Dow shot up 564 with strong buying in the PM, advancers over decliners about 2-1 & NAZ rose 417. The MLP index was off 1+ to the 195s & the REIT index jumped 14 to the 464s. Junk bond funds were mixed & Treasuries continued in demand bringing lower yields. Oil went up into the 87s & gold retreated 6 to 1789 (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)
Apple (AAPL), a Dow & NAZ stock, posted its highest quarterly revenue increase in the company's
history at $124B, showing an 11% year-over-year
boost during last year's critical holiday season despite ongoing supply
chain challenges & chip shortages. "This quarter’s record results were made possible by our most innovative lineup of products and services ever," CEO Tom Cook said. "We
are gratified to see the response from customers around the world at a
time when staying connected has never been more important," Cook
continued. "We are doing all we can to help build a better world —
making progress toward our goal of becoming carbon neutral across our
supply chain and products by 2030, and pushing forward with our work in
education and racial equity and justice." Q1 2022 results showed EPS of $2.10, beating the estimate of $1.90. Were it not for parts shortages and
supply chain woes, earnings might have been even higher. Cook
had said in Oct that demand for AAPL products was strong, but
blamed supply chain issues for costing the company an estimated $6B in the previous qtr. It appears the firm was able to
navigate thru a lot of the problems during the last 3 months of
2021. "We saw supply constraints across most of our products," Cook added. He expressed
optimism that further issues would be alleviated, adding, "We’re
forecasting that we will be less [constrained] in March than we were in
the December quarter." The stock rose 11 to 170.
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
Major tech company hits new quarterly revenue record despite big bumps
The White House said 60M households have ordered free at-home Covid tests thr the gov's new website. “Already tens of millions of tests have gone out the door and households around the country are already receiving tests so that people have tests on on hand if need arises,” White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. Tens of Ms of free highly protective N95 masks have also been shipped to locations across the country, Jean-Pierre added. The Biden administration launched the website, covidtests.gov, last week. Every household, based on residential address, is limited to 4 tests. The White House has said the cap on the number of tests per household is intended to ensure broad access to the program. The tests are expected to ship 7-12 days after a household places an order. When the website first launched, some people were blocked from ordering tests, particularly individuals living in apartment buildings. The Postal Service said the issue arose because some addresses were not listed as multi-unit buildings. Anyone experiencing issues should file a help request at emailus.usps.com/s/the-postal-store-inquiry or call the help desk at 1-800-ASK-USPS, according to the Postal Service. The Biden administration launched the website in response to public outcry over the holidays after many people could not get tested before visiting family. As the omicron variant swept the country, demand suddenly surged, leaving shelves empty at many pharmacies around the country & causing hours-long lines at some testing sites.
60 million U.S. households have ordered free Covid tests, White House says
Gold prices posted their lowest finish in more than 6 weeks, as the $ climbed in a week that has helped solidify opinions among investors that the Federal Reserve is readying for an interest-rate hike in Mar. Apr gold, which is now the most-active futures contract, fell 0.5% ($8) to settle at $1786 an ounce. That was the lowest settlement since Dec 15. Feb gold, previously the most-active contract, shed 0.5%, ($8) to $1784 an ounce. The contract finished 2% lower to $1793 yesterday, a loss that marked its first settlement below $1800 for a most-active contract since Jan 10 & the weakest close since Jan. 6. Based on the most-active contracts, gold was down 2.5% for the week, the biggest weekly decline since Nov. As gold fell, the $, as measured by the ICE US Dollar Index , was down slightly, but eying a weekly gain of 1.3%. Priced in $s, gold tends to move inversely to the US currency as a higher $ value makes purchases of the precious metal pricier for foreign investors. Prospects for higher US interest rates have been driving up the $. Fed Chair Jerome Powell didn't reject the idea of hiking interest rates at each of its meetings in 2022 & talked of the need to be “nimble.” Some shine came off gold today as tensions between the West & Russia over a potential invasion by the latter into Ukraine appeared to ease somewhat. Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said today that Moscow doesn’t intend to start a war, but also “would not let our interests be rudely trampled on and ignored.” Separately, US consumer spending sank 0.6% in Dec — the first decline in 10 months. Adjusted for inflation, consumer spending shrank an even sharper 1%. Gold prices briefly pared some of its losses immediately after data showing the the University of Michigan's gauge of consumer sentiment fell to a final Jan reading of 67.2, down from an initial reading of 68.8 & well below Dec's number of 70.6. Today's figure represents the lowest level of consumer sentiment since 2011.
Gold suffers worst week since November as prices settle at a more than 6-week low
In an unusually wild week of trading, the Dow finished up about 500. All considered, not bad. High volatility signals there is plenty of unrest & the Dow is still pretty much where it was months ago.
Dow Jones Industrials
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