Written by Gary
Stock markets major indexes jumped higher today (SPY +1.2%), with the Nasdaq turning positive for the year. Weak jobs data will come back to bite us eventually.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Stay-at-home stocks Amazon, Microsoft lift Nasdaq into gain for 2020The Nasdaq was on track to end Thursday in positive territory for 2020 after winning back the vast majority of steep losses caused in recent months by the coronavirus pandemic. |
| Free beer! German brewery gives away beverages it can’t sellUnable to deliver to hotels and restaurants closed due to coronavirus restrictions, a German brewery on Thursday gave away some 2,600 litres (690 gallons) of beer. |
| Stocks climb, shaking off U.S. jobs data, thanks to China trade reliefWorld shares rose on Thursday after Chinese exports proved far stronger than expected, suggesting a recovery was under way, but the dollar fell from two-week highs as another report showed millions of more Americans were unemployed. |
| Exclusive: U.S. companies got emergency government loans despite having months of cashWhen American companies recently applied for U.S. government loans meant to help small businesses survive the coronavirus crisis, they had to certify they needed the cash to cover basic needs like salaries and rent. The money, up to $10 million, was meant to tide them over for eight weeks. |
| Michigan governor says manufacturing can reopen in state on May 11Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday said the state’s factories can reopen on May 11, removing one of the last major obstacles to North American automakers bringing thousands of laid-off employees back to work amid the coronavirus pandemic. |
| As U.S. states start to reopen, Fed official sees little sign of economic resurgenceThough states have begun to reopen their economies, it is not clear consumers are ready to venture back to the marketplace, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said on Thursday, citing conversations with business officials in his region and his staff’s study of cellphone tracking data. |
| Tesla’s Musk delays release of Roadster sports car, repeats coronavirus lockdown criticismTesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a podcast interview released on Thursday that the company’s planned Roadster sports car would take a backseat to the development of other vehicle models. |
| Wall Street gets PayPal boost as Nasdaq erases 2020 declinesWall Street’s indexes jumped on Thursday, with the Nasdaq turning positive for the year, following a clutch of upbeat earnings reports led by PayPal as investors looked past more weak jobs data caused by the coronavirus-induced economic downturn. |
| Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy amid COVID-19 pandemicNeiman Marcus Group filed for bankruptcy protection on Thursday, marking one of the highest-profile collapses yet among retailers forced to temporarily close stores in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| As Nasdaq Erases 2020 Losses, Negative Rate Forecasts Send Yields To Record LowsAs Nasdaq Erases 2020 Losses, Negative Rate Forecasts Send Yields To Record Lows What’s wrong with this picture… 33 million Americans have gone on the dole in the last seven weeks… |
| Record Plunge In Service Sector “Business Activity” Points To Profits CrashRecord Plunge In Service Sector “Business Activity” Points To Profits Crash Submitted by Joseph Carson, former chief economist of Allianz, The Institute of Supply Management’s April Survey of the non-manufacturing sector (i.e., service industries) showed a record plunge in œbusiness activity . The scale of the decline is far bigger than anything seen during the Great Financial Recession and signals a record drop-in service sector Q2 revenue and operating profits. The composite index for the non-manufacturing sector fell 10.7 percentage points to 41.8 percent in April, the lowest reading since March 2009. But the headline reading dramatically understates the severity of the collapse in the service sector. The œbusiness activity index , one of the subcomponents of the current composite index, declined 22 percentage points to 26%, the lowest reading in the 22-year history of the non-manufacturing survey. |
| Jailed Salon Owner Freed By TX Supreme Court; Rakes In $500K From GoFundMe DonationsJailed Salon Owner Freed By TX Supreme Court; Rakes In $500K From GoFundMe Donations Texas salon owner Shelley Luther has been ordered to be released by the state Supreme Court after a she stood up to a judge who called her “selfish” for keeping her business open during the statewide coronavirus lockdown, before sentencing her to seven days in jail. |
| US Consumer Credit Unexpectedly Crashes As Americans Repay A Record Amount Of Credit Card DebtUS Consumer Credit Unexpectedly Crashes As Americans Repay A Record Amount Of Credit Card Debt Heading into today’s consumer credit print we already learned last week that in March, with US consumer spending crashing the most on record as a result of complete economic halt due to the coronavirus pandemic… |
| Indian firms flag coronavirus hit, cut festive season forecastIndian firms flag coronavirus hit, cut festive season forecastFirms have cut the forecast by up to 40% as they expect much of current stock to remain unsold till then. |
| Why spike in cases show India must unlockWhy spike in cases show India must unlockThe spike in cases is showing that our response to covid-19 should be about managing it to a handlable limit. |
| How New York seeded wave of US outbreakHow New York seeded wave of US outbreakResearch indicates that a wave of infections swept from New York City through much of the country. |
| March 2020 Headline Consumer Credit Shows A Coronavirus DeclineWritten by Steven Hansen Consumer credit contracted and is well below expectations. Our analysis of the unadjusted data shows annual growth did decline but remains in expansion. This is the first month of consumer credit data which shows the coronavirus impact.
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| Vitaliy Katsenelson’s Contrarian Edge: How Uber’s ‘WeWork moment’ turned this investor bullish on the stockRidesharing company Uber boasts competitive advantages, writes Vitaliy Katsenelson. |
| In One Chart: As the S&P 500 surges from March lows, investors fled the most popular stock-market fund “here’s what one analyst says that meansTom McClellan, market timer and publisher of the McClellan Market Report, says investors are fleeing one of the most popular exchange-traded funds on Wall Street, even as stocks rally off their March lows. |
| The Margin: A llama named Winter could be the key to fighting the coronavirusPreliminary research suggests a tiny particle in llama blood can stop the coronavirus. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
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