The big coronavirus vaccine story today is out of China–just before the start of the Lunar New Year travel season
A coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm is 79% effective in protecting people from the coronavirus, according to interim data released Wednesday by the company Sinopharm.. The results for the two-shot vaccine were based on interim analysis from...
Vaccine herd immunity calendar from Fauci
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said today that he anticipates that “ordinary” Americans–that is those without priorities for receiving a coronavirus vaccine because of age or underlying...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Stocks continue to sell off as market sees coronavirus lockdown fears coming true
The Standard & Poor’s 500 closed down 1.21% today and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.59%. The NASDAQ Composite was lower by 2.45% and the NASDAQ 100 fell 2.54%. The Russell 2000 small cap index tumbled by 1.96%. The rising tide of new...
In today’s sell off, it’s not the virus, it’s the lockdowns
Today both France and Germany returned to national lockdowns to fight the latest surge in coronavirus cases. That, I think, more than increase in virus cases is what drove today’s selling. Investors are afraid that we’re returning to the months when...
If Europe is a preview of next coronavirus surge in U.S., the forecast is downright scary
Most governments in Europe relaxed their strict coronavirus lockdowns over the summer in order to breathe some life into economies hit hard by the first wave of the virus and efforts to control its spread. That “return to normal”, however, has led to a...
Selling Agenus and Amyris out of my portfolios
Just want to make sure that everyone caught this sell decision that I made first on my subscription JubakAM.com website. I’m selling Agenus (AGEN) and Amyris (AMRS) out of both my Jubak Picks and Volatility portfolios. I added both stocks to these portfolios on...
Deals! and Vaccines! and the market is off to the races again
As of noon New York time today the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 1.58% and the Dow Jones Industrials had gained 1.37%. The NASDAQ Composite was higher by 2.01% and the Russell 2000 small cap index had picked up 2.11%. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF...
This rally is built on the Powell Put and, now, the Vaccine Put–what could possibly go wrong?
Yesterday in my post “Now there are two Puts supporting the market as the Vaccine Put joins the Powell Put. Those two bets–that the Federal Reserve will continue to flood the financial markets with cash and will increase the flow if the markets start to...
It’s another “hope for a vaccine” rally
Yesterdays “good news” press event from President Donald Trump started U.S. stocks on an upward trend this morning. As of noon New York time, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 0.73% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was ahead 0.99%. The NASDAQ...
China’s economic recovery slowed by weak domestic demand
In July China’s industrial output climbed by 4.8% year over year, Beijing announced today. That’s the same rate as in June. This good news in that it shows the post-coronavirus recovery continues in the industrial sector. But it’s bad news in that...
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...
Initial claims for unemployment drops below 1 million for last week
The number of workers applying for unemployment benefits from state unemployment programs fell below 1 million for the week ended August 8. At 963,000 the number was below the 1.18 million new claims for the week of August 1. Economists had expected initial claims of...
Back to tech: For a day (at least) rotation is over
Today, August 12, the rotation out of tech winners and into beaten-up consumer and industrial stocks is over. As of the close today. the Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 1.40% but the NASDAQ Composite was ahead 2.13%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher...
So why was Friday’s jobs report for July so worrying?
On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the U.S. economy added 1.8 million jobs in July. Not a bad number, on an absolute scale. 1.8 million jobs is a lot of jobs. And the total did beat economists’ expectations by about 300,000 jobs. But…...
China car sales gain for fourth straight month
Preliminary figures for July show vehicle sales in China advancing for a fourth straight month as buyers gradually return to auto showrooms. The figures are good news for China’s economy as a whole, which looks to have returned to growth–very modest...
ADP private payrolls report foreshadows negative government July jobs report due Friday
The ADP Research Institute report on private payrolls doesn’t always track with the government’s monthly jobs report, but the trends usually matches up. Which argues that Friday’s July jobs report will show that the economy and the labor market took...
Gold hits a record: Now what?
Spot gold hit an all-time high today to close at $1991.40 an ounce. In July gold rose 11%, the most since 2012. And now even investors and traders who never own gold are looking at the metal and say, “Should I buy? Will it rally some more?” In my opinion...
Market is amazingly calm today–all things considered
Let’s see. The Senate went home for the weekend without passing an extension to the $600 a week in enhanced unemployment benefits–so that program will pay out its last checks tomorrow. China retaliated for U.S. action to close China’s Houston...
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...
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...
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...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...
Disney parks re-open in Florida as state hits record new coronavirus cases; Hong Kong park closes again
On Sunday, Florida reported the highest single-day total of new coronavirus cases by any state since the start of the pandemic. The 15,299 new cases surpassed the previous high for any state on a single day of 12,274 recorded in New York on April 4. The record comes...Jim’s Daily Email Alerts:
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