THE DAILY NEWS

thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

MARKETWATCH Bond Report

"U.S. Treasury yields inch lower as bond traders watch fiscal stimulus talks"


By Sunny Oh

Last Updated: Oct. 8, 2020 at 3:50 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 8, 2020 at 8:50 a.m. ET

U.S. Treasury yields slipped Thursday, but remain near the highest levels since late August, as investors watched talks between the White House and Democratic lawmakers, assessing the likelihood of future fiscal stimulus measures that could be passed before the presidential election in November.

What are Treasurys doing?

The 10-year Treasury note yield fell 2.1 basis points to 0.764%, while the 2-year note rate declined a single basis point to 0.145%.

The 30-year bond yield slipped 2.2 basis points to 1.565%.

Bond prices move inversely to yields.

What’s driving Treasurys?

Investors eyed any signs of progress towards piecemeal fiscal stimulus measures, endorsed by President Donald Trump, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted that any aid to airlines could only come as part of a larger deal.

Earlier this week, Treasury prices came under pressure amid signs that the uncertainty around the November presidential election may be easing, if Democratic candidate Joe Biden wins by a large margin, leaving the way open for expansionary government spending next year.

The U.S. Treasury Department sold $23 billion of 30-year bonds Thursday afternoon.

The recent rise in yields has prevented indigestion associated with new issuance, but investors say Treasurys may need to cheapen further to whet the appetite of bond buyers ahead of rising federal budget deficits.

Indeed, the U.S. budget deficit hit a record $3.1 trillion in the recently concluded 2020 budget year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected Thursday.

In U.S. economic data, initial jobless claims filed through state programs slid to 840,000 in the week ended Oct. 3 from a revised 849,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department reported.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast new claims to fall to 820,000.

The slowing decline of the number of Americans who applied for jobless benefits could be a sign the labor market is experiencing a setback amid another wave of corporate layoffs.

What did market participants’ say?

“The initial jobless claims data remains quite high, especially at
this stage of the hopeful recovery."

"That likely means that the attention now shifts back to the additional stimulus conversations, where the terms of a deal seem to be changing every day,” said Kevin Giddis, chief fixed-income strategist at Raymond James.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-t ... ond-report
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

MARKETWATCH

"U.S. jobless claims — aka layoffs — fall slightly in early October but still very high"


By Jeffry Bartash

Published: Oct. 8, 2020 at 10:25 a.m. ET

The numbers:

The number of Americans who applied for jobless benefits fell slightly in early October to a fresh pandemic low, but they are declining more slowly in a sign the labor market could be experiencing a setback amid another wave of corporate layoffs.

Initial jobless claims filed through state programs slid to 840,000 in the week ended Oct. 3 from a revised 849,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast new claims to fall to 820,000.

An unadjusted 464,437 people also filed new claims under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Act, the federal law that temporarily made self-employed workers eligible for benefits for the first time.

That put the number of actual or unadjusted new claims at 1.27 million, also a pandemic low.

New applications for unemployment benefits have gradually receded from a pandemic peak of 6.9 million in late March, but the weekly total has fallen by less than 100,000 in the past month.

New jobless claims are still quadruple the pre-crisis average and are higher than any point during the severe 2007-2009 recession.

A small but growing number of high-profile corporations in industries such as airlines and entertainment that have been hardest hit by the pandemic have announced they will cut more jobs permanently unless the government provides extra financial help.

Many economists worry the economic recovery will falter without another federal relief package.

What happened:

New jobless claims rose the most in the states of Florida, Ilinois and Virginia.

They declined the most in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

For the second week in a row, the number of new claims in California was frozen at the same level as they were on Sept. 19.

The state stopped accepting claims for two weeks to process a large backlog and to install fraud-detection measures after widespread problems in its system.

It’s possible the claims figures in California have inflated the national total, but it won’t be known until the state resumes reporting its data.

California will start accepting applications again next Monday.

Continuing jobless claims filed through state programs, meanwhile, sank by a large 1 million to a seasonally adjusted 10.98 million in the week ended Sept. 26.

That’s also the lowest level since late March, when the virus shut down much of the U.S. economy.

Altogether, the number of people reportedly getting benefits through eight state and federal programs fell by 1 million to an unadjusted 25.5 million as of Sept. 19, the latest data available.

Some economists question the accuracy of the estimate given that other government data shows the pool of unemployed is about half that size.

Big picture:

The economy is still growing, but not as rapidly as it was earlier in the summer.

The big worry now is that another wave of layoffs could crash over the economy and stunt the recovery.

Disney, American Airlines, United Airlines and MGM Resorts are among a coterie of large companies that say they plan to cut more jobs in light of ongoing difficulties.

Yet consumer confidence surged in September to the highest level since the pandemic and the economy is still adding more jobs than it’s losing.

Other economists say the recovery appears durable enough to keep growing even without another massive dose of federal aid.

Right now it looks like the economy is largely on its own.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been deadlocked for months over another round of financial aid and it’s unclear if any more help is coming before the election in early November.

What they are saying?

“The decline in continuing claims is welcome, but initial claims offer a better read on the real-time state of the labor market, and the downward trend has stalled, more or less,” said chief economist Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Market reaction:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose in Thursday trades.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-jo ... latestnews
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

MARKETWATCH

"Federal budget deficit hit record $3.1 trillion in just-ended fiscal 2020, CBO says"


By Jonathan Nicholson

Published: Oct. 8, 2020 at 3:14 p.m. ET

The U.S. budget deficit hit a record $3.1 trillion in the recently concluded 2020 budget year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected Thursday.

“Relative to the size of the economy, the deficit — at an estimated 15.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) — was the largest since 1945, and 2020 was the fifth consecutive year in which the deficit increased as a percentage of GDP,” the CBO said in its monthly forecast.

The Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget will release actual figures later in the month, if the agencies hold with past practice.

Notably, the CBO figure, based on daily Treasury data, was $180 billion less than it had projected only a few weeks ago, as revenues came in $123 billion above those projections and spending came in slightly below — by $56 billion — forecasts.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feder ... re_twitter
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

BARRON'S

"Opinion: Trump’s Regeneron Treatment Is a Tangled Ethical Mess"


Alison Bateman-House, M. Sage Gustafson, and Arthur Caplan

Published: Oct. 8, 2020 at 4:28 p.m. ET

President Donald Trump is illustrating the ethical perils of the “compassionate use” of unapproved medical products in real time.

The president’s use of an experimental drug outside of a clinical trial, and the company’s offer of the product to the president’s political rival, raise questions about special treatment for certain VIPs.


Furthermore, the presidential hawking of yet another unproven Covid-19 “cure” may undermine evidence-based decision-making while raising fears about the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s independence from the White House.

Following Trump’s Covid-19 diagnosis, a New York State-based biotech company, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, granted his doctor’s request for nontrial, preapproval “compassionate use” access to REGN-COV2, its investigational cocktail of two monoclonal antibodies.

The company also divulged that it had reached out to former vice president Joe Biden ’s team.

Yesterday, Trump declared this unapproved treatment “a cure,” saying “it made me better.”

Today, Regeneron said it applied for an emergency use authorization for REGN-COV2, a temporary approval by the FDA that would allow wide nontrial access to the drug, potentially endangering the completion of ongoing trials for the product.

The FDA has not acted on that request, so any patients inspired by the president’s messages to seek nontrial access to the drug will need their physicians to request it through expanded access, as did the president’s doctors.

Regeneron does not appear to have sought to unlawfully promote its experimental Covid-19 therapeutic by giving it to the president.

But the president, who has the authority to overrule the FDA, has raved about REGN-COV2, much like he did with hydroxychloroquine just months ago.

In that case, White House pressure resulted in the FDA temporarily approving hydroxycholoroquine for use in treating Covid-19 in hospitalized patients, only to end that emergency authorization when clinical trials demonstrated that the drug did not offer sufficient benefit against Covid-19 to justify its risk.

Hydroxychloroquine had been previously granted full approval by the FDA as a treatment for lupus and other conditions, and it was available — and legal — for clinicians to prescribe to patients for any reason.

REGN-COV2, by contrast, remains an unapproved, experimental product.

Until and unless REGN-COV2 receives full or temporary approval from the FDA, it is likely that Regeneron will face a crush of requests for expanded access, not all of which it will be able to fulfill, even if it wants to do so.

These events raise myriad red flags.

First, by law, the only patients eligible for experimental drugs through the expanded access pathway are those who cannot join an ongoing trial.


In the case of Trump, it is unclear what effort was made to determine if he was eligible for Regeneron’s trial.

This should be publicly and immediately clarified, so that we know whether the president met the legal criteria for expanded access.

The same would apply to Biden, if he were to receive the investigational drug.

(Biden has tested negative for Covid-19.)

Ensuring both men participate in clinical trials, were they eligible, would be important for two reasons.

First, regulations should be applied uniformly to all.

Second, allowing important people access to an investigational product outside of a clinical trial when they are eligible for the study makes trials appear as something to be avoided, if possible.

Trump’s actions have reinforced that message, missing a major opportunity to affirm the societal importance of trials.

This case demonstrates the U.S. cultural tendency — shared in spades by Trump — to overstate the therapeutic potential of investigational products.

The vast majority of drugs-in-development fail and never receive approval from the FDA for sale or use.

Data from early trials frequently look good, but very often, that early hope fails to translate into reliable, robust evidence of clinical effectiveness.

It is for that reason that investigational drugs go through a development process in which they are tested in increasingly larger number of patients, and, in some cases, compared to a placebo.

The sequence of events with Regeneron’s product has reinforced the fallacy that treatment with an experimental drug is inherently better care.

Inarguably, the presidential candidates are being treated differently from others who have a diagnosed Covid-19 infection or potential exposure to the Sars-CoV-2 virus.


Before granting even a single request for nontrial access, a company must decide how it will allocate its limited supply in a situation of numerous requests.

This is a difficult decision, but there are publicly available models of how companies have allocated scarce investigational products.

None of these models state, as a principle, “prioritize important people.”

Rather, they endorse such strategies as picking at random from all requests or selecting patients who seem the most likely to benefit from the product.

Are presidential candidates more deserving than others to access a drug in limited supply that might provide medical benefit?

Some would argue yes.

But it is worth emphasizing again that all drugs pose potentially dangerous side effects and, even with initial favorable data, there is no determinative evidence that an unapproved drug is medically advantageous.

Is it important to shield presidential candidates from the unknowns of unproven treatments, especially when used in untested combinations with other interventions?

Maybe.

These are questions that should be discussed and answered by companies before decisions about who gets access are made.

Regeneron’s decision to reach out to the Biden team, even if it was merely sharing information, raises the ethical questions of why and how should companies make public their access policies.

The company had already posted its policy on its website.

Why, then, reach out directly to Biden?


Companies post public policies to even the playing field, to make all patients equally aware of the availability of expanded access.

Direct contact does the exact opposite.

Covid-19 has starkly demonstrated the disparities in the U.S. with regard to who gets sick, who gets prompt testing, who gets ventilators, and even who gets safe housing during an infectious pandemic.

The Regeneron case has now revealed further disparities in how patients learn about and access investigational medical products.

It should prompt companies to think seriously about how, if they chose to permit nontrial access, they will allocate scarce investigational drugs, and how they will publicize and defend their actions.

Do their policies align with common conceptions of justice, which treat those in need alike?

Or do they afford heads of state, potentates, and presidential candidates easier access than you or me?

Alison Bateman-House is assistant professor in the Division of Medical Ethics at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York Cityand co-chair of the NYU Working Group on Compassionate Use and Preapproval Access.

M. Sage Gustafson is a research associate in the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the project manager of the NYU Working Group on Compassionate Use and Preapproval Access.

Arthur Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/tr ... latestnews
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

MARKETWATCH

"The U.S.’s trade deficit hasn’t been this wide in a decade and a half"


By Associated Press

Published: Oct. 8, 2020 at 5:59 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit rose in August to the highest level in 14 years.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the gap between the goods and services the United States sells and what it buys abroad climbed 5.9% in August to $67.1 billion, highest since August 2006.


Exports rose 2.2% to $171.9 billion on a surge in shipments of soybeans, but imports rose more — up 3.2% to $239 billion — led by purchases of crude oil, cars and auto parts.

The U.S. deficit with the rest of the world in the trade of goods such as airplanes and appliances set a record $83.9 billion in August.

The United States ran a surplus of $16.8 billion in the trade of services such as banking and education, lowest since January 2012.

The politically sensitive deficit in the trade of goods with China fell 6.7% to $26.4 billion.

So far this year, the United States has recorded a trade gap of $421.8 billion, up 5.7% from January-August 2019.

Hammered by the coronavirus and its fallout on the world economy, total U.S. trade — exports plus imports — is down 15.1% so far this year to $3.2 trillion.

“Overall, trade flows remain subdued and the outlook is uncertain given a muted global growth and demand backdrop,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.

President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to bring down America’s persistent trade deficits.

He imposed taxes on imports of steel, aluminum and most products from China, among other things; and renegotiated a North American trade pact in an effort to encourage more production in the United States.

But the trade deficit won’t yield easily to changes in trade policy.

As the U.S. economy recovers from springtime shutdowns, Americans are buying more imported goods while foreign demand for U.S. products remains weak.

In an unusual move, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer issued a statement on the monthly trade deficit report Tuesday, defending the president’s record.

Lighthizer noted that the U.S. deficit in the trade of goods is down 2.4% so far this year and would have fallen more if it weren’t for a surge in gold imports by investors using the precious metal to hedge against risks at a time of considerable uncertainty.

He also said: “The trade deficit increased in August because America’s economy has recovered more quickly than our trade partners.’’

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-u ... latestnews
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

MARKETWATCH

"Oil settles lower on reported end to Norway strike, but gains on week as Hurricane Delta shuts Gulf output"


By Myra P. Saefong, and William Watts

Last Updated: Oct. 9, 2020 at 3:07 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 9, 2020 at 8:14 a.m. ET

Oil futures settled lower Friday following a reported end to a strike in Norway that threatened production, but the U.S. benchmark scored a nearly 10% weekly advance as Hurricane Delta neared landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Oil enjoyed a week of impressive gains, but the rise was not caused “by factors that are here to stay,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy, in emailed commentary.

“Hurricanes that curb production in the U.S. will subside and output will rise again,” he said.

“The same applies with strikes in Norway,” so both market events, in a way, are “artificial.”

Prices fell to session lows after Reuters reported that Norwegian oil firms reached a wage agreement with labor union officials Friday.

The strike could have resulted in production cuts of just under 1 million barrels a day by next week, according to Commerzbank.

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 59 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $40.60 a barrel.

For the week, the front-month contract gained 9.6%, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The global benchmark, December Brent crude fell 49 cents, or 1.1%, to $42.85 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe, with prices up 9.1% for the week.

Oil’s loss on Friday may also show that the “market is more worried about refineries shutting down in the wake of Hurricane Delta and sending crude oil to storage, than it is of crude oil production being shut in,” said Robert Yawger, director of energy at Mizuho Securities, in a note.

Hurricane Delta, a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds near 110 miles per hour as of Friday afternoon, was expected to make landfall on the Louisiana coast later Friday.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement on Friday estimated that around 91.55% of current oil production in the Gulf of Mexico had been shut in as a result of the storm, along with 62.17% of natural-gas output.

Meanwhile, Baker Hughes, also on Friday, reported a third straight weekly increase in the number of active U.S. oil drilling rigs — up 4 to 193 this week.

In the near term, upward movement for oil is “limited since traders are cognizant of substantial spare capacity existing with virtually every oil-producing nation,” Manish Raj, chief financial officer at Velandera Energy, told MarketWatch.

Traders are also aware of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies’ “resolve to manage production, so prices do not fall below $40,” he said.

“Therefore, in the near term, we expect crude oil to be range bound around $40.”

Also on Nymex, November gasoline fell by 2.3% to $1.2032 a gallon, but still finished up by 7.1% for the week.

November heating oil shed less than 0.1% to $1.1933 a gallon, settling up 10% for the week.

November natural gas finished at $2.741 per million British thermal units, up 4.3% Friday, for a weekly rise of more than 12%.

That marked a third straight weekly climb.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-p ... od=markets
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

MARKETWATCH Bond Report

"10-year Treasury yield logs biggest weekly jump since August with fiscal stimulus talks still in focus"


By Sunny Oh

Last Updated: Oct. 9, 2020 at 3:56 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 9, 2020 at 8:44 a.m. ET

U.S. Treasury yields edged higher on Friday, extending a weeklong rise as investors held to hopes that a fiscal stimulus deal will be forthcoming this year after all from Congress.

What are Treasurys doing?

The 10-year Treasury note yield rose 1.1 basis points to 0.775%, extending an 8.1 basis point weekly increase, its largest such jump in six weeks.

Meanwhile, the 2-year note rate edged 0.8 basis point higher to 0.153%, leaving it up 2.2 basis points higher this week.

The 30-year bond yield added 0.7 basis point to 1.573%, contributing to a 9.3 basis points weekly rise.

What’s driving Treasurys?

Washington politics continued to dominate the attention of traders who are still looking for Democratic and Republican lawmakers to strike an agreement on a new coronavirus aid relief package despite intermittent negotiations since August.

The White House said it was open to a broader stimulus package only days after President Donald Trump said he was willing to do standalone fiscal measures only.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, said any aid to airlines as requested by Trump would have to be embedded in a larger stimulus bill.

Trump later said to talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh that he wanted an even bigger package than either Congressional Republicans and Democrats were proposing.

Analysts have called for new fiscal stimulus without which the economic recovery could turn increasingly rocky towards the end of this year, as U.S. households can no longer depend on additional federal unemployment benefits.

What did market participants’ say?

“Focus has been on further U.S. fiscal stimulus efforts, with a strong ebb and flow on whether negotiations are on and the scope of any package that may be agreed to,” said Simon Deeley, a rates strategist at RBC Capital Markets, in a note.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-t ... latestnews
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

MARKETWATCH Market Snapshot

"Dow notches best week since August even as stimulus progress stalls"


By William Watts, and Andrea Riquier

Last Updated: Oct. 9, 2020 at 4:37 p.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 9, 2020 at 7:26 a.m. ET

U.S. stocks rose Friday as investors remained optimistic over prospects for another round of fiscal stimulus from Congress eventually, with major benchmarks posting their best week since the summer.

What did major benchmarks do?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 161.39 points, or 0.6%, to close at 28,586.90, while the S&P 500 added 30.30 points, or 0.9%, to 3,477.13.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 158.96 points, or 1.4%, to end at 11,579.94.

The Dow on Thursday rose 122.05 points, or 0.4%, to finish at 28,425.51, while the S&P 500 advanced 27.38 points, or 0.8%, to close at 3,446.83.

The Nasdaq Composite finished at 11,420.98, up 56.38 points, or 0.5%.

For the week, the Dow gained 3.3%, while the S&P 500 was up 3.8% and the Nasdaq was up 4.6%.

That marked the strongest weekly rise for the blue-chip index since Aug. 7 and the best for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq since July, according to FactSet.

The small-cap Russell 2000 advanced 0.5% on Friday, but closed the week 6.4% higher.

What drove the market?

Investors remained optimistic about another fiscal stimulus package being passed by Congress eventually and stocks advanced late in the week, encouraged by continued talks between House Democrats and the Trump administration.

The on-again, off-again fiscal stimulus talks in Washington sped up Friday, as bargaining warmed up over a comprehensive deal, a prospect President Trump rejected only three days ago.

But after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin talked by phone, the provisions of the plan for coronavirus testing remained a sticking point.

Prior to the Pelosi-Mnuchin discussion breaking up, Trump expressed his hope for a big deal while on a conservative radio talk show.

Amid reports the administration was willing to go to $1.8 trillion from its previous level of $1.6 trillion in its offer, compared to the Democrats $2.2 trillion proposal, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said Trump had signed off on a revised offer.

The situation marks a sharp turnaround from Tuesday afternoon, when Trump tweeted he was pulling out of talks and both Pelosi and the Republican party Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to accept the negotiations were over until after the election.

But McConnell’s path to getting a deal of more than $1 trillion passed in the Senate would appear difficult as he has said some of his Republican colleagues don’t want to see more stimulus spending at all.

“Stimulus is one of the most important topics in the market today,” said Ben Kirby, co-head of investments at Thornburg Investment Management.

But Kirby thinks the odds are low that anything passes in the next few weeks.

“It’s not in either party’s best interest to do a package ahead of the election."

"I think they’re incentivized to play ball but not come to a deal."

"I view election uncertainty as noise and I would be a buyer on short-term volatility.”

Analysts also said Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s widening lead in the polls over President Donald Trump has also been seen as a supportive factor because it lessens, but doesn’t eliminate, the prospect of a contested election outcome on Nov. 3, a prospect that has unnerved investors fearing weeks of legal and political wrangling.

The president trails Joe Biden by an average of 9.7 percentage points nationally according to the Real Clear Politics average of polling.

“The market rally is also the result of polls – both nationally and in key states – showing that Biden’s lead is widening,” said David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth Management.

“The market does not favor one party or another, but the widening lead reduces the odds there will be a close, contested election."

"That is the market’s biggest fear,” he said.

COVID-19 treatment hopes were also noted, analysts said.

Gilead Sciences Inc. said late Thursday that a late-stage study of its experimental COVID-19 treatment showed it shortened time to recovery.

The drug, remdesivir, was reportedly one of the medications recently prescribed to President Donald Trump for his COVID-19 infection.

Gilead shares rose 1.4%.

The third quarter U.S. corporate earnings reporting season gets under way next week, with major banks set to report third-quarter results.

Friday was a light day for economic data.

U.S. wholesale inventories rose by 0.4% in August as companies began to stock up again to replace dwindling supplies.

Which companies were in focus?

The Wall Street Journal reported that Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is in talks to buy rival chip maker Xilinx Inc. in a deal that could be valued at more than $30 billion and mark the latest big merger in the rapidly consolidating semiconductor industry.

AMD shares were down 4.1%, while Xilinx shares rose 12%.

AT&T is planning thousands of job cuts in its WarnerMedia unit as it seeks to cut costs by up to 20%, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Shares were off 0.3%.

Kronos Bio Inc. shares rocketed 43% in their first day of trading, while shares of Shattuck Labs Inc. were up nearly 14%.

What did other markets do?

Mainland Chinese stocks jumped as investors returned from a weeklong break, with the Shanghai Composite rising 1.7%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.3%.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe Index gained 0.6% to close at 480.10.

London’s FTSE 100 also gained 0.6%., closing at 6,016.65

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped nearly a basis point to 0.774%.

Bond yields move inversely to prices.

Oil futures slumped but were on track fell 59 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $40.60 a barrel as Hurricane Delta approached the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

Gold added $31.10, or 1.6%, to settle at $1,926.20 and ending at a 3-week high.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the currency against six major rivals, was down

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-f ... od=markets
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

MARKETWATCH

"U.S. wholesale inventories climb 0.4% in August"


By Jeffry Bartash

Last Updated: Oct. 9, 2020 at 11:43 a.m. ET
First Published: Oct. 9, 2020 at 10:50 a.m. ET

The numbers:

U.S. wholesale inventories rose by 0.4% in August as companies began to stock up again to replace dwindling supplies.

What happened:

Inventories of durable goods, such as autos and lumber, increased by 0.6%.

Stockpiles of nondurable goods were unchanged, however, largely because of a decline in the production of grocery staples and clothing.

The inventory-to-sales ratio slipped to 1.31 from 1.32 in the prior month and is back to precrisis levels.

The ratio soared early in the pandemic as sales nosedived and firms got stuck with an excess of goods.

Yet the ratio has declined as the economy recovered and sales picked up.

The approaching holidays also is encouraging firms to produce more goods.

Big picture:

The increase in production is a good sign for an economy still struggling to get back to normal amid an ongoing pandemic, but the recent rise in viral cases could be another roadblock.

Some states are putting in place new restrictions to try to forestall another major outbreak.

Market reaction:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 rose in Friday trades.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-w ... 1602255042
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 73424
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: THE DAILY NEWS

Post by thelivyjr »

NBC NEWS

"Hurricane Delta strengthens as it takes aim at storm-weary Louisiana coast"


By Tim Fitzsimons and Phil Helsel

Oct. 8, 202001:56
Oct. 8, 2020, 10:05 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 9, 2020, 1:29 AM EDT

Hurricane Delta is gaining strength and size over the Gulf of Mexico as it takes aim for the Louisiana coast, which is still recovering from a powerful Category 4 storm six weeks ago that ripped houses from their foundations, peeled off roofs and tore trailers in half.

The storm is expected to make landfall along the southwest Louisiana coast Friday afternoon or evening.

On Thursday, Delta regained "major hurricane strength," becoming a Category 3, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

By Thursday night maximum sustained winds increased to 120 mph.

It could strengthen slightly but some weakening is expected as it approaches the U.S. coast.

It will be the 10th hurricane to make landfall on the mainland U.S. this season, setting a new record.

"We just can't seem to get a break from the weather," one Louisiana resident told NBC News.

A video from a reconnaissance flight into the storm by the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters showed dark, stormy skies stretching for miles on Thursday morning.

The storm is churning toward the area around Lake Charles, which still has about 5,600 residents in New Orleans hotels because their homes are too damaged to occupy from Hurricane Laura in late August.

Trees, roofs and other debris left in Laura’s wake still sit by roadsides waiting for pickup even as forecasters warned that Delta could be a larger-than-average storm.

The large majority of structures damaged by Laura haven’t been permanently repaired, Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Wednesday.

“All that debris could become missiles in really strong wind,” said Edwards, who also worried about the “sheer anxiety” the storm could cause residents who are already traumatized.

NBC News correspondent Sam Brock reported Thursday afternoon that Interstate 10 west of Lake Charles was backed up for miles as residents evacuated the area, which is expected to get hit with tropical-storm force winds starting at about noon Friday.

When the hurricane makes landfall later in the day, maximum sustained winds of 100 to 115 mph and life-threatening flooding are forecast.

Forecasters at midday Thursday expanded the zone where a high storm surge is expected.

Now, a large stretch of low-lying Louisiana, from Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge to Port Fourchon, including Vermilion Bay, could see coastal waters rise by 7 to 11 feet.

Four million people from coastal Louisiana up through central Mississippi are under flash flood watches.

The storm's slight western shift may have spared the Alabama coast from a direct hit, as that state continues to recover from Hurricane Sally.

Delta first struck Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday as a Category 2 storm, forcing tourists in the area's resorts to hunker down.

It then weakened slightly before moving north over the Gulf of Mexico, where it strengthened again to a Category 2, and then to a Category 3 Thursday.

Some weakening is anticipated as the hurricane approaches the U.S. Gulf Coast, forecasters said.

At 10 p.m. local time Thursday (11 p.m. ET), the center of the hurricane was about 285 miles south of Cameron, Louisiana, and was moving north-northwest at 12 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

A hurricane warning is in effect for a stretch of coast from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana.

Tropical-storm warnings are in effect to the west and east — from Sargent, Texas, to High Island, and from Morgan City, Louisiana, east to the mouth of the Pearl River, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

Tropical-storm watches are in effect from the Pearl River east to Bay St. Louis in Mississippi.

The governors of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi declared states of emergencies, and on Wednesday President Trump approved Louisiana's request for a federal emergency declaration.

In addition to the wind, storm surge and other effects, the hurricane is expected to dump 5 to 10 inches of rain, with isolated totals of up to 15 inches, from southwest to south-central Louisiana, forecasters said.

That will cause flash flooding and river flooding, the hurricane center said.

The threat is not limited to the center of the storm.

Hurricane-force winds extend around 35 miles from the center.

National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said everyone in the warning area needs to be prepared.

"A little change in that movement here could bring hurricane-force winds in either direction, because it's not just about that center point," Graham said in a video briefing Thursday afternoon.

Tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 160 miles from the hurricane's center Thursday night.

Those winds could be seen near the coast Friday morning.

Storm surge could also affect a large stretch of the coast, and those are traditionally some of the most dangerous parts of tropical systems, he said.

"Today's the day to really get ready for this hurricane," Gram said Thursday.

Tim Fitzsimons reports on LGBTQ news for NBC Out.

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.

The Associated Press contributed.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hu ... t-n1242595
Post Reply