Dow gave back 9, advancers over decliners about 3-2 & NAZ rose 20 to go over 14K & a new record. The MLP index was off 1+ to 151 & the REIT index went up 1+ to the 387s. Junk bond funds were purchased today & Treasuries edged higher. Oil rose into the 58s & gold added 3 to 1837 (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 US budget deficit soared in Jan as Congress approved another massive coronavirus relief bill that sent direct aid to Americans still reeling from the pandemic, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported. In Jan, the gap between what the gov spent & what it collected hit $165B, 5 times what it was one year ago. The agency estimated that revenue in Jan totaled $387B, while spending soared to $552B after Congress passed the $900B aid package. The most expensive provision in the legislation was the $142B in stimulus checks the federal gov delivered in Jan. Spending on unemployment benefits rose to $34B last month from $28B in Dec. Spending on unemployment benefits, which were extended thru mid-Mar in the latest relief bill, jumped to $34B last month from $28B in Dec & $3B in Jan 2020, before the crisis began. Payments on emergency rental assistance, meanwhile, cost the federal gov $25B in Jan. "The largest changes in outlays compared with last year stem from coronavirus legislation," the CBO said. "January 2021 is the first month in which there were significant budgetary effects from the additional funding provided ... for new and existing programs in response to the pandemic." For the first 4 months of the 2021 fiscal year, which began in Oct, the federal budget deficit rose 90% to $738B, nearly double the $348B from the same time period last year. In fiscal 2020, the deficit ballooned to a staggering $3.1T, smashing the previous record of $1.4T, set in 2009. The deficit is expected to continue its astronomical rise this year, as the Biden administration pushes a nearly $2T relief package, including a fresh round of $1400 stimulus checks. Critics, including former Clinton economic adviser Larry Summers, have slammed the size of the package, but Pres Biden has maintained the danger is "going too small."
US deficit soared in January amid new COVID-19 relief spending, CBO says
Boeing (BA), a Dow stock, said that it delivered 26 planes to customers last month but
order cancellations continued to outpace new sales as the manufacturer
is stil struggling in the COVID-19 pandemic. The company sold 4 new aircraft in Jan, 747-8 freighters & logged 6 cancellations. Its
backlog of planes that have been ordered but not yet delivered was
4016 at the end of the month, including routine adjustments for orders
the company sees as at risk, down from 4055 at the end of Dec. In
Jan 2020, BA's backlog stood at 5393. The 26 deliveries included 21 of its 737 Max planes. BA resumed deliveries of the beleaguered jets to airlines in Dec after federal
regulators lifted a 20-month grounding stemming from 2 deadly crashes
that killed 346. The company didn't deliver any 787
Dreamliners, the widebody jets, whose handover to customers BA
delayed so it could increase inspections after finding issues with
certain seams on the aircraft. Last month, the company said it expected
to resume deliveries of these planes later in Q1,
forecasting “very few, if any” delivered in Feb. The stock went up 3.14.
If you would like to learn more about BA, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/BA?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Boeing delivers 26 planes in January as cancellations outpace new sales
The global tally for confirmed cases of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 climbed above 106M today, according to Johns Hopkins University,
while the death toll rose above 2.3M. The US has the highest
case tally in the world at more than 27M & the highest death
toll at 465K. The US added at
least 92K new cases yesterday with at least 1547 deaths. Case numbers have been declining,
however. The US averaged 111K new cases a day in the past week,
down 36% from the average 2 weeks ago. Hospitalizations have also been
falling,
There were 80K COVID-19 patients in US hospitals on Sun, down
from 81K a day earlier & the lowest level in almost 3 months. A World
Health Organization expert visiting the Chinese city of Wuhan said the
coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and most
probably jumped to humans via an intermediary species. Brazil has the 2nd highest death toll at 231K & is 3rd by
cases at 9.5M. India is 2nd worldwide in cases with 10.8M & now 4th in deaths at 155K. Mexico has the 3rd
highest death toll at 166K & 13th highest case tally at 1.9M. The UK has 3.9M cases & 113K deaths, the highest
in Europe & 5th highest in the world.
Global cases of COVID-19 top 106.5 million and U.S. death toll tops 465,000
Gold futures rose, extending their gains to a 3rd session in a row to mark their highest settlement in more than a week. Gold for Apr added $3 to settle at $1837 an ounce, the highest most-active contract finish since Feb 1. The move followed a 1.2% gain yesterday. A slight retrenchment in equities yesterday & a retreat in the $, along with steadiness in yields for Treasuries provided some support for gold.
Gold prices up a third session to settle at highest in over a week
Oil futures moved up, shaking off earlier weakness, as signs of improving energy demand prompted global benchmark prices to tally an 8th consecutive session gain. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for Mar rose 39¢ (0.7%) to settle at $58.36 a barrel, with front-month prices scoring a 7th consecutive session of gains. That is the longest streak of gains in 2 years, since a 8-session rise. Apr Brent crude tacked on 53¢ (0.9%) to end at $61.09 a barrel. Today's rise marked its 8th in a row & both WTI & Brent crude futures logged their highest settlements since Jan of last year. Oil rallied yesterday as equities continued their surge, helping to lift major US benchmarks to another round of all-time highs. Broad-based market optimism remains tied to expectations for another large round of gov aid under Pres Joe Biden's $1.9T proposal, as well as progress on vaccine rollouts around the world. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's decision to unilaterally cut output by 1M barrels a day in Feb & Mar is seen helping to keep supplies in check. In a monthly report today, the Energy Information Administration cut its 2021 US crude production forecast by 0.8% to 11M barrels per day, but also lifted its 2022 output forecast by 0.3% to 11.5M barrels per day.
Oil gains, with Brent prices up an 8th session as traders spot signs of better energy demand
Sellers took stocks lower in early trading. But the bulls rallied support, good enough for essentially new records. Hopes are riding high for stimulus money to help the economy & data on the fight with coronavirus continues to show improvement, even if the gains are limited.
Dow Jones Industrials
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