Markets Backoff on Last Trading Day In April

We now have seen more than 3,1249,022 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the world with 1,006,112 cases that have recovered and more than 230,804 worldwide deaths. In the US, we have 1,092,328 confirmed cases with 128,436 that have recovered with 63,538 deaths and counting and we still do not have a reliable treatment or vaccine, but hopefully help in the form of treatments, vaccines, and greater understanding will lead to better times as we head into May.

We also received the following significant economic reports today:

• Initial jobless claims decreased by 603k to 3.839M for the week ending April 25, continuing jobless claims totaled 17.992M for the week ending April 18 another unfortunate record, & the six-week total for initial claims now exceeds 30M
• Personal income decreased by -2.0% month/month in March while personal spending fell -7.5%
• The PCE Price Index decreased -.3% and the core PCE Price Index (excludes food & energy) dropped by -.1%
• The Q1 Employment Cost Index rose +.8% seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending in March 2020
• Wages and salaries accounting for approx. 70% of compensation costs, increased +.9%, while benefit costs rose +.4%
• The Chicago PMI decreased to 35.4 for April which is down from 47.8 in March

Oil prices rebounded again today rising another +22.8% as it closed at $18.58/bbl. However, a few of the recently hot energy stocks cooled off today as follows: Chevron (CVX) closed at $92/share down by -2.77%, Exxon (XOM) closed at $46.47/share down by -2.09% & Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) closed at $16.60/share down by -1.07%.

At the end of the day today, the S&P 500 closed down by -.92% as the following sectors led the decline: materials were down -3.0%) & financials were down -2.7%.  The Dow dropped 1.17% as Dow component United Health group closed at $292.47/share up +1.68%. The Nasdaq nicked lower by -.28%. The Russell 2000 slowed is a recent rise by dropping -3.68%. The US treasury yields declined in concert today.  The 2-yr US treasury yield dropped by 1 basis points to .18% & the 10-yr yield dropped equally by 1 basis point to end at .62%. The U.S. Dollar Index weakened by -.6% to end at 99.01. 

The popular FAANG stocks charged forward today. Facebook (FB) closed at $204.71/share, up by 5.42%, Amazon (AMZN) closed at $2,474/share, up by +4.27%,  Apple (AAPL) closed at $293.80/share up by +2.11%, & Netflix (NFLX) increased by +1.93% closing $419.85/share, & Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1,348.66/share up by .54%.

Gold prices ended lower again today at $1,693/oz (-26) while silver prices closed at $15.13/oz (-.04). North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) dropped by -4.01% to end the day at $2.63/share.

MOVERS

• Shares of SmileDirectClub, Inc, (SDC) have been on a nice run lately and legged up another +13.20% today closing at $7.72/share after confirming that they had secured a patent for a retail concept and that they will reopen stores beginning in May. The also filed a patent infringement yesterday against Candid Care Co. for the operations of its Candid Studios, a “copycat” model of SmileDirectClub’s own SmileShop model.

LATE IN THE DAY

• Shares of Neubase Therapeutics (NBSE) closed at $7.59/share down 1.43% today. NeuBase, a preclinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation therapies to treat rare genetic diseases caused by mutant genes, announced after the close that they had closed of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 6,037,500 shares of its common stock (inclusive of 787,500 shares that were sold pursuant to the underwriters’ full exercise of their option to purchase additional shares of NeuBase’s common stock), at a price to the public of $6.00 per share. The net proceeds to NeuBase from the offering are expected to be approximately $33.3 million, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses payable by NeuBase. NeuBase intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes and to advance the development of its product candidates and expand its pipeline. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and BTIG acted as the joint book-running managers for the offering, and Chardan and National Securities Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NHLD), acted as the co-managers. Shares of Neubase Therapeutics (NBSE) closed at $7.59/share down 1.43% today. 

• Total Revenue Grows, Services Revenue Reaches New All-Time High of $13.3 Billion Apple (AAPL)! Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2020 second quarter ended March 28, 2020. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $58.3 billion, an increase of 1 percent from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.55, up 4 percent. International sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

  
  

  “Despite COVID-19’s unprecedented global impact, we’re proud to report that Apple grew for the quarter, driven by an all-time record in Services and a quarterly record for Wearables,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “In this difficult environment, our users are depending on Apple products in renewed ways to stay connected, informed, creative, and productive. We feel motivated and inspired to not only keep meeting these needs in innovative ways, but to continue giving back to support the global response, from the tens of millions of face masks and custom-built face shields we’ve sent to medical professionals around the world, to the millions we’ve donated to organizations like Global Citizen and America’s Food Fund.”

  “We are proud of our Apple teams around the world and how resilient our business and financial performance has been during these challenging times,” said Luca Maestri, Apple’s CFO. “Our active installed base of devices reached an all-time high in all of our geographic segments and all major product categories. We also generated operating cash flow of $13.3 billion during the quarter, up $2.2 billion over a year ago. We are confident in our future and continue to make significant investments in all areas of our business to enrich our customers’ lives and support our long-term plans — including our five-year commitment to contribute $350 billion to the United States economy.”

  
  

TOMORROW

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

• ISM Manufacturing Index for April
• Construction Spending for March
• Auto and truck sales for April

Economic Reports

• On Monday, we did receive any significant economic reports.
• On Tuesday, we received the following reports:
  • The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index for April dove to 86.9
  • The advance goods trade deficit came in at $64.2B in March, advance retail inventories decreased by -1.3% in March while advance wholesale inventories dropped by -1% in March.
  • The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for February moved higher by +3.5% 
• On Wednesday, we received the following reports:
  • The Q1 GDP report confirmed a decline at an annualized rate of 4.8% as the GDP Price Deflator came in at 1.3%.
  • The Pending Home Sales report confirmed a -20.8% decrease in March
  • The Weekly Mortgage Applications Index dropped by -3.3%

• On Thursday we received the following significant economic reports today:

  • Initial jobless claims decreased by 603k to 3.839M for the week ending April 25, continuing jobless claims totaled 17.992M for the week ending April 18 another unfortunate record, & the six-week total for initial claims now exceeds 30M

  • Personal income decreased by -2.0% month/month in March while personal spending fell -7.5%

  • The PCE Price Index decreased -.3% and the core PCE Price Index (excludes food & energy) dropped by -.1%
  • The Q1 Employment Cost Index rose +.8% seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending in March 2020
  • Wages and salaries accounting for approx. 70% of compensation costs, increased +.9%, while benefit costs rose +.4%
  • The Chicago PMI decreased to 35.4 for April which is down from 47.8 in March

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:

• ISM Manufacturing Index for April
• Construction Spending for March
• Auto and truck sales for April