Dow dropped 211 (close to session lows & below 36K), decliners over advancers 2-1 & NAZ was off 58. The MLP index pulled back 4 to the 186s & the REIT index rose 2+ to the 482s. Junk bond funds slid lower & Treasuries were in demand. Oil slumped 2+ to the 78s & gold rose 11 to 1865 (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)
Lowe's (LOW) beat expectations for fiscal Q3 earnings, as the company got a bump in business from home professionals & online sales. The home improvement retailer raised its
forecast, saying it anticipates $95B in sales after previously
predicting $92B. EPS rose to $2.73 from 91¢ a year earlier. The results outmatched the $2.36 expected. Net sales climbed to $22.9B from $22.3B last year & were higher than expectations of $22.1B. Same-store sales grew by 2.2% in the 3-month period, a sharp difference from prediction of a 1.5% decline. Under CEO Marvin Ellison, LOW has stepped up efforts to attract
pros, since they are steadier & bigger spenders. It has a loyalty
program for pros & added perks like parking for larger vehicles, free
phone charging stations & air stations for refilling tires. Sales
growth among pros outpaced the rate for do-it-yourself sales in Q3 — a reflection of pandemic trends reversing. Comparable
sales to pros rose over 16% in Q3 & more than 43% on a 2-year basis. The stock went up 98¢.
If you would like to learn more about LOW, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/LOW?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Lowe’s tops estimates as customers invest more in bigger home projects
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen informed lawmakers the federal gov will reach its debt ceiling by Dec 15, setting a timeline for what is expected to be a heated debate in Congress over raising the limit. This projection is a slight extension over her initial estimate of Dec 3. But the Treasury Secretary urged Congress to act quickly to raise the debt ceiling, warning "there are scenarios in which Treasury would be left with insufficient remaining resources to continue to finance the operations of the U.S. government beyond this date." "To ensure the full faith and credit of the United States, it is critical that Congress raise or suspend the debt limit as soon as possible," Yellen said. Congressional lawmakers voted along party lines in Oct to raise the borrowing cap by $480B. The short-term fix followed weeks of discord on Capitol Hill. Reps blocked multiple attempts to raise the ceiling & demanded Dems use the budget reconciliation process as part of deliberations on Pres Biden's sweeping social spending bill. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to drop opposition if Dems approved a debt ceiling hike by a fixed-$ amount. Yellen & other top economic officials have warned of economic catastrophe if the gov defaults on its debt obligations.
Yellen warns federal debt ceiling will be reached by Dec. 15
Germany's Angela Merkel has described the Covid-19 situation in her country as “dramatic,” as the outgoing chancellor considers how to deal with an infection rate that has hit a new record. “The fourth wave is hitting our country with full force,” Merkel told an event for the Association of German Cities. “The number of daily new infections is higher than ever before ... and the daily death toll is also frightening,” she said, adding that it was not too late to take up a Covid vaccine for anyone who had not already done so. Her comments come after the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's public health body, reported a further 53K new cases today & a further 294 deaths. To date, Germany has recorded 5.1M cases and almost 100K fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University. Merkel's gov & state leaders are slated to meet this week to discuss possible new nationwide restrictions. Several states & cities have already imposed more Covid measures & have required the public to show Covid passes, which show an individual’s vaccination status or if they’ve just recovered from the virus (also widely known as “2G rules” as they refer to whether people are vaccinated — “geimpft” in German — or recovered, “genesen”) in order to access bars, restaurants & other public venues like movie theaters or museums.
Merkel warns fourth Covid wave is hitting Germany with ‘full force’
General Motors (GM) is steadily approaching a $100B market valuation after shares of the automaker reached a record high yesterday. GM's gains come as shares of newly public electric vehicle start-ups Rivian (RIVN) & Lucid Group (LCID), which briefly surpassed GM in market cap yesterday, lost steam following extraordinary double-digit runups in the past week. GM is celebrating the opening of its first dedicated electric vehicle plant in Detroit. GM CEO Mary Bbarra rang the opening bell from the facility earlier today & Pres Joe Biden will visit the plant in the PM. GM is currently making pre-production GMC Hummer EV pickups at the plant. Customer deliveries are expected to begin soon. GM stock went up 2.03.
If you would like to learn more about GM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/GM?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
GM stock hits record high as automaker celebrates Hummer EV production
Gold futures settled at their highest level since Jun,
rebounding from 2 consecutive session declines, with surging
inflation continuing to provide support for prices of the precious
metal. US home builders started construction on homes
at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.52M in Oct, down
0.7% from the previous month, the US Census Bureau reported. The decline was partially blamed on rising inflation for materials
into the construction of houses. Inflation is all around & gold is
benefitting. Dec gold rose $16 (0.9%) to settle at $1870 an ounce. That was
the highest most-active contract finish since Jun 11.
Gold futures post highest finish since June
Oil futures fell sharply today, settling at their lowest level since early Oct. Prices fell sharply following a China report that said the US & China discussed the possible release of oil from
their reserves to help lower intl oil prices, during a summit
between Pres Biden & Chinese leader Xi Jinping earlier
this week. Biden, meanwhile asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into possible illegal practices that are contributing to rising gasoline prices. Oil failed to find support even as data from the Energy Information Administration revealed
a weekly decline of 2.1M barrels in US crude inventories, the
first weekly decline in 4 weeks. Dec West Texas Intermediate oil dropped $2.40 (3%) to settle at $78.36 a barrel, the lowest front-month finish since Oct. 7
Oil futures settle at lowest since early October
Helpful earnings reports were not helpful enough & stocks were sold. Inflation, which brings higher interest rates, is depressing market sentiment. Nervous investors would rather buy gold.
Dow Jones Industrials
No comments:
Post a Comment