Dow finished up 25, decliners over advancers 2-1 & NAZ gained 52. The MLP index rose a graction to the 183s & the REIT index retreated 4+ to the 459s. Junk bond funds were mixed & Treasuries attracted buyers. Oil went up 1+ to the 71s (3 day rally following the plunge on Mon) & gold went up 4 to 1807 (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)
Dr Scott Gottlieb said the current spike in Covid infections due to the highly contagious delta variant may be over sooner than many experts believe. However, the former FDA chief urged Americans to take precautions in the meantime as delta, first found in India, takes hold as the dominant variant in the US. “I think the bottom line is we’re going to see continued growth, at least in the next three to four weeks. There’s going to be a peak sometime probably around late August, early September,” Gottlieb said. “I happen to believe that we’re further into this delta wave than we’re measuring so this may be over sooner than we think. But we don’t really know because we’re not doing a lot of testing now either.” There may be another small bump in infection rates as schools reopen in the fall & become “vectors of transmission” as they did with the B.1.1.7 variant, first discovered in Britain, & now called alpha, said Gottlieb. Gottlieb also warned that just wearing masks, particularly cloth masks, may not enough to prevent Covid infections from the delta variant in classrooms. He advised schools to create pods, space out children in the classroom, avoid group meals & suspend certain large activities, as well as improve air filtration & quality levels. “There might be other things you do that actually achieve more risk reduction than the masks in the setting of a much more contagious variant where we know there’s going to be spread even with masks,” Gottlieb added. “If we’re going to tell people to wear masks, I do think we need to start educating people better about quality of masks and the differences in terms of the reduction and risk you’re achieving with different kinds of masks.”
Dr. Scott Gottlieb says the Covid delta spike may peak sooner than many believe
A failed Senate test vote dealt a blow to the
bipartisan infrastructure framework, but the plan could have a chance to
move forward again as soon as Mon. The Reps working to craft the $1.2T proposal voted yesterday against advancing it as
they draft final legislation. Despite the setback, the 22 Dem & GOP senators drawing up the plan said they hope to release & push
ahead with a bill “in the coming days.” The vote leaves Pres Biden's
top legislative priority in flux. If the bipartisan deal to revamp
transportation, broadband & utilities falls apart, Dems will have
to consider whether to pair physical infrastructure plans with their
separate $3.5T package to address climate change, child care & health care. Biden
considers both plans critical to boosting the economy & preparing the
country to face a warming planet. Asked yesterday, Biden said he believes the Senate will vote Mon to advance the
bipartisan framework he negotiated with senators. “It’s a good thing, and I think we’re going to get it done,” he said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she will not take up either bill until the Senate passes both.
Here’s what’s next for the bipartisan infrastructure plan after setback in the Senate
CSX railroad's Q2 profit more than doubled as the economy continued to rebound from the depths of the coronavirus
pandemic & it hauled 27% more freight than a year ago. EPS was 52¢,
up from 22¢ a year ago. This year's
results included a one-time boost of 12¢ related to a
$349M sale of property rights to the state of Virginia for
passenger rail service. Adjusted results of 40¢ topped the forecast for adjusted EPS of
37¢. The number of shipments CSX delivered jumped
in every category of freight compared to a year ago, when the economy
slowed to a crawl because of restrictions related to the pandemic. "This
quarter’s results highlight just how quickly volumes have rebounded as
each of our three lines of business experienced record growth as we
lapped the most severe economic impacts of the pandemic," CEO Jim
Foote said. Revenue grew 33% to $2.99B,
which also topped forecasts. CSX is sticking to its outlook for double-digit revenue growth this year. Foote
said the economy appears robust right now but many businesses are also
facing challenges getting the supplies or employees they need, including
CSX. The railroad has only managed to hire about 200 of the
500 new employees it has been trying bring aboard since Jan. "No
way did I or anybody else in the last six months realize how difficult
it was going to be to try and get people to come to work these days,"
Foote added. "It is an enormous challenge for us to go out and find
people that want to be conductors on the railroad just like it is hard
to find people that want to be baristas or anything else. It is very,
very difficult." The stock rose 1.10.
If you would like to learn more about CSX, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/CSX?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
CSX profit more than doubled as railroad hauled 27% more
Gold futures marked a modest gain, holding to a relatively tight trading range following data showing an unexpected rise in first-time US jobless claims, as investors weighed the ECB's latest announcement on monetary policy. Gold for Aug edged up $2 to settle at $1805 an ounce after ending yesterday at the lowest for a most-active contract since Jul 8. Early today, Treasury yields had continued to rebound from a 5-month low & the $ strengthened after the ECB struck a dovish stance as it adjusted its rate guidance following its earlier adoption of a new inflation target. The $ then pared its rise & Treasury yields turned lower, however, after data showed first-time claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 51K to 419K last week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down 3.4 basis points to 1.247% after earlier trading above 1.30%. Rising yields can weigh on gold because it raises the opportunity cost of holding nonyielding assets. A stronger $ can also be a negative for commodities priced in the unit, making them more expensive to users of other currencies.
Gold prices settle higher after ECB decision, rise in U.S. jobless claims
Oil futures rose for a 3rd straight session, erasing a Mon rout to turn higher for the week. Traders shook off concerns about the impact of the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus on energy demand & a rise in US crude inventories last week, with oil prices finding support from rising investor appetite for assets perceived as risky, as well as tight supplies. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) for Sep climbed $1.66 (2.3%) to settle at $71.91 a barrel , following a climb of 4.6% yesterday. For the week, prices moved higher. The Aug contract, which was the front month at the end of last week, had finished Fri at $71.81. Sep Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose $1.56 (2.2%) at $73.79 a barrel. On Mon, WTI had plunged by more than 7%, while Brent lost more than 6% but today, front-month contract prices for both settled at their highest since Jul 14. Oil rose yesterday, with an unexpected rise in US crude inventories reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) offset by a fall in supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery hub for Nymex oil futures. Despite the weekly rise of 2.1M barrels in US crude supplies, the EIA said inventories at 439M barrels are about 7% below the 5-year average for this time of year.
Oil prices post highest settlement in more than a week
Dow Jones Industrials
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