Dow dropped 123, decliners over advancers better than 2-1 & NAZ sank 137. The MLP index was off fractionally to 170 & the REIT index dipped 1 to 420. Junk bond funds did little & Treasuries were also sold. Oil was higher in the 63s & gold fell 9 to 1770 (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)
US health officials have confirmed fewer than 6K cases of Covid-19 in fully vaccinated Americans, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Director Dr Rochelle Walensky. That represents just 0.007% of the 84M Americans with full protection against the virus. Despite the breakthrough infections, none of the patients has died or gotten severely ill, indicating the vaccines are working as intended, she added. “With any vaccine, we expect such rare cases, but so far out of more than 84 million people who were fully vaccinated, we have only received reports of less than 6,000 breakthrough cases,” Walensky told reporters. Breakthrough cases occur when someone contracts the virus more than 14 days after their 2nd shot, she added. The CDC chief acknowledged that the number could be an underestimate. “Although this number is from 43 states and territories and likely and underestimate, it still makes a really important point, these vaccines are working. Of the nearly 6,000 cases, approximately 30% had no symptoms at all,” Walensky said.
CDC says fewer than 6,000 Americans have contracted Covid after being fully vaccinated
Gold futures finished lower, giving back a portion of recent gains after posting the biggest weekly climb since Dec. Jun gold lost $9 (0.5%) to settle at $1770 an ounce. The metal ended Fri with a weekly rise of about 2%, marking its biggest weekly advance since the period ended Dec 18, 2020. Some strategists pointed to growing tensions between Russia & the US as a catalyst that could ultimately flip precious metals higher, as well as lingering concerns about COVID vaccine rollouts globally.
Gold prices end lower after biggest weekly rise since December
Oil futures gained, finding some support from reports of a production halt at some Libyan oil fields, as traders mulled the latest signals for crude demand outlook, as well as prospects for global supplies. Likely providing some support, a report that production in several of Libya's major eastern oil fields have been shut down. A spokesman for state-owned National Oil Corp of Gulf Oil said it halted pumping at its fields because of the government’s failure to send federal funds since Sep for operations. S&P Global Platts said the subsidiary known as Agoco operates 8 oil fields with a total capacity of 250K barrels per day. West Texas Intermediate crude for May rose 25¢ to settle at $63.38 a barrel. Jun Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 28¢ at $67.05 a barrel. Prices for both crude benchmarks ended Fri with gains of more than 6% for the week, getting a lift in part from a strong economic report from China & a higher demand forecast from the Intl Energy Agency. Analysts said a weaker tone for the $ today helped offset pressure on crude. A softer $ can be a positive for commodities priced in $s, making them cheaper to users of other currencies.
Oil prices gain as traders mull demand cues, supply prospects
Yes, this was a dreary day for stocks. There is a lot of stumbling fighting the virus even with all the vaccine shots being administered. Overall, the economy is sort of recovering but the process is not going very well.
Dow Jones Industrials
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