Morning Briefing
Initial claims for unemployment total ticks up, ends downward streak
Too much news today. But let me start. Today the Labor Department reported that new claims for unemployment through regular state programs rose to 1.42 million in the week ended July 18. That was a 109,000 increase from the prior week and the first increase in the...
Trump administration ratchets up tension with China by closing Houston consulate
This morning the Trump Administration ordered China to close its consulate in Houston by Friday. China vowed to retaliate, calling the move illegal. The United States accused Chinese diplomats of aiding a nationwide pattern of economic espionage and attempted theft of...
Let the stimulus logrolling begin (I hope): Republicans near $1 trillion (maybe) with Democrats at $3 trillion as McConnell describes his plan on Senate floor
Of course, there isn't actually a Republican bill in the Senate yet, but in a floor speech today Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said “The American economy needs another shot of adrenaline.” McConnell also noted that infections are “climbing in hot spots around...Good vaccine news from Oxford/AstraZeneca–and others today
With 160 coronavirus vaccine candidates under development around the world, it's not surprising that we would get reports on three successful, if very early, trials today. The coronavirus vaccine that Oxford University is developing with AstraZeneca (AZN) showed...
Market worries that a smaller-than-expected drop in new claims for unemployment portends future downturn in economy
Initial jobless claims in regular state programs totaled a seasonally adjusted 1.3 million in the week ended July 11, down just 10,000 from the prior week, the Labor Department reported this morning. That's the smallest drop in the new claims since March and feeds...
Vaccine hopes drive stock prices higher today–and tomorrow?
U.S. stocks broke strongly higher today as Moderna (RNA) disclosed results from an initial safety trial. Investors also got a report on the ITV.com website that new findings from the vaccine candidate being developed at the University of Oxford could be published as...
Banks start off earnings season by pouring cold water on V-shaped recovery
“I don’t think anybody should leave any bank earnings call this quarter simply feeling like the worst is absolutely behind us and it’s a rosy path ahead,” Citigroup (C) CEO Michael Corbat said this morning as he announced the bank's second quarter earnings. “We don’t...Everything was rosy until the last hour
At the high point during the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.2%. It closed with a gain of just 0.1% for the day. The trend wasn't limited to U.S. stocks. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) was up 1.26% at noon New York time but closed off 0.67%...
Another day, another market Put: this time it’s remdesivir
Let's count the Puts that are keeping any Bad News Bear from biting this market. Of course, first and foremost there's the Federal Reserve Put (or Powell Put for lovers of alliteration). The Fed has told investors they can expect the current near 0% interest regime to...In context today’s new claims for unemployment number is bad news
These days you can't read an economic report, especially a jobs report, without a calendar. Today's report on initial claims for unemployment -- a weekly number for the week ended July 4--showed that new claims for unemployment continued their slow drop. The total of...
Inflection point for stocks approaches
Today what I'm calling "re-opening dependent" stock fell again. At least in the early going. Toward the end of session--like yesterday--these stocks and stocks in general rallied. Which in and of itself tells us something important about this market. First, the 2 p.m....Jim’s Stock Alerts
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