Dow shot up 246 (for another record), advancers over decliners a modest 5-4 & NAZ climbed 187. The MLP index advanced 5+ to 184 & the REIT index fell 3+ to the 507s (off session lows). Junk bond funds fluctuated & Treasuries continued to see heavy selling, driving the yield up a huge 12 basis points to 1.62% on the 10 year Treasury. Oil rose, going over 76, & gold tumbled 27 to 1801 (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 US is considering recommending that individuals test negative for Covid-19 before ending their 5 day isolation period, US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said yesterday. The move could come after the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) faced harsh feedback for its decision last week to reduce Covid-19 isolation periods for asymptomatic people to 5 days from 10, even if the individual continues to test positive. “There has been some concern about why we don’t ask people at that five-day period to get tested,” Fauci said. “This Week.” “That is something that is now under consideration.” “The CDC is very well aware that there has been some pushback about that. Looking at it again, there may be an option in that, that testing could be a part of that. And I think we’re going to be hearing more about that in the next day or so from the CDC,” he added. “I myself think that’s a reasonable thing to do,” Fauci later said. The updated guidelines come amid a surge in new Covid-19 cases, driven by the highly contagious omicron variant. Some have criticized the move as putting business interests over science, since a surge in cases could exacerbate a nationwide labor shortage.
U.S. considers recommending negative Covid test before people end isolation period, Fauci says
Apple (AAPL), a Dow & NAZ stock, briefly hit a market cap of $3T during intraday trading today, before dropping back under the mark shortly afterwards. The stock
broke the barrier when its share price hit $182.86. The milestone
is mostly symbolic but it shows investors remain bullish on its stock & its ability to grow. AAPL was up over 2.5% during intraday trading to a price per share over $182 after briefly hitting the $3T mark. At a market value of $3T, AAPL tripled its valuation in under 4 years. And analysts see plenty of room to run. AAPL
showed annual growth across all of its product categories in its Q4 earnings, with revenue up 29% year-over-year. While the
iPhone is still the biggest sales driver, the services business grew
25.6% year-over-year & delivered more than $18B in revenue
during the qrr. The stock rose 4.44 (just under under $3T).
If you would like to learn more about AAPL, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/AAPLa_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f
Apple becomes first U.S. company to reach $3 trillion market cap
A new nonscientific personal finance survey from Slickdeals revealed that 3 in 4 Americans have New Year's resolutions centered on being "smarter with finances." The deals-& coupon-focused website commissioned the survey from OnePoll – a market research company that consulted 2000 US adults about their personal funds. Worries about pandemic-related inflation have contributed to 2022 money resolutions. In fact, 3 in 4 Americans told Slickdeals they fear inflation could be "a major setback." These concerns directly relate to the savings plans that Americans are putting together for the new year. Americans are hoping to save an average of $408 per month in 2022. That amount is $80 higher than how much Americans saved each month on average in 2021. "Saving more money does not always involve drastically altering your day-to-day lifestyle," said Louie Patterson, Slickdeals senior finance editor. "Easy changes such as cutting unnecessary subscriptions or looking for more deals and discounts when shopping, can add up to big savings." 3 in 4 Americans believe they'll be able to accumulate more wealth by repairing their finances. To get there, 50% of Americans want to eliminate their debt, 47% want to remove unnecessary bills, 44% want to utilize more deals & coupons when shopping, 44% want to use a savings app, & 41% want to apply for a credit card or credit increase. Other money goals people are aiming for in the US include reallocating monthly budgets (36%), improving credit scores (35%), spending more wisely (32%), switching to a different bank (28%) & investing money (27%). 77% of Americans believe "smarter" shopping habits contribute to higher savings. US consumers used 13 coupons or promos per month on average in 2021, which is up from the 10 US consumers reportedly used on a monthly basis in 2020. Slickdeals also noted that 62% of Americans said 2021 was easier on their finances than 2020 – the year when COVID-19 became a global pandemic.
76% Americans want to better their finances for the New Year: Survey
Gold futures declined to start the new year on the backfoot, with prices settling at their lowest in almost 2 weeks in the wake of rising stocks & Treasury rates. Feb gold fell $28 (1.6%) to settle at $1800 an ounc after tapping a low of $1798. The settlement was the lowest for a most-active contract since Dec 21. Last week, the metal rose 0.9%, leading to a 2.9% monthly climb, & prices advanced 4% in the final3 months of the year. However, gold futures based on the most-active contract notched the sharpest yearly drop, down 3.6%, since the metal ended down over 10% in 2015. Feb gold hasn't been able to trade over its 400-day moving average of around $1826 & that is led to a fall in prices. The slide for the precious metal, however, comes as a seasonally strong period of buying in precious metals is expected to commence, analysts said. Today, US stock benchmarks traded higher, while the $ was up 0.3% to start the year. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury note yield topped 1.6% to touch the highest level since Nov. A rise in yields for debt makes nonyielding precious metals less appealing compared against debt that offers a coupon, while a stronger buck can make $-priced bullion more expensive to overseas buyers.
Gold ends at nearly 2-week low to begin 2022
Oil futures ended higher, beginning 2022 on a positive note as traders built on the strongest annual rise for crude in 12 years, a day ahead of an expected decision on crude production levels from major oil producers. OPEC+ will hold a meeting tomorrow to decide on output levels in Feb. At the meeting in Dec, the group left its current agreement in place to boost monthly overall production by 400K barrels per day for Jan. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for Feb rose 87¢ (1.2%) to settle at $76.08 a barrel. Mar Brent crude, the global benchmark, added $1.20 (1.5%) at $78.98 a barrel. WTI, the US benchmark, rose 55% in 2021, the strongest percentage gain based on front-month contracts since 2009. Brent advanced 50.2% — its strongest percentage rise since 2016. Over the past week, the average number of new US COVID-19 cases has topped 400K for the first time, up more than triple over the last 14 days. But deaths have fallen by 3% over the same period. Dr Anthony Fauci said that the focus should be on the number of hospitalizations, which could overwhelm health systems, rather than new infections. Many infections are mild or asymptomatic & scientists believe the omicron variant, while more infectious, may be less virulent than other variants. But other variants are also circulating. Moreover, the risk of severe disease from any circulating variant, including omicron is much, much higher for the unvaccinated, Fauci warned last week.
Oil ends higher to kick off the new year after biggest annual rise since 2009
Dow Jones Industrials
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