Archive for June, 2020

• S&P 500 Is Over 3,100
  Eddy Elfenbein, June 3rd, 2020 at 11:20 am

  This morning’s ADP payroll report showed that the U.S. economy shed 2.76 million jobs last month. As bad as that is, it’s much better than expectations.

  The stock market is up again today. The S&P 500 broke through 3,100. The index is up for the fourth day in a row and the seventh time in the last eight sessions.

  Sherwin-Williams (SHW) made a new high today and FactSet (FDS) is very close to a new high.

  

• Morning News: June 3, 2020
  Eddy Elfenbein, June 3rd, 2020 at 7:06 am

  Oil Prices Hit 3-Month Highs On Expectations OPEC+ Will Extend Deepest-Ever Production Cuts

  Huawei Hid Business Operation in Iran After Reuters Reported Links to CFO

  Trump Administration Escalates Global Fight Over Taxing Tech

  Major Employers Left Out of Government’s Coronavirus Relief Plan

  A Decade’s Worth of Progress for Working Women Evaporated Overnight

  Google Faces $5 Billion Lawsuit In U.S. For Tracking ‘Private’ Internet Use

  Zuckerberg Defends Hands-Off Approach to Trump’s Posts

  Mukesh Ambani Won the World’s Most Expensive Sibling Rivalry

  Tiffany Stock Plunges 9% After Report That LVMH Deal Could Fall Through

  The Other Fossils in the Boardroom

  Howard Lindzon: Panic With Friends – Jenny Lefcourt of Freestyle VC Joins Me To Talk Entrepreneurship and Investing

  Nick Maggiulli: How Big is the Racial Wealth Gap?

  Ben Carlson: Why We Don’t Learn From History

  Joshua Brown: On the Link Between Economic Inequality and Social Injustice

  Jeff Carter: Shame

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• +38% From the Low
  Eddy Elfenbein, June 2nd, 2020 at 4:28 pm

  The stock market closed at another new high, although our Buy List trailed the market. Energy stocks had a very good day, and since we don’t own any energy, that hurt our relative strength. The Buy List may soon be positive for the year. We’re not far away.

  Stocks tied to the reopening of states outperformed once again. Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America all rose at least 0.9%. Gap climbed 7.7%. Southwest gained 2.6%.

  “This is a healthy reversion as you’re seeing some of the laggards come back in line,” said Jeff Kilburg, CEO of KKM Financial. “If anything, this is going to help sustain a more bullish stance in the marketplace.”

  Tomorrow, we get the ADP payroll report. Then on Thursday, there’s another jobless claims report. Of course, Friday is the big jobs report for May.

  

• Morning News: June 2, 2020
  Eddy Elfenbein, June 2nd, 2020 at 7:03 am

  China Buys U.S. Soybeans After Halt To U.S. Purchases Ordered

  Oil Prices Rise Before OPEC+ Meeting About Extending Output Cuts

  Global Shares Cruise To Three-Month Highs, Dollar Shows The Strain

  A Tug-of-War Between Bulls and Bears Is Muddling Risk Indicators

  Sell, Stow Or Dump? Retailers Wrestle With Mountain Of Unsold Stock

  JPMorgan’s Math Shows Why U.S. Stocks Can Keep Rallying

  Retailers, Battered by Pandemic, Now Confront Protests

  Black Workers, Already Lagging, Face Big Economic Risks

  KKR Spends Big and Fast to Avoid Mistakes of 2008 Crisis

  IRS Fails to Pursue Thousands of Rich Tax Cheats, Watchdog Says

  Volkswagen Closes $2.6 Billion Investment In Self-Driving Startup Argo AI

  BlackRock Is Biggest Beneficiary of Fed Purchases of Corporate Bond ETFs

  Embraer Seeks Business Partners But Not A Repeat of the Boeing Deal

  Joshua Brown: “This is simple and straightforward, unless you are committed to misunderstanding it.”

  Howard Lindzon: Momentum Monday – Rioting, Looting and Froth

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• A Two-Month High for the S&P 500
  Eddy Elfenbein, June 1st, 2020 at 3:54 pm

  The stock market is up again today. This comes after a painful weekend of protests across the country.

  This is the first business day of the month and that’s usually when the ISM Manufacturing report comes out. I like this report because the lag time is fairly low. This morning’s report came in at 43.1. That’s actually not so terrible, though it’s not good.

  U.S. manufacturing activity eased off an 11-year low in May, the strongest sign yet that the worst of the economic downturn was behind as businesses reopen, though the recovery from the Covid-19 crisis could take years because of high unemployment.

  The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Monday its index of national factory activity rose to a reading of 43.1 last month from 41.5 in April, which was the lowest level since April 2009. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in manufacturing, which accounts for 11% of the U.S. economy.

  Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index rising to 43.0 in May.

  This morning’s construction spending report showed a decline of 2.9%. That’s also bad but not as bad as it could have been. It’s the lowest number since October 2018.

  The S&P 500 looks to close today at a two-month high.

• Morning News: June 1, 2020
  Eddy Elfenbein, June 1st, 2020 at 7:04 am

  Poor Countries Face a Debt Crisis ‘Unlike Anything We Have Seen’

  ‘Lemon’ Or Not, Trump Is Stuck With Phase 1 China Trade Deal

  China Halts Some U.S. Farm Imports, Threatening Trade Deal

  In Hong Kong, China Threatens Businesses and Workers

  Wall Street and Fed Fly Blind As Coronavirus Upends Annual Stress Tests

  Rich World’s Jobs Crisis Jolts Money Flows To Millions

  Goldman Rolls Back Its Pessimistic Outlook for American Stocks

  Banks Have a Mountain of Deposits So They Don’t Need PPP Funding

  Record Ratings and Record Chaos on Cable News

  Nestlé Loses Fight With Impossible Over Meatless Burger Branding

  IBM, the Silent Job Cutter, Stokes Worker Anxiety, Speculation

  Fall Is Now Jam-Packed for Book Publishers. That Could Be A Problem.

  Ben Carlson: Winners & Losers from the Work From Home Trend & Why Bad is Stronger Than Good (There is No Opposite of Trauma)

  Roger Nusbaum: Interesting Volatility Fund

  Jeff Miller: Are We There Yet?

  Howard Lindzon: Scott Belsky (Chief Product Officer of Adobe) Joins Me On ‘Panic With Friends’

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