Dow went up 153, advancers over decliners 5-2 & NAZ gained 15. The MLP index fluctuated in the 185s & the REIT index was flattish in the 464s. Junk bond funds did little & Treasuries had a little selling. Oil jumped 1+ to the 73s & gold soared 29 to 1828 (more below).
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](https://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif?0.2180338269244485)
Dr Scott Gottlieb said that he expects surging US coronavirus cases, linked to the
highly transmissible delta variant, to start decreasing in just a few
weeks. “Probably, in two or three weeks, I think that we were
probably about three weeks behind the U.K.,” he added. “The U.K. clearly is on a downslope...I
would expect some of the southern states that really were the epicenter
of this epidemic to start rolling over in the next two or three weeks.” While the epidemic is still expanding across southern states, the rate of expansion is showing signs slowing. Gottlieb said that the slowdown is a sign that those southern states may be reaching their peak. Gottlieb did warn, however, that northern states may start to see more delta spread, as rates decrease in the south. “Here,
in this country, it’s going to be much more regionalized now, I don’t
expect the density of the spread of delta in states like New York or
Michigan to be what it was in the south,” Gottlieb continued. “We have more
vaccine coverage, up there, we’ve had more prior infection, but you will
see an uptick in cases, even in states where there is a lot of vaccine
coverage, probably just not as severe.”
Delta variant: The epidemic will sweep across the U.S. at different times, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says
Israeli health officials plan to offer booster shots of the Pfizer (PFE)-BioNTech (BNTX) Covid-19 vaccine to people over age 60 as the shot’s effectiveness appears to wane as the delta variant spreads across the world. The heads of health maintenance organizations that have been administering the PFE vaccine will begin administering a 3rd shots Sun. The booster shots are available for patients above 60 who have already received their 2nd shot at least 5 months earlier. The country's Health Ministry reported last week that the 2-dose vaccine is now just 39% effective in Israel where the highly transmissible delta variant is the dominant strain. The shot still works very well in preventing people from getting seriously sick, Israeli officials said, demonstrating 88% effectiveness against hospitalization & 91% effectiveness against severe illness. The data out of Israel, which began vaccinating its population ahead of many other countries, is bolstering arguments from drugmakers that people will eventually need to get booster shots to protect against emerging variants. PFE CEO Albert Bourla yesterday doubled down on his comments that people will need a 3rd dose of the vaccine to maintain its high level of protection against the virus. The US drugmaker published new data yesterday from a company-funded study that showed the vaccine's efficacy dropped to about 84% after 4-6 months. “We have seen also data from Israel that there is a waning of immunity and that starts impacting what used to be what was 100% against hospitalization. Now, after the six-month period, is becoming low 90s and mid-to-high 80s,” Bourla said. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the Food & Drug Administration & the World Health Organization have said they don’t recommend Covid booster shots at this time, citing a lack of data. US & world health officials have said they are looking at the Israeli research, which was not peer-reviewed & was scant on details.
Israel to give Covid booster shots to some as efficacy appears to wane
The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits slid last week, another sign that the job market continues to recover rapidly from the coronavirus recession Jobless claims dropped by 24K to 400K last week, the Labor Dept reported. Weekly applications have fallen more or less steadily this year — from a peak of 904K in early to Jan. But they remain high by historic standards. Before COVID struck the US in Mar 2020, claims were coming in at about 220K a week. The job market & overall economy have been recovering from the collapse of the spring of 2020. The rollout of vaccines this year has encouraged businesses to reopen or expand their hours & sent cooped-up consumers back out to visit restaurants, bars & shops. Still the health crisis isn't over. COVID-19 cases are ticking up as the highly contagious delta variant spreads among the unvaccinated. The US is reporting an average of more than 50K new cases a day, up from fewer than 12K a day in late Jun. The increase in cases could have economic consequences if govs decide to restrict business activity again or if consumers choose to stay at home as a precaution. For now, though, the economy is so strong that many businesses say they can't find workers. Employers posted a record 9.2M job openings in May, advertising vacancies faster than applicants can fill them. Responding to complaints of a labor shortage, 22 states have decided to end a $300-a-week federal employment benefits meant to cushion the economic fallout from the pandemic. 20 states have dropped out of 2 other federal programs -- one of which provides benefits to the self-employed & gig workers & another that serves those who have been out of work for 6 months or longer. The expanded programs are scheduled to expire nationwide Sep 6. Overall, 13.2M people were receiving some type of jobless aid, down from 31.9M a year ago.
US jobless claims down 24,000 to 400,000 as economy recovers
Gold futures rallied, buoyed by weaker-than-expected US
economic data, even as the Federal Reserve indicated yesterday that the
central bank may taper its bond-buying programs in coming months & demand for gold fell in a report from the World Gold Council. The
central bank, however, underscored that policy makers required more
economic improvement before moving definitely toward tapering. During the press conference that followed the statement, Fed Chair
Jerome Powell said the FOMC had a deep dive
into how & when to taper & said an announcement on when to start a
tapering program would depend on the data. The most-active Dec gold contract rose $31 (1.7%) to settle at $1835 an ounce. Based on
the most-active contracts, that was the highest most-active contract
finish since Jun 16 & largest one-day percentage gain since May 6. Gold also rallied despite a report from the World Gold Council
that indicated global gold demand declined in H1
from the same period in 2020, as investment in the precious metal
dropped by 60%. In the first 6 months of this year, world gold
demand, excluding over-the-counter trades, totaled 1833 metric tons,
down 10% year on year. The investment segment of gold
demand in H1, which includes bars & coins &
gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), totaled 455 metric tons,
down 60% from the same period a year earlier,
Oil futures rose, with both US & global benchmark crude marking another settlement at the highest in over 2 weeks, a day after US gov data revealed a weekly drawdown in domestic crude, gasoline & distillate inventories. Based on the front months, WTI & Brent crude posted their highest settlements since Jul 13 & largest one-day $ & percentage gains since Jul 22. West Texas Intermediate crude for Sepv rose $1.23 (1.7%) to settle at $73.62 a barrel. Oct Brent, the most-active contract, added $1.23 (1.7%) to settle at $75.10 a barrel. The EIA said yesterday that US crude inventories fell by 4.1M barrels last week, marking the 9th weekly decline in 10 weeks. In addition, crude inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, fell by 1.2M barrels, leaving inventories at the delivery hub for WTI futures at their lowest since Jan 2020.
Oil prices extend rise to highest finish in over 2 weeks
Investors did not pay much attention to Powell's comments yesterday & were forgiving about relatively sluggish GDP data. The goings on in DC may be getting more attention The Dow had a decent day all considered, but tech stocks were out of favor.
Dow Jones Industrials
No comments:
Post a Comment