Dow advanced 322, advancers over decliners better than 2-1 & NAZ went up 97 for another record. The MLP index was flattish in the 198s & the REIT index fell 1+ to the 447s. Junk bond funds continued mixed & Treasuries were little changed. Oil crawled higher in the 73s & gold was off a tad to 1775 (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)
Pres Biden declared that the White House has struck an infrastructure deal with a bipartisan group of senators after discussing the massive plan to improve the nation's roads, bridges & broadband earlier in the day. “To answer the direct question: We have a deal,” Biden said at the White House. The pres, flanked by senators including Mitt Romney & Mark Warner added that he would honor the latest policy framework that focuses on “hard” infrastructure. “They have my word. I’ll stick with what we’ve proposed, and they’ve given me their word as well,” he added. “None of us got all that we wanted. I didn’t get all that I wanted. But this reminds me of the days we used to get an awful lot done up in the United States Congress.” The lawmakers have worked for weeks to craft an infrastructure package that could get through Congress with support from both parties. Deciding how to pay for the plan has posed the biggest challenge. The framework will include $579B in new spending, the White House said.
- $312B will go to transportation, with $109B invested in roads, bridges & other major projects, $66B in passenger & freight rail & $49B in public transit
- Only $15B will go toward electric vehicle infrastructure & electric buses & transit, a fraction of what Biden first proposed
- The plan would put $266B into nontransportation infrastructure
- It includes $73B for power, $65B for broadband & $55B for water
The group proposed various methods to pay for the plan. They do not include an increased gas tax or electric vehicle user fee, which Dems opposed, or an increase to the corp tax rate, which Reps resisted.
‘We have a deal,’ Biden says after meeting with Senate infrastructure group
The US economy grew at a solid 6.4% rate in the first 3 months of the year, setting the stage for what is believed may be the strongest year for the economy in about 7 decades. Growth in GDP was unchanged from 2 previous estimates, the Commerce Dept said, an acceleration from the 4.3% pace of Q4. Economists believe that economic growth has continued to accelerate in the current qtr, which ends this month, as vaccinations become widespread & Americans eager to get outside are being welcomed by newly re-opened businesses. Surging activity from consumers is being fueled in part by nearly $3T in financial support that the gov has approved since Dec. Additional economic data that emerged today also points to a nation that has regained its footing quickly after being thwacked by a global pandemic, though jobless claims remain stubbornly above 400K. Even economists whose forecasts for 2021 growth range from 6-7% believe growth this year will be the best since a 7.2% gain in 1984, when the US was emerging from an extended & painful recession. Growth this qtr should be enough to push GDP output above the previous peak reached at the end of 2019 before the pandemic struck & cut off the longest economic expansion in US history.
US economy grows 6.4% in Q1, and it's likely just the start
Ely Lilly (LLY) announced that it had received the FDA's Breakthrough Therapy
designation for donanemab, an investigational antibody therapy for Alzheimer's disease. The announcement follows a Phase 2 clinical trial that studied the
safety & effectiveness of the drug in patients with early, symptomatic
Alzheimer’s disease. LLY said that it plans to submit the drug for FDA Accelerated Approval later
this year. The drug targets a beta-amyloid protein in the brain & is
currently being assessed in an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial dubbed
TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2. Breakthrough Therapy designation aims to
expedite the development & review of drugs that are intended to treat a
serious condition & preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the
drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over available therapy on a
clinical significant endpoint. The stock shot up 15.87 (7%).
If you would like to learn more about LLY, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/LLY?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's drug gets FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation
Gold futures ended lower, with the precious metal giving back all gains from a day earlier on the back of strength in the US stock market, but was still trading higher for the week so far. A rise in assets considered risky, like US equities, undercut some of the appeal for gold from haven buyers today. Aug gold fell by $6 (0.4%) to settle at at $1776 an ounce, following a 0.3% gain a day ago, which lifted most-active contracts prices to their highest finish since Jun 16.
Gold prices fall, but hold onto week-to-date gain
Oil futures settled modestly higher, with global benchmark Brent crude extending its rise to the highest price since Oct 2018, as investors gauged signs of strengthening demand & kept an eye on any potential response to recent price rises by OPEC+. West Texas Intermediate crude for Aug rose 22¢ to settle at $73.30 a barrel after tacking on 0.3% yesterday. The most active Sep Brent crude contract added 31¢ at $74.81 a barrel. Aug Brent, the front-month contract, climbed 37¢ at $75.56 a barrel, the highest finish for a front-month contract since Oct 2018. Analysts said crude remains underpinned by data showing demand outpacing supply, including a weekly report yesterday from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said US crude inventories fell by 7.6M barrels last week. That marked the 5th consecutive decline reported by the EIA. It also pegged last week's commercial crude oil stocks at a total of 459M barrels, the lowest since Mar 2020. Domestic gasoline supplies, meanwhile fell by 2.9M barrels last week, while distillate inventories, which include heating oil, rose by 1.8M barrels, according to EIA data. News reports earlier this week said OPEC+ is considering easing production curbs even further in Aug — adding more supply to the market following their agreement to gradually increase output from May thru July.
Oil prices settle higher, with Brent notching a fresh 2 1/2-year high
The Dow had a nice gain at the opening & held that until the PM when the announcement was made anout the infrastructure bill. Then it went up another 100. For the week, the Dow is up 900 & approaching a new record. Other popular averages are already at record levels.
Dow Jones Industrials
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