Markets fall after 12 US soldiers were killed at Kabul airport

Dow dropped 192 (very near session lows) from late day selling, decliners over advancers 3-1 & NAZ sank 96.  The MLP index was off 3+ to the 193s & the REIT index went up 1+ to 463.  Junk bond funds continues lower & Treasuries were flat.  Oil remained lower in the 67s, profit taking after its recent rebound, & gold crawled up 2 to 1793 (more below).

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A suicide bomb attack outside the Abbey Gate at Kabul's airport in Afghanistan killed at least 10 US service members – including Marines & soldiers – & wounded dozens more, US officials reported.  A US official said the terror attack set off a firefight at Abbey Gate, where last night there were 5000 Afghans & potentially some Americans seeking access to the airport to flee.  The Pentagon confirmed the initial explosion as well as a 2nd explosion at the Baron Hotel, where Americans have gathered in the past for rescue & evacuation.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday had said that up to 1500 Americans may still be in the country.  The Pentagon later said "a number of U.S. service members were killed in today’s complex attack at Kabul airport."  "A number of others are being treated for wounds," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.  "We also know that a number of Afghans fell victim to this heinous attack."  It was not clear the extent of the injuries suffered by the troops & how many others were hurt in the large crowds that regularly gathered at the airport seeking to flee the Taliban   The Taliban had moved quickly thru the country ahead of the planned US withdrawal at the end of the month, catching the US off guard & leading to chaotic scenes at Kabul airport & a mass evacuation effort.  As of yesterday, 82K people had been flown out, including 4500 US. citizens.  There are currently 5200 US troops at the airport & thousands of Afghan evacuees still on the tarmac waiting to be evacuated.  US planes have been leaving every 40 minutes out of the airport.  A source said that there are hundreds of Islamic States fighters in the vicinity & warned that attacks are "likely to continue."

At least 10 US Marines, soldiers killed in Kabul terror attack

The US unemployment rate may not return to the more than half-century lows recorded under former Pres Trump, according to Esther George, pres of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.  The national unemployment rate is currently at 5.4%, a pandemic-era low, but remains elevated from the 3.5% that was reached under Trump.  Many workers remain on the sidelines due to generous unemployment benefits, the closing of schools &d day care & fears over the virus.  "I'm not necessarily wedded to saying a pre-pandemic number will represent full employment because one of the things we know is that the pandemic shock could have had real impacts on the way we work," George said.  The Federal Reserve's dual mandate calls for the central bank to achieve maximum employment and price stability. However, the central bank last year said it would allow inflation to run above its 2% target "for some time" in order to achieve its employment objective.  The Fed as recently as 2019 thought a 4.1% unemployment rate represented "full employment."  That was until Trump's tax cuts & deregulation helped theeconomy, before the pandemic, achieve its lowest unemployment rate since the 1950s.  The policies helped achieve record low unemployment for Asians, Blacks and Hispanics.  In Apr 2020, the unemployment rate skyrocketed to a record high of 14.8% as nonessential businesses were forced to close their doors in order to help slow the spread of COVID-19. 

Fed's George says it's time to start tapering asset purchases

Gold futures shook off early losses, finding support around the $1780 mark to finish higher, as investors looked to the Jackson Hole economic policy symposium for hints on the timing of Federal Reserve plans to unwind of COVID-era policies.  Investors are awaiting the annual Jackson Hole symposium on tomorrow where Fed Chair Jerome Powell may indicate that the central bank will slow monthly purchases of Treasuries & mortgage-backed securities, which could influence bullion prices.  Ahead of Powell's comments, commodity investors parsed data that showed that weekly US jobless claims last week rose by 4K to 353K, compared with expectations for 350K forecast.  Meanwhile, a 2nd reading of US Q2 GDP rose to a 6.6% growth rate from an initial reading of 6.5%.  Dec gold rose $4 to settle at $1795 an ounce after it traded as low as $1781 & touched a high at $1800.  Prices saw a 1% decline yesterday, the biggest one-day percentage decline since Aug 9 for a most-active contract.  Markets early today digested comments above from Kansas City Fed Pres Esther George, who said the US economy has hit the necessary benchmark of “substantial” progress needed to start to slow down its $120B a month asset purchases.

Gold prices finish higher as investors eye Jackson Hole economic policy symposium

Tomorrow Powell will likely keep his messaging in line with his other recent public remarks, signaling the economy has progressed toward the central bank's goals while still remaining a ways off from fully reaching the thresholds necessary to begin tapering.  Meanwhile, the Afghanistan story keeps going from bad to even worse.  Uncertainty abounds & the stock market hates that.  Even worse, the US is supposed to be the world leader.  Unfortunately a bunch of amateurs are proving they are smarter then those guys in dysfunctional DC!!

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