March 26, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
Today Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the surge in Americans filing for unemployment benefits is “not relevant.” Mnuchin told CNBC, “The president is protecting those people.” For the week ended March 21, initial claims for unemployment soared to a record 3.28...
March 25, 2020 | Daily JAM |
The South African government has ordered a three-week lockdown in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus that will shut down the country's gold, platinum, and paladium mines. Sibanye Stillwater (SBSW) the world's largest primary producer of platinum, and Anglo...
March 25, 2020 | Daily JAM |
Amid all the depressing coronavirus news on rising confirmed cases and death tolls, scientists are offering one hopeful sign that the world could, someday, get back to normal. The strategy for controlling this pandemic begins with slowing the curve of the spread of...
March 25, 2020 | Daily JAM, FQVLF, Stock Alerts |
I still like my long-term thesis for copper miner First Quantum Minerals (FQVLF)--that copper prices will rise with a pick up in global economic growth and that when growth resumes the world will be looking at a shortage of copper. First Quantum has a lot of new...
March 25, 2020 | Daily JAM, SERV, Stock Alerts |
I wish I hadn't bought ServiceMaster Global Holdings (SERV) in my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio back on December 17. But I did. It was a bargain then. It's not now. And now I think it's time to cut my losses after some relatively minor gains on March 24 (2.97%) and...
March 25, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
As I write this at 1:20 p.m. New York time on Wednesday, March 25, the Senate is debating the $2 billion (or is it even more now?) coronavirus rescue bill. The consensus is that the chamber will vote and pass the bill sometime this afternoon and then send it to the...
March 24, 2020 | Daily JAM, Mid Term |
One of the most hopeful signs in the fight against the global coronavirus pandemic is the decline of new cases in China after that country's draconian quarantine. As of Sunday, the country had reported a string of four days with no new domestically-sources cases. (New...
March 24, 2020 | Daily JAM, HDB, Stock Alerts |
In normal markets I don't sell stocks out of my long-term 50 Stocks Portfolio on changes in market direction. This is definitely a buy-and-hold-ish portfolio. But these aren't normal times either for financial markets or economies and today, March 24, I'm selling...
March 24, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
Stocks are up Big Time today on speculation that the Senate will finally pass a $1.8 trillion (remember when it was just $1.2 trillion?) coronavirus rescue package. As of the close today, March 24, the Standard & Poor's 500 was up 9.38% to 2437.33, and the Dow...
March 23, 2020 | Daily JAM |
Today, March 23, the Federal Reserve announced that it would backstop all credit markets in the United States without limits. The Fed said it would purchase Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities “in the amounts needed to support smooth market functioning.” In...
March 23, 2020 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing, Short Term |
I've been operating on the assumption for the last week of so that the Senate in particular and Congress in general would, of course, pass a coronavirus rescue bill. (I have been calling it a "stimulus: bill but given how quickly the economy, unemployment, and small...
March 22, 2020 | Daily JAM |
... the $1.3 trillion (or so) coronavirus stimulus/cash for everybody/corporate bailout bill to be the big make or break issue for the week. I have three questions: Will the bill be passed by the Senate on something like Major Leader Mitch McConnell's self-imposed...
