May 6, 2020

Good morning,

The U.S. equity markets were in strong rally mode for most of the day yesterday, at least until the final hour of trading when Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said the economy will need additional support on the fiscal and monetary side.  With that statement, the market’s gains were cut in half but still ended the day with nice gains.  For the day, the Dow gained 133.33 points (or 0.56%), the S&P 500 was up 25.70 points (or .90%) and the tech-heavy NASDAQ gained 98.41 points (or 1.13%).

ADP reported this morning that the U.S. private sector lost 20.2 million jobs in the month of April.  That number was expected to be big, and did not really seem to bother the markets very much as the Dow remained in positive territory until about 7am PDT when it fell into the red.

Gilead Sciences is reaching out to other drug manufacturers in an effort to mass produce their recently approved anti-coronavirus drug, Remdesivir.  The drug received FDA approval after somewhat of a rocky initial testing process, but later showed to shorten the duration of the effects of coronavirus infection.  Pfizer is now in a four-vaccine side-by-side testing seeking to develop a successful vaccine for the coronavirus.  Many see the development of a successful and widely available treatment and vaccine as the key to unlocking the full strength of the U.S. economy.

 Have a great Wednesday.