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...
China’s economy grows faster than expected in November
China’s official Purchasing Managers Index for Manufacturing rose to 52.1 in November. The was up from 51.4 in October. And beat the 51.5 median estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The index for the non-manufacturing sector climbed to 56.4 in...
Today, Friday November 26, smacks of desperation–to catch up with the indexes
It was a short session today, the Friday after Thanksgiving, on Wall Street but that didn’t stop the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the NASDAQ Composite from setting new all-time records. The S&P 500 closed up 0.24%. The NASDAQ Composite finished...
Initial claims for unemployment climb again
The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment in regular state unemployment programs climbed by 30,000 in the week ended November 21, the Labor Department reported today, November 25. For the week initial claims in state programs rose to a seasonally...
Dow closes above 30,000 for first time ever
Is this as good as it gets? That’s an important question today as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes up 1.54% to 30,045.84, the first close above 30,000 ever. Other indexes were just as strong. The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 1.62% by the close....
Nevada puts new coronavirus restrictions on Las Vegas casinos–but so far MGM Resorts stock gains
Saying on Sunday that the coronavirus surge in Nevada is running at wildfire levels, Governor Steve Sislak announced new restrictions to start on Tuesday and that will run for three weeks. The new rules will require casinos, amusement and theme parks, arcades, bars,...
The returns for 2018 and 2019 for my Dividend Portfolio show the challenge facing dividend income investors during this period of extremely low interest rates.
In 2018 my Dividend Portfolio showed a yield on 3.60%. That produced $6,483 in dividend income that year. (In this portfolio I put an equal $10,000 into each position and rebalance each year.) The goal of this portfolio is to beat the yield on the 10-year Treasury. On...
Adding Duke Energy to my Dividend Portfolio
On the night of November 18, I made Duke Energy (DUK) my second pick in my Special Report: “Dividend Stocks that are beating the Risky Rockets” on my JubakAM.com subscription site. On November 19, I added these shares to my Dividend Portfolio. Duke Energy...
It’s getting to look a lot like Christmas–and that’s a sign of deep worry at retailers
This morning on my way back from the farmers’ market, I passed a Whole Foods Market selling small Christmas trees for my “holiday table.” It’s November 20. Thanksgiving is NEXT week. Christmas is more than a month away. You may be noticed other...
Merry Christmas! An unemployment cliff looms for 12 million workers on December 26
According to a report from the Century Foundation, 12 million Americans are set to lose unemployment insurance by the end of 2020 with the bulk of those 7.3 million set to lose their benefits on December 26. When Congress wrote its coronavirus rescue bills, it created...
Are money managers too bullish?
This month’s survey of fund managers (with a total of $526 billion in assets under management) by Bank of America shows that cash holdings are at their lowest level since April 2015 and allocations to stocks rose in November to 36% overweight. That’s close...
As the day wore on, markets began to see near-term economic damage from the coronavirus as out weighing mid-term hope from vaccines
At 1 p.m. today, November 18, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 0.05% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 0.06%. Supporting even these meagre gains was positive news from Pfizer (PFE) that it had concluded trials of its coronavirus vaccine and...
Oregon and New Mexico announce statewide coronavirus lockdowns
The question has been How long would it be before the surge in new coronavirus infections forced states to re-institute the lockdowns and “stay at home” orders they used to contain earlier spikes in the pandemic? The answer, I’d say, is that a new...
Initial claims for unemployment drop–but it’s not enough
New claims for unemployment in regular state-run programs fell to an adjusted 709,000 in the week ended on November 7. That was down 48,000 from the prior week. On an unadjusted basis, the figure fell by 21,000. Continuing claims–the total number of Americans...
This market is way, way too complacent
The VIX, the CBOE S&P 500 Volatility Index, gained 11% today to close at 26.03. But the index, which measures how much investors and traders are wiling to pay in the options market to hedge risk on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index of stocks looking out...
On my JubakAM.Com site I just restocked my buy on the dip “Dip-O-Meter” with
an initial 14 technology stocks. The list includes Adobe (ADBE), Facebook (FB), Infineon (IFNNY), Illumina (ILMN), Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Qualcomm (QCOM), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), SolarEdge Technologies...
Here are just some of the places in the financial sector where a Biden administration could restore stricter regulations
I think it’s safe to say that whether it’s the environment or energy or workplace safety, a Biden administration will look to restore regulations that the Trump administration rolled back. And that includes the financial sector where the Trump White House...
What a difference a day makes for tech stocks
Today, technology stocks that took it in the neck yesterday bounced back strongly. The Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 0.77% today, November 11, but the NASDAQ rose 2.01% and the NASDAQ 100 climbed 2.31%. The Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK), down 1.86%...
Was yesterday the high tide for near-term optimism?
If you remember, my “calendar” listed a short-term post-election rally to be followed by a downward trending market into the early part of December. And then a renewed rally heading into January. I didn’t include yesterday’s coronavirus vaccine...
Why Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine news is even bigger than it seemed yesterday
There’s really, really good news in Pfizer’s announcement that the coronavirus vaccine it has been developing has turned out to be 90% effective. And that’s true even if it turns out that some other company’s vaccine becomes the preferred...
What we know/don’t know about Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine
The interim data from Pfizer (PFE) indicated no serious safety concerns, but the data covers a relatively short time period and safety issues could emerge as the company follows trial participants for a longer time. Which is why the U.S. Food & Drug...
Economy adds 638,000 jobs in October
The U.S. economy added 638,000 jobs in October, a slight drop from September, when the economy added 672,000 jobs. The job gains were enough to push the official unemployment rate down to 6.9% from 7.9% in September. The U-6 unemployment rate, which unlike the...
Hey Wall Street! This isn’t your father’s gridlocked government
With Democrat Joe Biden seeming to be on the road to a victory in the Presidential vote and with Republicans remaining in charge of the Senate (unless Democrats can sweep two run-off votes in Georgia in January–unlikely, in my opinion) and with Democrats...Tomorrow brings the October jobs report
The economy is projected to have added 600,000 jobs in October, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. That would be a drop from the 661,000 jobs added in September. Which was a drop from… Well, you get the picture. The economy is improving but the rate...
New claims for unemployment dip a miniscule 7,000
Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the seasonally adjusted number of initial claims for unemployment in regular state programs for the week ended October 31 was 751,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous...
Fed stands pat on interest rates, bond buying–and again expresses worry about coronavirus and lack of a stimulus bill
Today, November 5, the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee decided to keep the target for the federal funds interest rate in the 0% to 0.25% range where it’s been since March. And to continue bond purchases at the current rate of $120 billion a month....
Why buying CVS Health now is worth the risk of some market volatility–the 3.57% dividend helps
On October 27 I made CVS Health (CVS) one of my “10 Stocks for a post coronavirus world” on my JubakAssetManagement.com subscription site and declared that it was the only one of the first group of five stocks that I’d buy now–even though the...
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...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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