Dow recovered 202 after recent weakness, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ gained 30. The MLP index went up 4+ to the 162s & the REIT index added 3+ to 395. Junk bond funds fluctuated & Treasuries were sold while stocks rallied. Oil jumped 1+ to the 53s (another 13 month high) & gold fell 12 to 1793.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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House Dems plan to pass their $1.9T coronavirus relief bill on Fri as lawmakers try to prevent unemployment lifelines from expiring next month. “The American people strongly support this bill, and we are moving swiftly to see it enacted into law,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said. The package includes $1400 direct payments to most Americans, a $400 per week jobless benefit supplement & an extension of programs making Ms more Americans eligible for unemployment insurance. It also puts $20B into Covid-19 vaccinations, $50B into testing & $350B into state, local & tribal gov relief. The plan as of now would hike the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. The provision may not survive in the final bill. Dems have moved to pass the legislation on their own thru budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority in a Senate divided 50-50 by party. They have argued they cannot wait to ease economic pain while they try to strike a deal with the GOP. Reps have questioned the need for nearly $2T more in spending as they point to vaccinations putting the country on a path to a broader reopening. “A lot within this bill is a waste or a wish list from the progressives,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy contended.
House Democrats aim to pass $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill on Friday
The Food & Drug Administration’s endorsed Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ), a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, a critical step in bringing a 3rd shot to the US marketplace. The
report is meant to brief the FDA's Vaccines & Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which will meet
Fri to review JNJ's request for emergency use authorization. During similar requests by Pfizer (PFE) & Moderna (MRNA,
the agency authorized those companies’ vaccinations one day after the
committee of outside medical advisors backed emergency use
authorization. The committee is expected to recommend JNJ's vaccine. The FDA doesn’t have to follow the recommendation, but it
often does. The FDA staff said it determined that the clinical
trial results & safety data were “consistent with the recommendations
set forth in FDA's guidance Emergency Use Authorization for Vaccines to
Prevent COVID-19.” JNJ submitted its Covid vaccine data
to the FDA on Feb 4. The vaccine’s level of protection varied by
region with the shot demonstrating 66% effectiveness
overall, 72% in the US, 66% in Latin America & 57% in South
Africa, where the B.1.351 variant is rapidly spreading. However, the
FDA staff documents show the vaccine was 64% effective in South Africa
after about a month. The company said the vaccine prevented 100% of
hospitalizations & deaths. The stock rose 2.25.
If you would like to learn more about JNJ, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/JNJa_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
FDA staff endorses J&J’s single-shot Covid vaccine — clearing way for third vaccine in U.S.
Sales of newly built homes occurred at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 923K in Jan, the Census Bureau reported. That was 4.3% above the upwardly-revised pace of 885K in Dec. The forecast called for new-home sales to occur at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 850K. Compared to 2020, Jan's figure was up 19% year-over-year. Because of the small sample size used in producing the report, it is prone to large revisions from month to month. New-home sales rose across most parts of the country, led by a 12.6% increase in the Midwest. The Northeast was the only region where sales declined — there, they dropped by nearly 14%. Compared to 2020, sales were up in the Midwest & South, but down in the West & Northeast. Inventory dropped slightly to a 4-month supply. A 6-month supply of homes is generally considered indicative of a balanced market. The median price of new homes for sale was $346K, down 2% from Dec. The trends that propelled the market for new homes last year have so far remained in place. Demand among home-buyers is still high, particularly as telework makes living further from major work centers more feasible. Plus, millennials are now in their peak home-buying years, & with growing families, many are taking the plunge to become homeowners. At the same time, the inventory of existing homes for sale continues to hover around record lows. This is, in part, a by-product of the many years where home-building activity was depressed following the start of the last recession. The lack of existing homes for sale is also a reflection of how anxious many would-be sellers are because of the pandemic. Even with homes fetching record-breaking prices, many sellers have remained on the sidelines. But that could soon be changing. A new survey from Zillow found that 70% of homeowners said they would feel comfortable moving to a new home if there were widespread vaccine distribution, compared with just 52% who feel that way as things stand now.
New-home sales rise as buyers remain hamstrung by the lack of property listings
After more than a week of going nowhere, buyers returned to the stock market. Another vaccine to fight the virus was welcome news & the housing market remains strong.
Dow Jones Industrials
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