The number of newly reported coronavirus infections in the United States breached 100,000 on a single day in the past week, a milestone that came as the seven-day average of infections moved above 86,000 per day. That brings the cumulative number of coronavirus cases to 9.6 million since the first ... READ MORE >
coronavirus
CHART OF THE DAY: Venture capital investment in health tech on track for record year
North American investment in venture capital-backed health technology and digital health companies hit a record through the first 10 months of the year, outpacing all of 2019 with two months to go. The total venture capital raised by health tech so far this year reached $12.2 billion, compared with $10.7 ... READ MORE >
Treasuries remain a safe haven in the pandemic, even as transaction demand falls
Global financial markets are reacting to the resurgence of the coronavirus in Europe, the United States and elsewhere and the prospect of increased U.S. postelection fiscal spending. Though not at the level of perceived risk reached at the height of the outbreak and the lockdown in March and April, the ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: U.S. manufacturing expanded at fastest pace since 2018, ISM reports
American manufacturing activity continued its six-month expansion in October, according to Institute for Supply Management data released on Monday, with 15 of the 18 manufacturing industries included in the data reporting growth. October marked the fastest pace of manufacturing expansion in the ... READ MORE >
FOMC preview: All is quiet
Thursday's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee will almost surely signal that all is quiet on the monetary front given the major changes by the central bank this year. We expect no change in the policy rate, forward guidance or the pace of asset purchases. Since the introduction of the ... READ MORE >
Federal Reserve eases Main Street Lending Program terms to encourage participation
The Federal Reserve on Friday announced changes to the Main Street Lending Program intended to make financing more readily available to small and medium-size businesses struggling amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases. The changes come as negotiations over another round of fiscal aid drag on in ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: The rise of the zombies
The cheap corporate financing and increasingly light debt covenants that have come with the accommodative monetary policy of recent months are starting to show up in S&P 500 Index companies. While investors have benefited from the rise in the equity markets, a number of these companies have fueled ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: As demand for oil sags, price and production tumble
Global aggregate demand for oil is sagging again as the second wave of the global pandemic sweeps across Europe and Britain and intensifies in the United States. For the third time in 20 years, the bottom has fallen out of oil prices, which will most likely have enormous implications for the economies of ... READ MORE >
RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index breaks above 2018-20 downtrend
A rebound in U.S. manufacturing sentiment to the pre-trade war levels of the summer of 2018 implies that the domestic economy is moving briskly toward recovery. For this reason, we expect that the October Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index, set to be released on Monday, will ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Markets prepare for favorable clean energy policies
Joe Biden’s clean energy plan has recently been a point of focus. And the prospect of a Biden victory in the presidential election has spurred a rise in stocks set to benefit from his proposed $2 trillion package, which is meant to kick-start the nation’s economy toward net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. ... READ MORE >