Market Snapshot November 13, 2020

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Good Morning on this fantastic Friday,

 

Equities are strong today and picking up almost all of yesterday losses. Bonds are about flat with the 10-yr at .89% and mortgage bonds trading on both sides of even. Any concern over new Covid cases is not having an impact. There were two economic releases today. PPI which shows inflation at the producer level and was in line, then consumer confidence slipped a bit, which markets didn’t expect but have taken in stride. There is news that data from another Covid vaccine trial is going to be released in the coming days. Expectations are it will corroborate the previous results that the vaccine is effective, which should send stocks higher and cause bonds some indigestion. The flip side is that states are starting to lock down again as the number of Covid cases hit new records almost daily. I would expect rates will improve however, it will be volatile and likely not worth the risk of floating. Here are some factors pushing stocks and bonds around:

 

  • vaccine hopes
  • the senate race in Georgia (2x democratic victories would likely push rates higher)
  • covid case counts heading into the winter months
  • the extent to which local governments enact new lockdowns
  • the extent to which the economy is responding negatively to rising covid case counts and lockdowns (i.e. we have much more covid now than we did in March-July, so if the economy can muddle through with stronger numbers, traders will definitely begin moving away from the post-covid low rate regime that saw 10-yr yields locked in the basement under 1.0%).

 

 

Please remain safe and stay healthy, enjoy the weekend and first, make today great.