Dow rebounded 362, advancers over decliners better than 3-1 & NAZ went up 98. The MLP index gained 3+ to 195 & the REIT index rose 1+ to the 454s. Junk bond funds crawled higher & Treasuries were sold after their recent rise.(more below). Oil recovered 1+ to the 74s & gold gained 7 to 1807.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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Treasury yields bounced, easing some concerns about a global economic slowdown brought about in part because of the surprising decline in yields in recent months. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed 5 basis points to 1.344% & the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond advanced by 6 basis points to 1.978%. Yields move inversely to prices & 1 basis point equals 0.01 percentage point. The bounce follows a big drop in yields yesterday that shook equity markets & took the 10-year yield as low as 1.25%. Equity futures were rebounding today as yields bounced. Treasury yields have been falling this past week, with the spread of the more transmissible delta Covid-19 variant dampening sentiment. The 10-year Treasury yield was at 1.43% at the end of last week. Back in Mar, it was as high as 1.78%. In addition, the Labor Dept's weekly jobless claims data showed an unexpected jump in first-time applicants. The data showed 373K unemployment insurance claims were filed last week, above the forecast of 350K initial claims.
Treasury yields bounce, easing worries about a global economic slowdown
A worker shortage plaguing businesses across the country poses the
biggest threat to the economy's still-nascent recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report published by the Chamber of Commerce. The Labor Dept reported this week that the US had a little more than 9.2M vacant job openings in May, a record-shattering number despite the 9.3 M
unemployed Americans. For comparison's sake, before the pandemic shut
down broad swaths of the nation's economy, there were roughly 7M
available jobs. The Chamber estimated there are about 1.2 available workers per job opening; before the crisis, the ratio was hovering around 1. Although
the ratios are close in range, there are key differences between now
and before the pandemic: Previously, the major issue was that available
workers didn't necessarily have the skills to fill those openings; now,
however, there are other factors at play. "While some skills mismatches remain, the major problem is that the
available workers are reluctant to go back to work, whether because of
lingering COVID-19 concerns, childcare issues, or generous government
benefits," Chamber economist Curtis Dubay wrote. The
Chamber's analysis come in light of the Labor Dept's Jun payroll
report, which revealed the economy added just 855K jobs last month,
topping the 700K predicted. While it
marked a major uptick from May & Apr – the economy added a combined
852K positions, raising concerns among some GOP lawmakers & other
critics that out-of-work Americans were choosing to stay home &
collect unemployment benefits rather than return to the workforce – the
Chamber warned that the labor market has not changed much since late
May. "There
are still far too many job openings and if available workers do not
fill them it could stifle what should be a booming economy the rest of
the year," the trade association wrote.
Worker shortage is 'biggest issue' facing US economy this summer
Pfizer (PFE) & BioNTech (BNTX) announced they are developing a Covid-19 booster shot intended
to target the delta variant as concerns rise about the highly
transmissible strain that is already the dominant form of the disease in
the US. The companies said although they believe a 3rd shot of their current 2-dose vaccine has the potential to
preserve the “highest levels” of protection against all currently known
variants, including delta, they are “remaining vigilant” & developing
an updated version of the vaccine. “As
seen in real world evidence released from the Israel Ministry of
Health, vaccine efficacy has declined six months post-vaccination, at
the same time that the Delta variant is becoming the dominate variant in
the country,” the companies said. “These
findings are consistent with an ongoing analysis from the companies’
Phase 3 study,” they added. “That is why we have said, and we continue to
believe that it is likely, based on the totality of the data we have to
date, that a third dose may be needed within 6 to 12 months after full
vaccination.” Clinical studies could begin as early as Aug, subject to regulatory approvals. PFE stock rose 49¢.
If you would like to learn more about PFE, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/PFE?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Pfizer says it is developing a Covid booster shot to target the highly transmissible delta variant
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