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Dow Hits New All-Time High Close as Rescue Bill Passes
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The Dow has hit a new all-time record high close as of Wednesday afternoon’s bell, up 1.45% or 463 points, to 32,297. The index had put in an even higher mark intra-day, which we’d seen every trading day of the week thus far.
The continued rotation into cyclical stocks out of high-margin, high-valuation tech names boosted the Dow at the expense of the Nasdaq, which closed down 5 points, -0.04%. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% on the day, while the Russell 200 stayed hot, +1.81%.
The big news this day occurred in the afternoon, when the House passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan after the Senate passed a slightly augmented version late last week. The bill, which enjoys bi-partisan support among the American public (if not on Capitol Hill), is now expected to be signed into law by President Biden Friday. The bill passed via budget reconciliation, meaning there was no 2/3 majority necessary; this is how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 were passed, as well.
The most prominent feature of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will be $1400 checks written to American citizens making less than $80K per year, and $300 weekly unemployment benefits to be paid through Labor Day of this year. Gone from the original plan are the $15 minimum wage and a couple infrastructure projects, but kept in Emergency Paid Leave for 100 million Americans and expanded child tax credits.
As a result, Energy, Materials and Financials all gained today; only the Tech sector lagged of the 11 industries of the S&P 500. Expectations are now for a full-throated economic recovery to take hold, which happens to be dovetailing with the reopening of around a dozen states that are lifting their mask mandates as Covid-19 vaccinations make the rounds. More than 100 million shots have been administered thus far, helping take new cases down to their lowest levels since mid-October.
Speaking of Covid vaccines, Biden has announced the U.S. will purchase another 100 million doses from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) , the single-dose vaccine that is being co-manufactured by Merck (MRK - Free Report) . J&J is the third major pharmaceutical company to see approval in the U.S. market for its Covid vaccine, following Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) and BioNTech (BNTX - Free Report) first and Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) shortly thereafter. Both of the latter require two shots for full immunization.
Zacks #3 (Hold)-ranked Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) reported fiscal Q3 earnings results after today’s close, with earnings unsurprisingly beating estimates: $1.16 per share, versus the $1.11 in the Zacks consensus and up 15% from the 97 cents per share posted in the year-ago quarter. Its Cloud business brought in $7.3 billion and on-premise Licensing gathered $4.3 billion, helping the company bring in $10.09 billion, +3% year over year. Subscription revenue now makes up 72% of Oracle’s top line.
The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking.
Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for “stay at home” technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early.
Image: Bigstock
Dow Hits New All-Time High Close as Rescue Bill Passes
The Dow has hit a new all-time record high close as of Wednesday afternoon’s bell, up 1.45% or 463 points, to 32,297. The index had put in an even higher mark intra-day, which we’d seen every trading day of the week thus far.
The continued rotation into cyclical stocks out of high-margin, high-valuation tech names boosted the Dow at the expense of the Nasdaq, which closed down 5 points, -0.04%. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% on the day, while the Russell 200 stayed hot, +1.81%.
The big news this day occurred in the afternoon, when the House passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan after the Senate passed a slightly augmented version late last week. The bill, which enjoys bi-partisan support among the American public (if not on Capitol Hill), is now expected to be signed into law by President Biden Friday. The bill passed via budget reconciliation, meaning there was no 2/3 majority necessary; this is how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 were passed, as well.
The most prominent feature of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will be $1400 checks written to American citizens making less than $80K per year, and $300 weekly unemployment benefits to be paid through Labor Day of this year. Gone from the original plan are the $15 minimum wage and a couple infrastructure projects, but kept in Emergency Paid Leave for 100 million Americans and expanded child tax credits.
As a result, Energy, Materials and Financials all gained today; only the Tech sector lagged of the 11 industries of the S&P 500. Expectations are now for a full-throated economic recovery to take hold, which happens to be dovetailing with the reopening of around a dozen states that are lifting their mask mandates as Covid-19 vaccinations make the rounds. More than 100 million shots have been administered thus far, helping take new cases down to their lowest levels since mid-October.
Speaking of Covid vaccines, Biden has announced the U.S. will purchase another 100 million doses from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) , the single-dose vaccine that is being co-manufactured by Merck (MRK - Free Report) . J&J is the third major pharmaceutical company to see approval in the U.S. market for its Covid vaccine, following Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) and BioNTech (BNTX - Free Report) first and Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) shortly thereafter. Both of the latter require two shots for full immunization.
Zacks #3 (Hold)-ranked Oracle (ORCL - Free Report) reported fiscal Q3 earnings results after today’s close, with earnings unsurprisingly beating estimates: $1.16 per share, versus the $1.11 in the Zacks consensus and up 15% from the 97 cents per share posted in the year-ago quarter. Its Cloud business brought in $7.3 billion and on-premise Licensing gathered $4.3 billion, helping the company bring in $10.09 billion, +3% year over year. Subscription revenue now makes up 72% of Oracle’s top line.
Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>
These Stocks Are Poised to Soar Past the Pandemic
The COVID-19 outbreak has shifted consumer behavior dramatically, and a handful of high-tech companies have stepped up to keep America running. Right now, investors in these companies have a shot at serious profits. For example, Zoom jumped 108.5% in less than 4 months while most other stocks were sinking.
Our research shows that 5 cutting-edge stocks could skyrocket from the exponential increase in demand for “stay at home” technologies. This could be one of the biggest buying opportunities of this decade, especially for those who get in early.
See the 5 high-tech stocks now>>