Dow gave back 76, advancers slightly ahead of decliners & NAZ gained 84 to another record. The MLP index fell 1+ to 151 & the REIT index recovered 3+ to 364. Junk bond funds crawled higher & Treasuries continued to be sold as investors are demanding higher yields based on increasing projected gov deficits. Oil went up 1 to the 51s (another high since Feb) & gold plunged an astounding 51 to 1862, after its recent rally.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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The US economy shed 140K jobs in Dec, the first decline in 7 months as a surge in Covid-19 cases nationwide triggered a fresh wave of shutdowns, reversing the labor market's recovery. The unemployment rate held steady at 6.7%, the Labor Dept said in its monthly payroll report. The forecast called for the report to show that unemployment edged higher to 6.8% & the economy added 71K jobs. In total, the US has recovered roughly ½ of the 22M jobs lost during the first 2 months of the pandemic. There are still about 9.8M more Americans out of work than there were in Feb before the crisis began. After a sharp contraction in Mar & Apr, the labor market quickly rebounded, adding 9.3M jobs in the span of just 3 months. But since then, job growth has consecutively cooled each month with economists increasingly warning of a 2nd slowdown. The bulk of the losses were concentrated in the hospitality industry, as new restrictions intended to curb the spread of the virus forced bars, restaurants & hotels to either dramatically scale-back service or close down altogether. The sector lost 498K positions last month, with the majority stemming from restaurants & bars, which saw a decline of 372K. Since Feb employment in the leisure & hospitality industry has fallen by 3.9M, or 23.2%. Employment also dropped by 92K in amusements, gambling & recreation, while gov employment fell by 42K. These declines offset modest gains in other areas, such as professional & business services, retail & construction.
US economy sheds 140,000 jobs in Dec. as COVID surge threatens recovery
New research suggests that Pfizer's (PFE) Covid-19 vaccine can protect against a mutation found in 2 highly contagious variants
of the coronavirus that erupted in Britain & South Africa. Those
variants are causing global concern. They both share a common mutation
called N501Y, a slight alteration on one spot of the spike protein that
coats the virus. That change is believed to be the reason they can
spread so easily. Most
of the vaccines being rolled out around the world train the body to
recognize that spike protein & fight it. PFE teamed with
researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for
laboratory tests to see if the mutation affected its vaccine's ability
to do so. They used blood samples from 20 people who received the vaccine,
during a large study of the shots. Antibodies from those vaccine
recipients successfully fended off the virus in lab dishes, according to
the study posted yesterday on an online site for researchers. The study is preliminary & has not yet been reviewed by experts, a key step for medical research. But
“it was a very reassuring finding that at least this mutation, which
was one of the ones people are most concerned about, does not seem to be
a problem” for the vaccine, said PFE chief scientific officer Dr
Philip Dormitzer. The stock fell 2¢.
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 study suggests vaccine works against virus variant
More than 4K people died of Covid Covid-19 in the US in one day for the first time yesterday as the country reports record-high numbers and the outbreak grows more severe by the day. The US has reported a record-high daily death toll on 5 of the past 10 days, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over the past week, the US has reported an average of more than 2700 deaths per day, up 16% compared with a week ago. Nearly 20K people in the country have died of Covid in Jan alone, setting the pace for a month that will likely rival Dec for the deadliest month yet of the pandemic. Top health officials, including Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, are warning that the outbreak is likely to get worse before it gets better. “We believe things will get worse as we get into Jan,” Fauci said yesterday. He noted that Americans can still “blunt that acceleration” if they strictly adhere to public health measures like mask wearing & social distancing. As of Thurs, cases were still rising quickly, a sign that more deaths will follow as people get diagnosed, become sick & enter hospitals, many of which are overwhelmed by the surge of Covid patients. The US reported more than 274K new cases yesterday, bringing the 7-day average up to a new all-time high of 228K. Cases were still rising quickly, a sign that more deaths will follow as people get diagnosed, become sick & enter hospitals, many of which are overwhelmed by the surge of Covid patients.
U.S. reports more than 4,000 Covid deaths for first time as outbreak grows worse than ever
The employment data was unsettling for investors, especially because it was related to higher cases of the Covid virus. Unfortunately, the outlook is the virus war is that it will get worse over the short term even with more vaccinations being given to the population. Meanwhile bond holders keep selling bonds on expectations of higher interest rates.
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