Dow went up 36, decliners over advancers 5-4 & NAZ fell 22. The MLP index added 1+ to the 167s & the REIT index was fractionally higher to the 378s. Junk bond funds were little changed & Treasuries edged higher in price. Oil jumped 2+ to the 64s & gold recovered 3 to 1718.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose slightly last week even as coronavirus caseloads drop nationwide & many states ease restrictions on business activity. Figures released by the Labor Dept show that 745K Americans filed first-time jobless claims last week, slightly lower than the 750K forecast. Last week's figure was revised up from 730K to 736K. Weekly jobless claims have remained stubbornly high for months, hovering around 4 times the typical precrisis level, although it's well below the peak of almost 7M that was reached when stay-at-home orders were first issued in Mar. There are roughly 10M fewer jobs than there were last year in Feb before the crisis began. Continuing claims, the number of Americans who are consecutively receiving unemployment aid, fell to 4.29M, a decline of 124K from the previous week. The report shows that roughly 18M Americans were collecting jobless benefits, a decline of about 1M.' from the previous week.
Another 745,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week
Exxon (XOM), a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, CEO Darren Woods emphasized the oil giant's commitment to its div after the company lost more than $20B in 2020, & as activist investors push for change. “We’re going to continue to return cash to shareholders through a very strong dividend,” Woods said. He
noted that 2020 was “certainly the worst environment” that XOM has
ever faced as the coronavirus brought global economies to a standstill,
sapping demand for fuel. At one point, West Texas Intermediate crude futures dipped into negative territory — an event that many had previously thought impossible. “We
had to strike that balance of continuing to invest for the future,
continuing to pay a dividend, and we used our balance sheet to kind of
draw down through these very low periods of time,” Woods added. Amid
the challenges over the last year, XOM slashed its capital spending
plan & reduced its workforce in an effort to preserve its dividend.
The cost-cutting measures meant the company continued its payout,
although XOM didn't raise its div in a break with tradition. The stock rose 2.20.
If you would like to learn more about XOM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/XOMa_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Exxon CEO Darren Woods promises a strong dividend despite 2020 losses
The US death toll from the coronavirus-borne illness COVID-19 climbed above 518K, as Pres Biden added his voice to a chorus of outrage over Texas & Mississippi's decision to reopen their states for business, just as declining case numbers are stalling & public health experts are urging Americans to stick with safety measures. Texas Gov Greg Abbott drew a storm of criticism for his decision to end the state’s face-mask mandate, one of the key recommendations of infectious-disease experts to protect against transmission. Biden said that decision was “Neanderthal thinking” & a “big mistake.” Texas has the 3rd highest death toll from COVID-19 among states after California & New York & has vaccinated only a small percentage of its population. The US added at least 66K new COVID-19 cases yesterday & at least 2368 people died. The US has averaged 64K cases a day for the past week, down 17% from the average 2 weeks earlier. 107M doses of vaccine had been delivered to states, 80.5M shots had been administered & 52.9M Americans had received one or more doses, equal to 15.9% of the population. In Texas, just 13% of the population has received at least one shot, the data show, while just 7.2% of the population has received 2 shots, putting the state among the laggards in getting jabs into arms.
U.S. COVID death toll above 518,000 as Biden adds voice to outrage at Texas and Mississippi for reopening
There is plenty of data to digest. In the meantime investors are taking a pause while they wait to learn more about the stimulus bill.
Dow Jones Industrials
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