June 26, 2020

Happy Friday morning,

A late-day rally yesterday pushed all three U.S. major stock indices to solid finishes, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 299.66 points, or 1.18%.  Likewise, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ climbed as well, gaining 33.43 and 107.84 points, or 1.1% and 1.09%, respectively.

The volatility continues today following the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest bank stress-test results.  This test of major banks showed that some banks could get close to minimum capital levels in scenarios related to the coronavirus pandemic.  Because of this, banks are required to suspend any stock repurchase programs and maintain dividend payouts at current levels for the third quarter of 2020.

Also weighing on the markets are the disappointing quarterly numbers reported by Nike.  Nike reported a loss of $.51 per share and total revenue of $6.31 billion – a decline of 38% on a year-over-year basis.

The markets continue to see an increase in the number of reported cases of the coronavirus.  Florida recently reported over 5,000 new cases, and Arizona’s cases jumped by 5.1%, making for a seven-day average of 2.3%.  Some, like Texas, are considering pausing the reopening of their local economies in an effort to curb the recently increase.