Dow rose 89, decliners modestly ahead of advancers & NAZ was up 50. The MLP index dropped 4+ to the 187s & the REIT index fell 4+ to the 475s. Junk bond funds finished mixed & Treasuries was higher but pared back early gains. Oil was higher in the 83s & gold pulled back 18 to 1783 (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)
A recently discovered subvariant of Covid-19's delta strain now makes up 10% of new UK cases — but scientists have said there’s no reason to panic. Known as AY.4.2, there are some concerns that it could be around 10% more transmissible than the original delta strain, but there is so far insufficient evidence to prove that this is the case. The subvariant — which is thought to have emerged in the UK over the summer — has 2 additional mutations affecting its spike protein, part of the virus's structure used to infiltrate cells. Questions are still hanging over exactly how, or if, those mutations will affect how quickly it spreads. In the last 28 days, AY.4.2 has accounted for around 10% of new Covid-19 cases, according to data from public health consortium Cog-UK. That makes it the U.K's third most dominant version of Covid-19 for the past 4 weeks after the original delta strain & another of its sublineages. Despite its rise, public health officials in England have emphasized that so far, AY.4.2 does not appear to cause more severe disease or render existing vaccines less effective. And according to biologists at England's Northumbria University, the mutation has failed to take hold in several European countries, “dropping off the radar in Germany and Ireland.” Christina Pagel, director of the Clinical Operational Research Unit at University College London, said that although delta's new subvariant was definitely growing in the UK & elsewhere, it was not a huge cause for alarm.
Delta mutation is no reason to panic, scientists say
Chevron (CVX), a Dow stock & Dividend Aristocrat, said that it generated the highest free cash flow on record
during Q3, as surging commodities prices & lower
operational costs boosted operations. The oil giant beat top- &
bottom-line estimates for the period, with EPS of $2.96 on an
adjusted basis. Revenue jumped more than 80% year over year to $44.7B. The forecast called for EPS of $2.21 on
sales of $40.5B. “Third
quarter earnings were the highest since first quarter 2013 largely due
to improved market conditions, strong operational performance and a
lower cost structure,” CEO Mike Wirth said. CVX paid $2.6B in divs during the
period, repurchased $625M worth of stock & reduced debt by $5.6B. The results mark an ongoing turnaround after the coronavirus pandemic & worldwide economic shutdown sapped demand for petroleum products. CVX continues to exercise capital discipline & 2021 spending is down 22% year over year. The stock rose 1.36.
If you would like to learn more about CVX, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/CVX?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Chevron (CVX) Exxon (XOM) earnings Q3 2021
Merck (MRK), a Dow stock, CEO Robert Davis said the drugmaker is ready to
produce & distribute tens of Ms of doses of its Covid antiviral
pills if given regulatory approval. “Right now, we’re on pace to
have 10 million courses ready before the end of this year, and more than
double that next year,” he said. A Food & Drug Administration advisory committee is scheduled to evaluate the safety & efficacy data of the pill, known as
molnupiravir, on Nov 30 & decide whether or not to approve it for
emergency use authorization in the US. MRK & its partner, Ridgeback
Biotherapeutics, said that internal data indicated that the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid was cut in ½ by molnupiravir. Patients take 4 pills twice a day for 5 days. “I can tell you through the data we’ve seen and the studies we’ve done, we think this is a safe drug,” Davis added. If
cleared, molnupiravir would be the first approved Covid treatment in
pill form. The stock rose 1.54.
If you would like to learn more about MRK, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/MRK?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Merck ready to deploy tens of millions of its Covid antiviral pills if regulators approve
Gold futures ended the week with a loss, but bullion scored a monthly gain, driven in part by buying on concerns about rising inflation around the world & an uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Dec gold fell $18 (1%) to settle at $1783 an ounce, a more than one-week low. The precious metal, based on the most-active contract, saw a weekly decline of 0.7%, but was up 1.5% on the month — the strongest monthly advance since Jul. Gold has been struggling to retain its grip on a perch above $1800, a psychologically significant level that is now seen by some as resistance for the precious metal. The $ extended its rise & gold continued to move lower, after separate data revealed that the Chicago Business Barometer, also known as the Chicago PMI, rose to 68.4 in Oct from 64.7 in the prior month. It's the strongest reading since July. Consumer sentiment, meanwhile, rose to 71.7 from a preliminary Oct reading of 71.4, according to a University of Michigan survey.
Gold, silver prices finish lower for the day and week, but score an October gain
Oil futures declined, with US prices ending a streak of nine consecutive weekly gains -- the longest on record -- as rising domestic crude inventories, the potential for revived Iran nuclear talks & a retreat by natural-gas futures dragged crude prices further away from multiyear highs. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for Dec rose 76¢ (0.9%) to $83.57 a barrel. The US benchmark suffered a 0.2% weekly fall, ending a 9-week streak of gains, the longest ever for front-month contracts, based on records data back to 1983. For the month, WTI crude was up more than 11% after settling earlier this week at a more than 7-year high. Dec Brent crude, the global benchmark, tacked on 6¢ at $84.38 a barrel. The front-month contract, which expired at the end of the session, fell 1.3% for the week, but climbed 7.5% for the month. Jan Brent, the most actively traded contract, rose 6¢ to $83.72 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration this week reported that US crude inventories rose 4.3M barrels last week. Also, Iran indicated that it plans to resume talks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran nuclear deal, which could pave the way for the removal of US sanctions that were reimposed by the Trump administration after it pulled the US out of the agreement in 2018. Nymex trading, natural-gas futures turned lower for the week after falling sharply today & yesterday on news Russian Pres Vladimir Putin told Gazprom to ship more natural-gas westward to European customers.
U.S. oil prices end longest-ever streak of weekly gains as natural gas retreats
Nothing was decided iin today's trading. For the week Dow went up 140 but for the month Dow rose about 2K to new rcords. That's hard to believe given all the tumult in DC for the whopper spending bills which are still stuck in the mud. The fight with the virus looks to show improvement although economic growth showed it was losing some its zest after the GDP data yesterday. Then there are the nagging problems of high inflation & higher interest rates which show no signs of going away anytime soon. Nov should be an interesting month for stocks..
Dow Jones Industrials
Core
PCE, which excludes food & energy prices, last month rose 3.6% year
over year, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Core prices
have accelerated by that amount for 4 straight months. Prices
rose 0.2% from Aug, slowing from the 0.3% rise in each of the
previous 2 months. Prices increased by 0.5% in Jun & 0.6% in May. The forecast expected core prices to rise 3.7% annually & 0.2% month over month. Overall, the personal consumption expenditures price index rose 4.4%
year over year & 0.3% in Sep. In Aug, prices increased at a
4.2% annual pace & 0.3% month over month. Higher prices have
for the past several months been working their way thru the US
economy as companies look to offset increased costs due to supply chain
disruptions & labor & materials shortages. Both the Biden administration & the Fed have in recent weeks become more reluctant to use the term "transitory" when describing inflation as being temporary. "I think it’s still fair to use [‘transitory’] in the sense that even
if it doesn’t mean a month or two, it means a little bit longer than
that," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. "I
think it conveys that the pressures that we’re seeing are related to a
unique shock to the economy," she added. "As the United States recovers
and as vaccinations proceed globally, and the global economic activity
revives, that pricing pressure will ease." 
