Dow retreated 97, decliners over advancers better than 3-1 & NAZ was off 91. The MLP index stayed near 117 & the REIT index sank 9+ to the 347s. Junk bond funds remained weak & Treasuries saw heavy selling, driving the yield on the 10 year Treasury up a big 13 basis points to 4.12%. Oil rebounded 2+ to the 85s & gold tumbled 22 to 1633 (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 Biden administration is telling health-care providers to begin preparing for an end to the public health emergency declared in response to the Covid-19 pandemic nearly 3 years ago. The change will have broad implications for Medicaid health insurance recipients & could significantly impact how hospitals & pharmacies operate. How the US manages Covid this fall & winter will provide crucial data on whether the emergency needs to remain in place, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said. The Health & Human Services Dept (HHS)will give the public 60 days notice before lifting the public health emergency, Becerra said. His comments come after Pres Biden claimed in Sep that the pandemic is over, though he said Covid still presents a health challenge. Becerra renewed the emergency declaration until Jan. 11 last week as the US presses ahead with a fall booster campaign, but the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services told health-care providers in Aug to start preparing for a return to pre-pandemic rules as soon as possible. The public health emergency, first declared by the Trump administration in Jan 2020, has been renewed every 90 days since Covid arrived in the US & ravaged the country. HHS has used its emergency powers to transform how healthcare is delivered in the US, support beleaguered hospitals, simplify access to vaccines at pharmacies & keep Ms of Americans enrolled in public health insurance. The health emergency also allowed Ms to receive increased food benefits thru the federal gov's nutrition program. When the public health emergency does end, HHS estimates up to 15M will be disenrolled from Medicare & the Children's Health Insurance Program. Nutrition experts fear Ms of families will face a hunger cliff. Hospitals are concerned the end of pandemic flexibilities will compound a serious healthcare worker shortage. And pharmacies are warning that it could become more difficult for people to access vaccines. The most dramatic impact from ending the public health emergency will fall on people enrolled in Medicaid & the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Medicaid provides inexpensive and often free health insurance to lower-income adults while CHIP does the same for children whose families are struggling to make ends meet. Medicaid & CHIP enrollment increased 26% during the pandemic to a record of more than 89M people as of Jun, according to the federal gov. Enrollment surged because Congress basically prohibited states, which administer the programs, from kicking people out for the duration of the public health emergency.
Millions at risk of losing health insurance if U.S. ends Covid public health emergency in January
Procter & Gamble (PG), a Dividend Aristocrat, reported quarterly earnings & revenue that topped estimates as higher pricing helped offset lower sales volume &
currency headwinds. The company also expects foreign currency to
hit its fiscal 2023 results more than previously expected &
is predicting that the strong $ will deal a $1.3B blow
this year − up $400M from its outlook from late Jul. As
a result, PG expects net sales for the year to decline 1-3%,
lower than its previous outlook of flat to up 2%. It now forecasts EPS to be on the low end of its prior range of flat to up
4%. Net sales for
the qtr rose 1% to $20.6B, topping expectations of $20.3B. Unfavorable foreign exchange rates dragged revenue down by 6%. When
stripping out the impact of acquisitions, divestitures & foreign
currency. Organic revenue climbed 7%. Higher prices
fueled the growth & offset a 3% volume decline. The
company has been raising prices on products to mitigate rising costs,
but the strategy has pressured consumer demand for its products, with
volume shrinking for the last 2 fiscal qtrs. Execs stood by the strategy, expressing confidence that it hadn't sparked any significant changes in consumer behavior. For the qtr, EPS was $1.57, down from $1.61 a year earlier. Gross margin fell 1.6% compared
with the year-ago period, weighed down by higher freight & commodity
costs. The stock rose 1.20.
If you would like to learn more about PG, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/PG?a_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6ae5b6f7
Procter & Gamble’s earnings beat as higher pricing offsets drop in volume
Ukrainian Pres Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again
condemned Russia's alleged use of Iranian drones, saying its use of such
weapons from Tehran shows it is “militarily and politically bankrupt.” Drone & missile strikes continue to target Ukraine's energy infrastructure & residential buildings. Zelenskyy said yesterday that 30% of
Ukraine's power stations have been taken out by Russian strikes,
resulting in blackouts in many cities. Meanwhile, the new commander of Russian forces in
Ukraine has acknowledged that the military situation there is difficult,
particularly around the southern Kherson region. “The situation
in the area of the ‘Special Military Operation’ can be described as
tense,” Sergei Surovikin said. Kirill Stremousov, a Russian-installed deputy administrator of the Kherson region, said yesterday that “in the very near future, the battle for Kherson will begin.” The UK slammed Russia's missile strikes this week across Ukrainian cities calling the attacks “new depths of depravity.” “These
horrendous attacks on civilians are another terrible example of the
increasingly desperate & vindictive decision making from [Russian
Pres Vladimir] Putin and his military leadership,” said Ian Stubbs,
on behalf of the British delegation to the Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe. Stubbs
told an intl forum that “the horrendous drone attacks” on
Mon has strengthened Western allies resolve in supporting Ukraine. In the past week, Putin has ordered a slew of Russian missile & drone strikes across major Ukrainian cities.
Putin imposes martial law on annexed regions; Civilians told to flee Kherson as battle is imminent
Oil futures climbed,
with US prices up by more than 3%. The oil market rebounded as the tug-of-war between concerns over supply & fears over demand continue
the back & forth price action that has been a feature of the past few
weeks. The
market reacted to a report from the Energy Information Administration,
which showed weekly declines in both domestic crude & gasoline
supplies, while Pres Joe Biden has announced
the release of 15M barrels of crude from the nation's Strategic
Petroleum Reserve - to complete the 180M barrel release announced
in the spring. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for
Nov rose $2.73 (3.3%) to settle at $85.55 a barrel. The contract expires at the end of Thurs's
trading session.
U.S. oil futures settle with a more than 3% gain
Gold prices settled lower as the $
strengthened & Treasury yields advanced further beyond the 4% mark. Gold futures for Dec fell $21 (1.3%) to settle at $1634 per ounce. Prices for the most-active contract marked their lowest finish since
Sep 26. Losses today have pulled gold futures lower for the week. It was always going to be an uphill struggle
for the metal on fears over further tightening of
central bank policy amid an environment of high-inflation & low-growth
meant investors were never going buy to gold aggressively. That proved again today, as the metal has broken down with the $ rising. That was blamed on hawkish commentary from Minneapolis Federal
Reserve Bank Pres Neel Kashkari for weakness in gold today. In remarks yesterday Kashkari said
the Fed may need to hike interest rates past 4.75% to tame inflation.
Gold futures end at their lowest in over 3 weeks as Kashkari hints at more rate hikes past 4.75%
Dow Jones Industrials
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