Market sees fourth quarter GDP slowdown as good news
U.S. GDP growth slowed in the fourth quarter, gaining just 1% from the third quarter. For the full year the U.S. economy contracted by 3.5%. That makes 2020 the first time that the economy has contracted for a full year since 2009 and the Great Recession. At the...
Hey, don’t forget the November jobs report on Friday
Will the jobs report on Friday, December 4, be worrying enough to blast Washington out of what increasing looks like another stalemate over funding the government and another coronavirus stimulus bill? Economists generally expect that the jobs report will show that...
Do you believe McConnell on a stimulus package? It’s likely markets will
Today, while the race for President still hung in the balance but while it seemed likely that Republicans would hold their majority in the Senate in the new Congress in 2021, current Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters at a press conference in...
Why is the market up so strongly today? Look more to sector reasons and less to big picture bets
As of 2 p.m. New York time today the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 2.99%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 2.38%. The NASDAQ Composite had jumped a huge 4.16% and the NASDAQ 100 was up an even stronger 4.69%. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF...
Look ahead to a volatile 9 months: Time to chew gum, walk, rub your belly, and pat your head at the same time
As of today, November 3 at 12:30 p.m., I don’t know who will win the Presidential election. I don’t know if the rally in the stock market today, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 up 2.02% at 12:30 p.m. New York time, is a vote for some specific...
Mnuchin says no stimulus until after election and market shrugs
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, the lead negotiator for the White House on an additional coronavirus stimulus package, emerged today, October 14, from telephone calls with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to say that the chances of a stimulus package before the November...
For one more day, stock market buys politicians’ blather on coronavirus stimulus
Stocks climbed today with the Standard & Poor’s 500 up 0.80% at the close, as investors and traders decided that the talk out of Washington about another coronavirus stimulus effort was more than just pre-election hot air. The Dow Jones Industrial Average...
Why the President’s positive test for coronavirus led to a rally today in airline stocks
Every investor and trader has spent much of today speculating (either in words or dollars) on what President Donald Trump’s positive coronavirus test might mean for stocks. The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed the day, October 2, down 0.96% and the Dow...
Stocks lose much of early enthusiasm but still finish in the green
Stocks moved up modestly this morning (modest considering the damage down in the last few days) with the Standard & Poor’s 500 up 0.99% at 1 p.m. New York time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ahead 0.94%, and the NASDAQ Composite gaining 1.16%. The move...
Is coronavirus stimulus deal back on the table? White House says it is
On a day when Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell warned that the U.S. economy recovery, while faster than expected, could stall if Congress didn’t pass new fiscal stimulus measures to make up for the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, on Twitter President...
Walmart’s caution on an economy without more stimulus
This morning, August 18, Walmart (WMT) reported that comparable store sales climbed 9.3% year over year for the company’s fiscal second quarter that ended on July 31. Sales for its e-commerce unit jumped 97% year over year. That was up from growth of 74% in the...
It’s official: Coronavirus stimulus/rescue talks are dead until September
The Senate officially adjourned today through Labor Day, September 7. The House of Representatives had already been out of season, but now Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has announced that she will return to California next week. In the negotiations that collapsed on...
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...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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