Dow gained 332, advancers over decliners 5-2 & NAZ climbed 167. The MLP index was flattish in the 149s & the REIT index climbed 1+ to the 382s. Junk bond funds were little changed & Treasuries drifted slightly lower. Oil climbed to the 56s (another 12 month high) & gold tumbled 40 to 1797 (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 death toll from the coronavirus-borne illness COVID-19 climbed above 450K after close to 4K patients died in a single day, but case numbers & hospitalizations continue to decline & the number of people to have received at least a first vaccine dose rose to 33.9M. 55.9M doses had been distributed to states as the administration of Pres Biden had made it a key priority of its pandemic response. So far, 27.2M Americans have received one or more doses of vaccine. That exceeds the US confirmed case tally since the start of the crisis which stands at 26.6M. The US added another 119K new cases yesterday & at least 3843 patients died. In the past week, the US has averaged 136K new cases a day, but that is down 30% from the average just 2 weeks ago. 91K COVID-19 patients in are in US hospitals, down from 93K a day earlier & marking a 23rd straight day of declining numbers. Globally, the vaccine effort is also gaining traction & trust in vaccines is rising, according to a survey of 15 countries conducted by researchers at the Imperial College London. The survey found that as of mid-Jan, 54% of respondents said they would get a vaccine if one were available to them.
U.S. death toll tops 450,000 but hospitalizations decline for a 23rd straight day
Gold & silver futures suffered sharp losses, as a decline in US weekly jobless benefit claims, strength in the $ & a rise Treasury yields all combined to push prices for both precious metals down by more than 2%. Gold futures for Apr dropped $43 (2.4%) to settle at $1791 an ounce, sending the yellow metal, based on the most-active contracts, to lowest settlement since late Nov. Mar silver lost 65¢ (2.4%) at $26.23 an ounce. Prices rose 1.8% yesterday, following a more than 10% decline for futures Tues. US weekly jobless benefit claims showed the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits at the end of Jan fell for a 3rd straight week to a 9-week low, suggesting that hiring is slowly picking up again as a record wave of coronavirus cases recedes. US factory orders also rose 1.1% in Dec, up an 8th straight month, data from the Commerce Dept showed. Meanwhile, commodities dealers eyed moves in bonds & currencies after the Bank of England said it was time to start preparing for negative interest rates.
Gold, silver end more than 2% lower on fall in U.S. weekly jobless claims, dollar strength
Nordstrom (JWN) shares tumbled as the department store chain delivered a
disappointing sales outlook for the year & said it plans to shift
more of its business toward off-price. JWN expects
revenue to rise more than 25% in fiscal 2021 from the prior year, with
roughly ½ of its sales coming from its digital business. Last year,
the department store chain rang up about a 3rd of its sales online. The
anticipated 2021 growth comes in a bit lower than the 26.6% revenue
increase expected. The
company also anticipates earnings before interest & taxes to be
positive in fiscal 2021, it said. With shoppers changing their purchasing behaviors in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic,
NWN said it plans to focus its investments on smaller-format
stores, building its off-price Rack business & e-commerce, as it tries
to win back old customers & reach new ones. JWN expects revenue to grow at a low single-digit pace
annually from 2019 levels, while profits continue to grow at a rate
faster than sales. In 2019, JWN reported net sales of $15.1B, marking a 2.2% decline from the prior year. The stock dropped 2.55 (7%).
If you would like to learn more about JWN, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/JWN?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Nordstrom sees revenue rising 25% in 2021 as it puts focus on Rack, e-commerce
House & Senate Dems ramped up pressure on Pres Biden to bypass Congress & unilaterally cancel $50K in student loans debt for Ms of Americans. A group of progressive lawmakers introduced a resolution calling on Biden to erase student loan debt via exec order. "President Biden has taken some good steps in the direction of student debt, but we think he has to go much further," Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said & added that he & Sen Warren had held a 45-minute conversation with Biden & his advisers a few weeks ago to discuss the matter. "They have been extremely open to listening to us," he said. The lawmakers maintained that Biden could use existing exec authority under the Higher Education Act to order the Dept of Education to “modify, compromise, waive or release” student loans. "Canceling student loan debt is the single most effective executive action that President Biden can take to kickstart this economy," Warren said. Still, such sweeping exec action would almost certainly face a legal challenge & it's unclear whether it could survive. Critics have argued that using such power exceeds the pres's authority granted by Congress. Canceling student loan debt would also add to the nation's already-ballooning national deficit, which totaled a record $3.1T for the 2020 fiscal year -- not including the $900B coronavirus relief legislation that lawmakers approved in Dec.
Democrats increase pressure on Biden to erase $50K in student loan debt
Oil futures extended their streak of gains, with US prices up for a 4th consecutive session to mark their highest settlement in more than a year. Oil prices remained underpinned by expectations that OPEC & its allies (OPEC+) will continue keeping a lid on output, as the global economy makes headway toward a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for Mar rose 54¢ (1%) to settle at $56.23 a barrel. Apr Brent, the global benchmark, added 38¢ (0.7%) to $58.84 a barrel after trading as high as $59.04. WTI tallied a 4th straight day of gains & prices for the front-month contract settled at their highest in a year. Brent marked a 5th consecutive session rise & marked the highest finish 12 months. Gains for crude on yesterday came after data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a smaller-than-expected fall in US inventories, along with a rise in gasoline supplies. OPEC+ also made no changes to output curbs at a monthly ministerial committee meeting yesterday & said its “optimistic for a year of recovery” in 2021. It also acknowledged Saudi Arabia's “significant additional voluntary supply adjustment” that took effect on Feb 1 & will run thru Mar. In Jan, the Saudis pledged to unilaterally cut their own output by 1M barrels a day to offset higher production from Russia & Kazakhstan. In a monthly report yesterday, however, the EIA said it may take years for energy demand to recover from the pandemic. The gov expects total US energy consumption to return to 2019 levels by 2029, but if the nation sees low economic growth, energy consumption may not return to pre-COVID levels until 2050.
Oil futures extend their streak of gains, hold ground at highest prices in a year
The Dow rose in the first hour of trading & stayed at that level for the rest of the session. Economic data & improving statistics on fighting the virus encourage investors. A new relief package continues to be stuck in the mud, although it may not be needed. Tomorrow, before the market opens, the jobs report & unemployment data will be reported, & investors are expecting favorable numbers.
Dow Jones Industrials
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