Dow shot up 391 (near session highs), advancers over decliners 5-2 & NAZ advanced 276. The MLP index rose 1+ to 246 & the REIT index added 3+ to the 339s. Junk bond funds continued mixed & Treasuries had very limited buying, lowering yields slightly. Oil was up 1+ to the 77s & gold tumbled 29 to 1939 (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)
Feeling “rich” is increasingly elusive. Even among millionaires, only 8% would characterize themselves as wealthy these days. Roughly 60% of investors with $1M or more of investable assets said they are more likely upper middle class, according to a recent Ameriprise Financial survey of more than 3000 adults. To that point, 31% consider themselves decidedly inflation, high interest rates & geopolitical & economic uncertainty, fewer Americans, including millionaires, feel confident about their financial standing. “Many people feel squeezed between higher prices and lower asset prices,” said Kim Maez, a certified financial planner & private wealth advisor at Ameriprise. “While a necessary part of the economic cycle, it’s also uncomfortable.” Even doctors, lawyers & other highly paid professionals, also referred to as the “regular rich,” who benefit from stable jobs, homeownership & a well-padded retirement savings account, said they don’t feel well off at all. Some even said they feel poor, according to a separate survey conducted by Bloomberg. Of those making more than $175K a year, or roughly the top 10% of tax filers, ¼ said they were either “very poor,” “poor” or “getting by but things are tight.” Even a share of those making more than $500K-$1M said the same. Despite their high net worth, just 44% of all millionaires felt “very comfortable,” another report by Edelman Financial Engines found. What would it take to feel wealthy? Jason Van de Loo, chief client officer at Edelman Financial Engines, recently said, “The short answer is more.” Most people said they would need $1M in the bank, although high-net-worth individuals put the bar much higher. More than ½ said they would need more than $3M & 1/3 said it would take more than $5M. When it comes to their salary, Americans said they would need to earn $233K on average to feel financially secure, according to a separate Bankrate survey. But to feel rich, they would need to earn $483K. Of course, higher costs continue to make it hard to make ends meet. Households are facing surging child-care expenses, ballooning auto loans, high mortgage rates & record rents along with the resumption of student loan payments. To bridge the gap, more people rely on credit cards to cover day-to-day expenses. In the past year, credit card debt spiked to an all-time high, while the personal savings rate fell. But a deterioration of the American dream has been decades in the making, according to Mark Hamrick, Bankrate's senior economic analyst. “Structural or long-term changes have been injurious to Americans’ ability to manage their personal finances,” he said. “Where there was a time in the U.S. when a married couple, with children, could get by with a single-wage earner in the house, those days are mostly vestiges of the past.” Money continues to be the #1 source of stress among households, Van de Loo added. “The last couple of years just lit a match to those concerns.”
31% of millionaires say they’re middle class, survey finds. ‘People feel squeezed,’ advisor explains
Disney (DIS), a Dow stock, earnings topped expectations thanks in part to profit at ESPN+ &
continued growth at theme parks, but a decline in ad revenue weighed on
the top line. DIS plans to continue to
“aggressively manage” its cost base, increasing its cost-cutting
measures by an additional $2B to a target of $7.5B. The
decrease in ad revenue was primarily from its ABC Network &
other owned TV stations, which saw lower political advertising revenue
during the qtr. Over the summer, CEO Bob Iger said the company could
be open to selling its TV assets. Meanwhile,
the company added 7M new core Disney+ subscribers from the
previous qtr, bringing its total number of users to 150M,
including Hotstar. The streaming business also narrowed its losses
compared with a year earlier. Analysts expect DIS to report a total of 148M subs for this qtr. “As we look forward, there are four key building opportunities that will
be central to our success: achieving significant and sustained
profitability in our streaming business, building ESPN into the
preeminent digital sports platform, improving the output and economics
of our film studios, and turbocharging growth in our parks and
experiences business,” CEO Bob Iger said. The company reported EPS of 14¢ for the fiscal 4th-qtr, up from 9¢ during the year-ago period. Excluding impairments, EPS was 82¢, higher than the 70¢ expected. Revenue
increased 5% to $21.2B, just short of estimates, which called
for revenue of $21.3B. This is its 2nd consecutive revenue
miss & the first time it has had a consecutive revenue miss
since early 2018. The stock fell 2.07.
If you would like to learn more about DIS, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/DIS_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6aeoso5b6f7
Pres Biden will meet Chinese Pres Xi Jinping face-to-face for the first time in a year, the White House said, in high-stakes diplomacy aimed at curbing tensions between the world's 2 superpowers. The closely watched interaction, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the San Francisco Bay area, could last hours & involve teams of officials from Beijing & DC. It is expected to cover global issues from the Israel-Hamas war to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, North Korea's ties with Russia, Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific, human rights, fentanyl, artificial intelligence, as well as “fair” trade & economic relations. “Nothing will be held back; everything is on the table,” according to a US official. “We’re clear-eyed about this. We know efforts to shape or reform China over several decades have failed. But we expect China to be around and to be a major player on the world stage for the rest of our lifetimes.” US officials, who have been pushing for the meeting for the better part of a year, believe Beijing has actively been working to undermine US policy around the world. The White House confirmed the day of the meeting. The Chinese foreign ministry said that Xi would visit the US Nov 14-17, attend the APEC summit & meet with Biden. Biden & Xi will speak across oceans of ideological difference for the first time since Nov 2022. Biden's team engineered a diplomatic blitz to repair hostile relations after Biden ordered the shooting down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that transited US skies in Feb. A main result is expected to be greater diplomacy - promises to talk more on key issues, including on climate, global health, economic stability, counter-narcotic efforts & potentially the resumption of some military-to-military channels after a high-level freeze. Both sides may make modest gestures of goodwill to ease talks.
Biden to meet Xi on Wednesday in San Francisco Bay area, U.S. says
Gold closed sharply lower following a hawkish speech from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. Gold for Dec closed down $32 to settles at $1937 per ounce, a 3 week low. In a speech to the International Monetary Fund yesterday, Powell said he is "not confident" the central bank's interest rate hikes are sufficient to return inflation to the Fed's 2% target, echoing similarly hawkish remarks from other members of its policy committee this week. Still, the $ fell, with the ICE dollar index last seen down 0.06 points to 105.85, making gold more affordable for intl buyers. Treasury yields were mixed. The US 2-year note was last seen paying 5.075%, up 4.2 basis points while the yield on the 10-year note was down 0.6 basis points to 4.616%.
Gold Falls After a Hawkish Speech from the Fed Chair
Oil rose along with equities, but still declined for a 3rd straight week on growing concerns over global demand & the unwinding of the Israel-Hamas war's risk premium. West Texas Intermediate climbed steadily thru most of today's session to settle above $77 a barrel, up 1.9%. Broader financial markets bounced back from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments that officials won't hesitate to tighten policy more. Traders also passed over a soft reading on US consumer sentiment showing that long-term inflation expectations reached a 12-year high. Still, concerns about waning demand & higher supply are driving a longer-term retreat in crude prices. WTI for Dec climbed 1.9% to settle at $77.17 a barrel & Brent for Jan settlement rose 1.8% to settle at $81.43 a barrel.
Oil Falls for Third Straight Week as Demand Fears Trump War Risk
Dow finished the week up 222 after staying fairly close to break even all week. Powell's comments yesterday about the future of interest rates were not well received by traders. Important inflation data next week probably will not change his thinking very much. Longer term, Dow is down about 2K in the last 2 years as the economy keeps struggling.
Dow Jones Industrials
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