Dow sank 299 (near the lows), decliners over advancers 2-1 & NAZ pulled back 115. The MLP index dropped 3 to 182 & the REIT index went up 1+ to 464. Junk bond funds drifted lower & Treasuries finished even with the yield on the 10 year Treasury at 1.30% (not seen this low since Feb). Oil was off a tad in the 71s & gold fell 17 to 1811 (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)
Deaths from the coronavirus are increasing again as the delta variant rips thru unvaccinated pockets of the country, the director of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) said. “After weeks of declines, seven-day average daily deaths have increased by 26% to 211 per day,” Dr Rochelle Walensky said. New cases are also on the rise, with a current 7-day average of 26K cases. That is an increase of roughly 70% from the 7-day average last week. The 7-day average for hospitalizations is now at 2790, up about 36% from a week ago after weeks of decline. Reflecting on the new numbers, Walensky said the pandemic has now become a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” “We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk and communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well,” Walensky added. Just 4 states accounted for more than 40% of all new cases in the past week. The 5 states with the highest case rates, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri & Nevada, all had a higher rate of new vaccinations compared to the national average. The US is reporting an average of 530K daily vaccinations over the past week, according to the CDC. More than 3M shots per day were being reported administered at peak levels in mid-Apr. About 65% of Americans aged 12 & older have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, & 56.5% are fully vaccinated.
Covid deaths on the rise again in the U.S. after weeks of decline, CDC says
Dr Scott Gottlieb said he believes the US is significantly undercounting the number of Covid delta infections, making it difficult to know whether the highly transmissible strain is causing higher-than-expected hospitalization and death rates. “We don’t know what the denominator is right now,” he said. “I think we’re vastly underestimating the level of delta spread right now because I think people who are vaccinated, who might develop some mild symptoms or might develop a breakthrough case, by and large are not going out and getting tested. If you’ve been vaccinated and you develop a mild cold right now, you don’t think you have Covid.” Coronavirus cases in the US have been rising due to the delta variant, with the 7-day average of new daily infections standing at 26K, according to Johns Hopkins University data. That's up 67% from a week ago. The weekly average of new daily deaths is up 26% from a week ago, to 273. “There’s no clear evidence that this is more pathogenic, that it’s causing more serious infections. It’s clearly more virulent, it’s clearly far more contagious” than earlier virus strains, added Gottlieb. If younger Americans are becoming sick with the delta variant at higher levels compared with previous points in the pandemic, it's because “younger people remain unvaccinated,” Gottlieb contended. “When people who are vaccinated do get infected, and there are breakthrough infections, they don’t get as sick. They have protection against severe disease.” Delta is now the most-common coronavirus strain in the US making up more than 57% of cases in the last 2 weeks. US health officials have sounded the alarm for weeks about the variant"s potential to cut into hard-earned progress in reducing infection rates, which plummeted in the spring as America's vaccination campaign hit its stride. As of today, 48.3% of the country’s population was fully vaccinated & nearly 56% had received at least one dose. Covid vaccination coverage is higher among the most-vulnerable group of Americans: the elderly. More than 79% of people age 65 & up are fully vaccinated & nearly 89% have had at least one dose, according to the CDC. The vast majority of US counties with high infection rates right now — defined as at least 100 new cases over the last 7 days per 100K residents — have vaccinated under 40% of their residents.
Dr. Gottlieb says U.S. is ‘vastly underestimating’ level of Covid delta spread
Gold futures posted the first loss in 4 sessions, as a
steady $ & perkier yields for gov debt undercut some
buying appetite for bullion, but prices for the metal eked out a 4th-straight weekly gain. Investors also parsed a report on US retail sales that came in hotter than expected, with retail sales in June rising 0.6%,
compared with consensus forecasts
for a decline of 0.4%. Excluding auto sales, the retail rise was 1.3%
last month. Meanwhile, a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's index of US consumer sentiment fell to 80.8 in Jul from a final reading of 85.5 in Jun, notching the lowest level since Feb. Aug
gold fell by $14 (0.8%) to settle at $1815 an ounce, a day
after futures rose 0.2% to finish around a one-month high. Bullion,
however, saw a weekly gain of about 0.2% to mark its 4th straight
weekly rise, matching its longest such streak since the period ended May
28. Trading for gold comes as the yield on the 10-year
Treasury note was hanging around 1.30% & the $, as gauged by
the ICE U.S. Dollar Index was up less than 0.1%. For the week, the
10-year yield was around 6 basis points lower, while the $ was up
0.6% on the week. Still, gold has been mostly
buoyant as investors fret about the spread of the COVID-19 delta
variant & the fitful reopening of the global economy, as well as
concerns that US markets are topping out.
Gold snaps 3-day climb as dollar and yields edge up
Oil futures ended higher, but the US benchmark logged its biggest weekly drop since Mar, pressured by the possibility of more crude supplies on the global market & risks to the demand outlook. West Texas Intermediate crude for Aug tacked on 16¢ to settle at $71.81 a barrel after tapping an intraday low of $70.41. The US benchmark ended down 3.7% for the week, marking the biggest weekly fall for a front-month contract contract since Mar 26. Sep Brent crude, the global benchmark, added 12¢ at $73.59 a barrel, though still down 2.6% for the week, its biggest weekly slide since May. Oil prices had lost more ground today shortly after data showed that US consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan fell to 80.8 in July from 85.5 in Jun. The UAE & Saudi Arabia reportedly reached a compromise this week that would allow OPEC+ to further relax production curbs beginning next month, contributing to oil’s price loss this week. In the US, data hinted at a potential rise in production. Baker Husghes reported a 3rd-straight weekly climb in the number of active US oil rigs drilling for oil. Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases globally has climbed on the heels of the spread of the delta variant, raising concerns for renewed economic restrictions that would limit energy demand.
Oil ends higher, but U.S. prices log biggest weekly drop since March
Dow Jones Industrials
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