Friends
As expected, we had another horrifying weekly jobless claims number. That folks are at home and out of work at the moment is no surprise, but when these numbers are released it still is shocking. Nevertheless, the markets seemed to focus more on the “back to work” roll out plan that the White House is expected to reveal later this afternoon.
For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 33 points to close at 23,537. The S&P 500 was up 16 points to close at 2,799. Gold was down $5 to trade at $1,735 per ounce, while oil was down $.21 to trade at $19.66 per barrel WTI.
It is expected that sometime in May, there will be some sort of phase one type back to work plan, followed by a more comprehensive phase in June. Of course, this may vary by region. But, the key component appears to be the availability to test and we are getting a lot of conflicting information with regards to that. LabCorp and Quest both say they have tests available, yet many parts of the country say they can’t get the tests they need. Until the testing question is clearer, it might be difficult to implement the back to work plan, but the markets seem relieved that there at least appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s hear what the President has to say later this afternoon and then we’ll see how the week finishes out tomorrow.
Have a nice evening everyone.
