Popular Tech Stocks Help Bump Markets Higher

The tech sector helped bump the markets a little higher today on the back of the popular FAANG stocks and video streaming stocks that continued their impressive recent moves during the COVID-19 crisis. Amazon (AMZN) closed at $2,408.19/share, up by +4.36% after establishing another new 52-wk high of $2,461. Netflix (NFLX) added +2.91% closing $438.17/share after establishing another new 52-wk high of $449.50. Rounding out the results, Facebook (FB) closed at $176.25/share, down by -.41%, Apple (AAPL) closed at $286.69/share gaining +.79%, & Alphabet (GOOG) closed at $1,263.47/share adding +.08%.

The S&P 500 closed up by +.6%. The Dow gained +.1% as tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) closed $177.04/share up by +3.0%. The Nasdaq added +1.7% & the Russell 2000 slid by -.5%.

 The US economic reports today were once again on the sour side and came in is as follows:

• The Initial claims report for the week ending April 11 came in at 5.245M down sharply by 1.37M from the week before while continuing claims for the week ending April 4, were 11.976M rising 4.53M from the week before
• The Housing starts decreased by -22.3% month/month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.216M while building permits moved lower by -6.8% month/month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.353M 
• The Philadelphia Fed Index for April cascaded down to -56.6.

Oil prices dropped again closing at $19.89/bbl down -.3%. Chevron (CVX) closed at $79.99/share down -3.03% and Exxon (XOM) closed at $39.15/share down -3.29% & Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) closed at $12.20/share down by a whopping -10.36%.

The 2-yr US treasury yield dropped by 1 basis point to .19% & the 10-yr yield declined by 3 basis points to end at .61%. The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened by +.6% to 100.76

Gold prices pulled back today closing at 1,732/oz while silver prices bumped higher today closing at $15.62/oz. North American silver and gold producer Hecla Mining Company (HL) jumped +6.73% to end the day at $2.38/share. Hecla had announced that they were planning to restart operations at their Casa Berardi facility following the Government of Quebec’s decision to allow mining activities to resume.

Here are a couple of stocks that were also in focus today:

Shares of Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS) shot up to an intraday high of $3.11/share prior to closing at $2.11/share up +37.91% today! This move came after they announced a new drug development program called COVID-19 HOPE, which is an acronym for AT-H201in COVID-19 patients for Pulmonary Evaluation. The program uses a novel combination of two drugs that have been previously approved by the FDA for other diseases. The intended primary function of the drug combination AT-H201 is to essentially mimic the function of the antibodies formed from a vaccine by blocking the ability of the virus to enter the target cells; a vaccine that may not be available for more than a year. There are five known key steps the coronavirus must take to signal the cell to open up and let the virus in. AT-H201 is being designed to function like a “chemical vaccine” by blocking all five of those steps, similar to what antibodies would be expected to do when a vaccine is administered. With AT-H201, the virus should be unable to enter the cell because its “keys” that would otherwise open the door into the cell surface, are disabled. Atossa expects that its AT-H201 drug combination can be developed more quickly than a traditional vaccine. Atossa has filed comprehensive provisional patent applications related to AT-H201 and intends to apply to the FDA under its Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program for approval to commence a clinical study. Learn more here.

Shares of Gilead Sciences (GILD) moved up to $76.54/share up +2.56% and has soared another +14% in aftermarket trading as their experimental drug remdesivir is reportedly getting some manner of positive outcomes with COVID-19 patients. This afternoon STAT reported positive preliminary comments from an investigator at a Chicago hospital that is enrolling patients in the remdesivir studies evaluating daily infusions of remdesivir in 113 patients with severe COVID-19. The investigator reported rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms and almost all patients discharged in less than a week. Although these preliminary data are encouraging, please note that the severe trial is not placebo controlled.

Shares of streaming pioneer, Roku, Inc. (ROKU), jumped +13.27% today closing at $128/share. Roku along with other streaming companies like Netflix (NFLX) have been moving up lately with the increase of streaming during the COVID-19 crisis and stay at home lifestyles that have turned many of us in to couch potatoes.

Economic Reports

On Monday, we did receive any significant economic reports.

On Tuesday, the Import and Export Prices for March report came in where import prices dropped -2.3% & export prices dropped -1.6% in March.

On Wednesday, we received the following reports: the retail sales report confirmed a decrease of -8.7% month/month in March. When you excluding autos from the calculation we see that sales decreased by -4.5%, the industrial production report confirmed a decrease of -5.4% month/month in March while total capacity utilization was 72.7%, the New York Fed’s Empire State Manufacturing Survey dropped 57 points to -78.2, the NAHB Housing Market Index for April fell to 30 (it was 72 in March), business inventories dropped by -.4% in February & the Mortgage Bankers Applications Index rose +7.3% wk/wk.

On Thursday, we received the following reports: The Initial claims report for the week ending April 11 came in at 5.245M down sharply by 1.37M from the week before while continuing claims for the week ending April 4, were 11.976M rising 4.53M from the week before,  The Housing starts decreased by -22.3% month/month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.216M while building permits moved lower by -6.8% month/month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.353M & The Philadelphia Fed Index for April cascaded down to -56.6.

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 Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index for March