Dow shot up 406 (session highs), advancers over decliners better than 3-1 & NAZ soared 469. The MLP index was fractionally higher to the 196s & the REIT index added 6 to 470. Junk bond funds were weak & Treasuries continued slightly higher in price. Oil went up 1+ to 88 & gold climbed 13 to 1800 (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)
The omicron BA.2 subvariant is inherently more contagious & better at evading vaccines than any other Covid strain, but vaccinated people don't transmit it as easily as the unvaccinated, according to a Danish study. The new subvariant, which has rapidly become dominant in Denmark, spread more easily across all groups regardless of sex, age, household size & vaccination status, the study found. The probability that the subvariant would spread within a household was 39% for BA.2 compared with 29% for BA.1, the original omicron subvariant that was dominant across the world as of Jan 19, according to the World Health Organization. The study has not yet been submitted for peer review. Researchers have been publishing their findings before they are examined by other experts in the field due to the urgent nature of the pandemic. BA.2 is more contagious than the original BA.1 subvariant among both vaccinated & unvaccinated people, but the relative increase in susceptibility to infection was significantly greater in vaccinated individuals than unvaccinated individuals. That indicates it's even better at escaping vaccine protection than BA.1, which was already significantly more contagious than any other Covid variant. Transmission rates among unvaccinated people were higher with BA.2 compared with BA.1, indicating unvaccinated people were carrying a higher viral load with BA.2. Although fully vaccinated people are more likely to catch BA.2 than the previous strain, they are less likely to spread it to others, researchers found. People who received a booster were even less likely to transmit the virus than people who were fully vaccinated. “This indicates that after a breakthrough infection, vaccination protects against further transmission, and more so for BA.2 than BA.1,” the scientists found. The study also noted that the higher susceptibility to infection & greater transmissibility of BA.2 will likely result in more extensive spread of the virus among unvaccinated kids in schools & daycare. It is reassuring that BA.2 is generally milder compared with the delta variant, the scientists said & the vaccines protect against hospital admissions & severe illness. More than ½ of the states in the US have detected BA.2, with a total of 194 confirmed cases nationwide so far, according to a global database of Covid variants. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention said BA.2 is currently circulating at a very low level in the US.
The new omicron subvariant is more contagious, but vaccinated people are less likely to spread it
Boeing (BA), a Dow stock, won a big order from Qatar Airways as the airline feuds with rival manufacturer Airbus. The
order is worth $34B at list prices. Qatar
signed a provisional order for 25 737 Max 10 jets, the largest model in
the Max family. It also signed an option to buy 25 more of the planes. The carrier also lined up as BA's first customer for a freighter version of its newest jetliner, the 777X. During
a ceremony at the White House, Qatar signed an order for 34
of the 777X, a giant, twin-engined-plane & BA expects the passenger 777X to enter into
service in late 2023, about 3 years behind schedule. Air cargo
has been a relative bright spot in the pandemic. A web of travel
restrictions & Covid cases drove down intl travel, depriving
cargo customers of belly space in passenger planes. Combined with a
series of port snarls, air freight demand & prices surged over the
past year. BA last week said cargo traffic rose 7% from pre-pandemic levels last year, driving record demand for its freighter planes. The stock rose 8.93 (5%).
If you would like to learn more about BA click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/BAa_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f
Boeing wins Qatar Airways order for 737 Max planes, 777X freighters
The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the US rose slightly for the 5th week in a row, climbing 2.9¢ from a week ago, according to an industry expert. Currently, the national average is sitting at $3.34 per gallon, according to GasBuddy, which compiled price reports covering over 150K gas stations across the country. The current figure reflects a nearly 76¢ increase per gallon compared to a month ago & a nearly 93¢ increase per gallon compared to a year ago. Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said that the continued uptick at the pump is because oil prices are being "pushed into territory unseen in over seven years." The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil hit $88 per barrel in overnight trading Sun, the highest level since 2014, before dipping to $87.50 per barrel today. Although the increases at the pump have been small, they will "likely" continue, De Haan said. "With continued concerns over geopolitical tensions and crude oil supply, the small yet noticeable increases are likely to continue," De Haan added. The key that's been keeping "prices from rising more substantially is that gasoline demand remains low as winter storms keep motorists closer to home," De Haan noted. However, as the weather begins to get warmer, "we’ll lose the only restraint to larger price increases." Previously, De Haan projected that there may be an increase of 10-20¢ per gallon every month starting in Mar thru Memorial Day. By Jun, GasBuddy estimated that the national average price for a gallon of gasoline could climb to a high of $4.13.
Gas prices climb for fifth straight week as oil surges
Gold futures ended higher, following the sharpest weekly decline for bullion since Nov, a slide that helped to bring the commodity's value to a 6-week nadir. Apr gold, which is now the most-active futures contract, rose $9 (0.6%) to settle at $1796 an ounce. Gold futures logged a 2.5% weekly decline on Fri & marked the lowest settlement since Dec, 15 based on a most-active contract. For the month, they lost 1.8% — the biggest monthly percentage decline since Sep. Bullion has been supported by concerns about conflict between Ukraine & Russia, but those tensions have been seen subsiding somewhat. However, the prospect of rising rates across the globe have served as a headwind for nonyielding precious metals such as gold. Atlanta Federal Reserve Pres Raphael Bostic said that a 0.50 percentage point increase to benchmark federal funds could be warranted if inflation pressures continue to intensify, comments that may help to bolster the belief that the central bank may need to be aggressive to tamp down pricing pressures. Market-based projections are already pointing to 3 or 4 interest-rate increases of 25 basis points in 2022. Kansas City Fed Chief Esther George said that the central bank should raise interest rates soon & pursue a big reduction in its nearly $9T stockpile of bonds. However, San Francisco Fed Pres Mary Daly said the Fed's coming rate increases should be “gradual and not disruptive.” Other central banks, including the UK's, also are expected to lift their benchmark rates, which will weigh on demand for bullion.
Gold prices end higher for the session, but fall by nearly 2% for the month
Oil futures traded higher, to cap a sharp Jan rally that has lifted the US benchmark by more than 17% as traders continue to follow the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for Mar added $1.10 (1.3%) to $87.92 a barrel for a 17% monthly rise. Global benchmark Mar Brent was up $1.24 (1.4%) at $91.27 a barrel, for a monthly rise of 17% ahead of the contract's expiration at the end of the session. Apr Brent, the most-actively traded contract, was up 82¢ (0.9%) at $89.34 a barrel. Brent & WTI last week both traded at levels last seen since 2014. Russia has amassed around 100K troops near Ukraine border & taken other actions that have sparked fears an invasion of the neighboring country may be imminent. The US & its allies have threatened searing sanctions against Moscow in the event of an attack. Russia has insisted that NATO rule out membership for Ukraine & has made other security demands that the US & its allies have deemed nonstarters. OPEC+ will meet this week & so far has stuck to a timetable that has seen it add 400K barrels a day to output in monthly increments, though members have struggled to meet the increased quotas. Jan oil production from members of OPEC rose to 28M barrels per day, up from Dec output of 27.8M barrels per day.
Oil futures score a more than 17% monthly rise as Ukraine worries persist
Dow Jones Industrials
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