform other key segments of the economy, but they can't fully return to normal until the rest of the country does.
U.S. manufacturers grow faster in December despite coronavirus surge, ISM finds
Cleveland Federal Reserve Pres Loretta Mester said the central bank could continue its $120B per-month asset purchases thru all of 2021 even if the economy improves in H2 of the year. Mester noted that the Fed agreed in Dec that asset purchases would continue until there is substantial progress in meeting its twin goals of low unemployment & a 2% annual inflation rate. Mester added “substantial progress” might not be reached even with a H2 economic recovery. “Even if we get a strong second half of the year, I don’t really anticipate that we’ll necessarily be at that substantial progress,” Mester said. “We’ll have made some progress, but I probably want to see a little more.” She is expecting “a pretty weak first couple of months of the year” & then improvement as more Americans get the COVID-19 vaccine. Even with these ups & downs, Mester said Fed policy is in the right place. The Fed has lowered its benchmark interest rate to zero & added $3T of asset to its balance sheet. “I’m happy with the way that policy is calibrated right now,” she added.
Fed’s Mester says asset purchases could continue all year even if economy strengthens in second half
Not much for traders to today until the Georgia election elections are decided. At least the manufacturing data above sounds reasonably encouraging
Dow Jones Industrials
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