“A Happier Monday” – Vista’s Daily – April 6, 2020

From the opening bell on Monday, we saw all major indices in the green. The markets were seemingly standing on the shoulders of yet another selloff on Friday & the optimistic wings of the news from late Sunday night/early Monday morning confirming that fewer coronavirus deaths were being seen in certain European countries and that was enough fuel ~+7-8% moves.

The S&P 500 closed up +2.28% as the information technology sector led the way as it, in turn, flew up a stout +8.8% while all 11 sectors landed in the middle of the green. The FAANG stocks’ results further evidenced the strength in this sector today. Facebook (FB) closed at $165.55/share, gaining +7.37%, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $1,997.59/share, up by +4.77%, Apple (AAPL) closed at $262.47/share gaining +8.72%, Netflix (NFLX) added +5.03% closing $379.96/share, & Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1,186.92/share, up by +8.11%.

The Dow rose by +7.73%, the Nasdaq gained +7.33% & the Russell 2000 added +8.24% as risk-oriented investments were truly back in favor today.

Oil prices dropped to $26.31/bbl down -7.5% as OPEC delayed its “production cut” meeting until later this week which cast some doubt in the Saudi Arabia, Russia, & U.S. negotiations.  Chevron (CVX) closed at $80.39/share up +7.03% & Exxon (XOM) closed at $40.47/share up +3.21%.

The 2-yr yield rose by 8 basis points to .27% & the 10-yr yield moved higher by 9 basis points to .68%. The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened +.2% to 100.73.  

Gold prices closed higher at 1,682/oz, silver prices rose to $15.51/oz.

Shares of Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS) flew as high as $2.11/shares today after closing at $1.04/share on Friday! Shares closed at $1.50/share up +44.23% on 6.58 million shares of trading. This move came as Steven Quay M.D., Ph.D., the founder, Chairman & CEO of Seattle-based Atossa was interviewed by Fox News before the market opened regarding his COVID-19 Hope Trial where he is seeking to study the use of two approved drugs to rapidly find a viable coronavirus treatment. Here’s the link to the interview in case you missed it earlier today: https://video.foxnews.com/v/6147410883001#sp=show-clips  Dr. Quay received his M.D. and Ph.D. from The University of Michigan, was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT with Nobel Laureate H. Gobind Khorana, a resident at the Harvard-MGH Hospital, and was on the faculty of Stanford University School of Medicine. His contributions to medicine have been cited over 9,600 times. He has founded six startups, invented seven FDA-approved pharmaceuticals, and holds 87 US patents. Over 80 million people have benefited from the medicines he invented. His current passion is the prevention of the two million yearly breast cancer cases worldwide.

Economic Reports

On Monday, we did receive any significant economic reports.

Investing & Inspiration

“I believe the returns on investment in the poor are just as exciting as successes achieved in the business arena, and they are even more meaningful!” -Bill Gates

“Every portfolio benefits from bonds; they provide a cushion when the stock market hits a rough patch. But avoiding stocks completely could mean your investment won’t grow any faster than the rate of inflation.” – Suze Orman

“The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility, and flow of risk capital… the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.” – John F. Kennedy

“If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion.
-George Bernard Shaw

“The riskiest thing we can do is just maintain the status quo.
I get up at 4:30 in the morning, seven days a week, no matter where I am in the world. I think it is important for people who are given leadership roles to assume that role immediately. What I’ve really learned over time is that optimism is a very, very important part of leadership.” Bob Iger, Ceo of Disney

“There are old traders and there are bold traders, but there are very few old, bold traders.”-Ed Seykota

“Let this scenario play out on its own, in its own fashion. As you watch it unfold, you will soon be grateful that you choose the peaceful path. Remember — those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”

“As long as you enjoy investing, you’ll be willing to do the homework and stay in the game.” -Jim Cramer

“I rarely think the market is right. I believe non-dividend stocks aren’t much more than baseball cards. They are worth what you can convince someone to pay for it.” -Mark Cuban

“Michael Marcus taught me one other thing that is absolutely critical: You have to be willing to make mistakes regularly; there is nothing wrong with it. Michael taught me about making your best judgment, being wrong, making your next best judgment, being wrong, making your third best judgment, and then doubling your money.” -Bruce Kovner

“The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.” -Jawaharlal Nehru

“The only true test of whether a stock is “cheap” or “high” is not its current price in relation to some former price, no matter how accustomed we may have become to that former price, but whether the company’s fundamentals are significantly more or less favorable than the current financial-community appraisal of that stock.” -Philip Fisher

“I learned to avoid trying to catch up or double up to recoup losses. I also learned that a certain amount of loss will affect your judgment, so you have to put some time between that loss and the next trade.” -Richard Dennis

“The four most dangerous words in investing are: ‘this time it’s different.” -Sir John Templeton

“Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.” -Arnold Schwarzenegger

Tomorrow

Tomorrow’s significant economic data report schedule will include the following:

• The JOLTS – Job Openings report for February
• The Consumer Credit report for February