Dow climbed 422 (near session highs), advancers over decliners 3-1 & NAZ gained 348. The MLP index was lower in the 192s & the REIT index went up 3+ to the 453s. Junk bond funds rose along with stocks & Treasuries were weak. Oil dropped 3+ to the 91s & gold pulled back 12 to 1857 (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)
Restaurant Brands Intl (QSR) reported quarterly earnings & revenue that topped expectations as digital orders made up nearly 1/3 of global sales. The restaurant company reported Q4 EPS excluding items, of
74¢, beating the 70¢ expected. Net sales rose 14% to
$1.55B, topping expectations of $1.5B. Higher prices
across its brands helped boost sales & the company plans to keep
hiking prices in 2022 to fight inflation. Global
digital sales climbed from $6B in 2020 to $10B in 2021,
accounting for 30% of its system-wide sales. Its strong digital growth
came as some of the company's restaurants faced labor challenges,
leading to reduced operating hours & shuttered dining rooms. More than ½ of sales in intl markets came from digital orders in Q4, while home markets for Tims, Burger King & Popeyes
were further behind. Burger King's same-store sales climbed 11.3%, topping estimates of 10%. But US same-store sales growth was just 1.8%. The stock rose 2.05.
If you would like to learn more about QSR click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/QSR_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f
Burger King parent’s earnings top estimates, fueled by digital sales growth
With the average national price for regular gasoline nearing $3.50 per gallon, 2 Dem senators from key battleground states a proposing to temporarily eliminated the federal gas tax. And a bill co-authored by Sens Maggie Hassan & Mark Kelly, who are being targeted by Reps as they run for re-election this year, appears to be gaining some traction with their Senate Dem colleagues. The Hassan/Kelly bill, which they titled the Gas Prices Relief Act, would scrap the 18.4¢ per gallon federal tax thru the rest of 2022 & calls for the Treasury Dept to make sure the savings are passed on to consumers rather than the oil & gas companies. And the measure, if passed into law, would also require the federal gov to transfer money into the Highway Trust Fund, which is used for road construction & maintenance & supporting mass transit, to make up for the lost revenues. "This legislation is about making sure that we get Granite Staters relief at the gas pump. People are feeling a real pinch on everyday goods, and we must do more to help address rising costs, particularly the price of gas," Hassan said last week introducing the bill. And Kelly, noting the "strain on families who need to fill up the tank to get to work and school," emphasized that "this bill will lower gas prices by suspending the federal gas tax through the end of the year to help Arizona families struggling with high costs for everything from gas to groceries."
Dems facing tough re-elections push to temporarily scrap federal gas tax
The Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) plan to fast-track Pfizer (PFE)'s Covid vaccine for children under 5 years old was delayed because of a “low number of cases overall in the clinical trial,” Dr Scott Gottlieb said. “Most kids are not getting symptomatic Covid,” he said. “One case in one direction or another can tip the perception of the vaccine’s overall effectiveness.” “The FDA wanted to take the time for this data set to effectively settle down,” Gottlieb added. “That point’s probably going to be after they’ve administered the third dose and have the data from that third dose.” He continued, “At that point you’ll be able to get more of a fixed perception of the vaccine’s overall effectiveness” in that younger group, the only cohort not cleared in the US for the shots.” The FDA had originally planned to consider authorizing 2 doses of what would ultimately be a 3-dose vaccine for kids under 5 as soon as this month. However, the agency said Fri it’s now going to wait on data about the effectiveness & safety of a 3rd dose, which PFE & its vaccine partner, BioNTech (BNTX), have said won't come until Apr.
Dr. Gottlieb: Shots for kids under 5 delayed due to low Covid
Gold futures ended lower as the steady march toward conflict in Russia over Ukraine was seen easing somewhat, weakening the case for safe-haven bullion after the commodity rallied to highs not seen since mid Nov. Russia's Defense Ministry has said it has pulled back a portion of its forces amassed outside Ukraine's border, even as some battalions were seen moving on a war footing. US officials have said Russia could launch an attack on Ukraine as soon as tomorrow, with more than 100K troops at the ready. Gold for Apr settled down $18 (1%) lower to $1851 an ounce. Most-active gold futures on Mon stretched their steak of gains into a 7th-consecutive session, settling at the highest level since Nov 17. Gold has taken a decisively more bullish run higher in recent weeks, supported primarily by the threat of war in Eastern Europe, concerns about the global recovery from the pandemic & the reaction of central banks world-wide to rising inflation.
Gold futures mark first loss in 8 sessions
Oil futures posted a loss of nearly 4%, a day after settling at their highest level in over 7 years, as Russia said some troops were returning to their bases after military exercises near the border with Ukraine, easing some fears of an invasion. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for Mar fell $3.39 (3.6%) to settle at $92.07 a barrel. Apr Brent, the global benchmark, fell $3.20 (3.3%) to $93.28 a barrel. WTI & Brent yesterday posted their highest settlements since 2014. Fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine faded somewhat after Moscow said today that some units would begin returning to their bases, though Ukraine's leaders expressed skepticism. The announcement comes a day after Russia's foreign minister indicated Moscow was prepared to keep talking with the US & its allies about security issues that have led to the Ukraine crisis. The threat of an invasion was cited as a reason for the recent jump in crude prices that took both benchmarks near the $100-a-barrel threshold. Oil traders also looked ahead to weekly US petroleum-supply data from the Energy Information Administration tomorrow. The forecast is for a decline of 200K barrels in crude inventories for last week. Supply declines of 900K barrels for gasoline & 1M barrels for distillates are expected.
Oil ends down by nearly 4% from a 7-year high as Russia says some troops returning to base
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