Friends
The markets got a double shot of good news today with yet another Monday morning vaccine announcement, this time from AstraZeneca, and then later in the afternoon the report that former Fed Chair Janet Yellen will be Joe Biden’s nominee for Treasury Secretary. It appears to be a forgone conclusion that we will get FDA approval on more than one vaccine in the very near future, but the challenge will be making and distributing these vaccines. With regards to the Yellen story, the former Fed Chair is a known monetary dove and likely a friend to the Fed, and thus attractive to many market participants.
As for today’s advance, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 327 points to finish the day at 29,591. The S&P 500 was up 20 points to close at 3,577. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 25 points to close at 11,880. Gold was down $36 to trade at $1,835 per ounce, while oil was up $.52 to trade at $42.94 per barrel WTI.
Remember, with Thanksgiving on Thursday, this is a shortened trading week, and one that has traditionally been good for stocks. Of course, we’ll see how the week plays out, but the bulls at least have vaccine news on their side. Unfortunately, what is not on their side is the reality that the Covid-19 case count is rising around the world. With the U.S. in somewhat of a political void, a challenge lies ahead for us over the next couple of months. Let’s first get to Thursday and some turkey.
Have a nice evening everyone.
