Dow climbed 54, decliners over advancers 5-4 & NAZ added 120 The MLP index eased back to 190 & the REIT index fell 3+ to 480. Junk bond funds hardly budged in price & Treasuries saw a little selling. Oil was off pennies, still under 81, & gold fell 14 to 1851 on profit taking (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)
Higher prices & longer wait times do not appear to be turning buyers away from the nation's homebuilders. With demand still surging, homebuilder confidence in the market for single-family homes rose more than expected in Nov, to the highest level since last May. Confidence rose 3 points to 83 on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Anything above 50 is considered positive. Expectations were for for it to remain unchanged at 80. Sentiment stood at 90 in Nov 2020. “The solid market for home building continued in November despite ongoing supply-side challenges,” said NAHB Chair Chuck Fowke. “Lack of resale inventory combined with strong consumer demand continues to boost single-family home building.” Of the index's 3 components, current sales conditions rose 3 points to 89. Buyer traffic also increased 3 points to 68 & sales expectations in the next 6 months were unchanged at 84. While buyers are plentiful, most of the components that go into building a home are not. That has led some builders, like the nation's largest, DR Hoerton (DHI), to slow sales in order to make sure they can deliver on time. CEO Donald Horton noted in the most recent quarterly earnings release, “We continued intentionally restricting our home sales pace by selling homes later in the construction cycle to align with our production levels and better ensure the certainty of home close dates for our homebuyers.” Not only are builders still experiencing supply chain disruptions and a massive labor shortage, they also can't find enough land on which to build. “Lot availability is at multi-decade lows and the construction industry currently has more than 330,000 open positions,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz, who called on policymakers to focus on resolving these issues.
Homebuilder confidence surges past expectations, as buyer demand remains high
Pfizer (PFE) submitted its application to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency authorization of its Covid-19 treatment pill. The
pill, if authorized by the FDA, would be the first oral antiviral drug
of its kind specifically designed to combat Covid, according to the
company. Known
as Paxlovid, the pill cut the risk of hospitalization from Covid by 89%
in high-risk adults who were exposed to the virus when taken in
combination with a widely used HIV drug, according to the company. “We
are moving as quickly as possible in our effort to get this potential
treatment into the hands of patients, and we look forward to working
with the U.S. FDA on its review of our application, along with other
regulatory agencies around the world,” Albert Bourla said. Bourla had previously said that PFE planned to submit its data to the FDA before Thanksgiving. Earlier, PFE announced that it would allow generic manufacturers to
supply its antiviral pill, known as Paxlovid, to 95 low &
middle-income countries. The stock fell 4¢.
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 seeks FDA emergency use authorization for Covid treatment pill
Pres Biden pressed Chinese Pres Xi Jinping to fulfill his predecessor's phase one trade deal, during a virtual meeting between the 2 leaders yesterday senior officials said. Biden & Xi participated in a virtual meeting – their 3rd engagement since Jan. Senior administration officials said that the 2 leaders discussed economic issues, which included "a range of different points." One official said that Biden, specifically, raised discussion on former Pres Trump's phase one trade deal with Beijing. During the Trump administration administration, in Jan 2020, the former pres signed a Phase 1 trade agreement with China, easing hostility between the world's 2 largest economies amid decades of complaints that Beijing was manipulating its currency & stealing trade secrets from American firms. That agreement included commitments from Beijing to halt intellectual property theft, refrain from currency manipulation, cooperate in financial services & purchase an additional $200B of US products during 2020 & 2021. Despite that agreement, intelligence officials toward the end of the Trump administration warned that China posed a grave national security threat to the US. Meanwhile, the White House said that the 2 leaders discussed "the complex nature of relations" between the US & Beijing, & "the importance of managing competition responsibly." "As in previous discussions, the two leaders covered areas where our interests align, and areas where our interests, values, and perspectives diverge," the White House said after the meeting. "President Biden welcomed the opportunity to speak candidly and straightforwardly to President Xi about our intentions and priorities across a range of issues."
Biden presses China to fulfill Trump deal with Beijing
Gold futures ended lower, after touching their highest intraday price in 5 months, as investors digested the latest US economic data which included a rise in Oct retail sales despite high inflation & a monthly surge in industrial output. Dec gold fell $12 (0.7%) to settle at $1854 an ounce, after touching a high of $1879, the highest intraday level for a most-active contract since Jun. Prices were off slightly yesterday, ending the longest string of gains for a most-active contract, 7 straight days, since a 9-day rise that ended on Jul 2020. US economic data today was upbeat, easing some investment demand in the precious metals. US retail sales jumped by 1.7% in Oct, the gov said -- the biggest gain since Mar, with as much as ½ the increase tied to higher prices. The forecast was foe a 1.5% increase. Oct industrial production also climbed by 1.6%, the Federal Reserve reported, above expectations for a 0.8% gain.
Gold ends lower after touching the highest intraday level since June
Oil futures headed higher in volatile trading, as comments from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer eased expectations that the US will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to help lower gasoline prices. Oil prices had also spend time trading lower after the Intl Energy Agency said it expects growth in crude-oil production to help ease tight global supplies. Hoyer told reporters that he doesn't agree with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's recent call for tapping the SPR to lower gasoline prices. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for Dec rose 14¢ to $81.02 a barrel. Jan Brent crude, the global benchmark, traded up 52¢ (0.6%) at $82.57 a barrel. Oil prices had traded lower early today, with WTI prices touching a low at $80.03 amid signs of a recovery in global crude supplies. In a monthly report issued yesterday, the Energy Information Administration forecast a rise of 67K barrels per day in oil production in the Permian region to 4.95M barrels per day in Dec. The Intl Energy Agency, in its monthly report released today, said the tight supply & demand balance in the global oil market could be set to ease. The IEA said it expects output to rise by 1.5M barrels a day in the remainder of 2021, with the US, Saudi Arabia & Russia accounting for around ½ of that amount. In a monthly report last week, OPEC left its forecast for 2022 growth in oil demand unchanged at 4.2M barrels a day, but trimmed its outlook for growth this year by around 160K barrels to 5.7M barrels a day, citing the effect of high prices. Traders also eyed developments tied to Iran. A report said that Iran has resumed production of equipment of advanced parts for its nuclear program, dulling the likelihood that it will reach a deal with world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement aimed at curbing its nuclear plans. Meanwhile, data showing a better-than-expected US retail sales number "gave the Federal Reserve a little bit more wiggle room when it comes to tapering asset purchases & increasing interest rates. On top of that, St Louis Fed Pres James Bullard suggested that the Fed should raise interest rates twice next year & speed up the tapering of its bond purchases. Still, bullish analysts said the outlook for crude remains supportive in the near term.
U.S. oil prices end lower, but Brent oil gains after back-to-back losses
Dow Jones Industrials
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