1) The oil cartel OPEC+ and Russia address extending record oil production cuts with the intent to force noncompliant members to also comply with the curbs in production. The cartel had previously agreed to a 9.7 million barrels per day cut during May and June in an effort to prop up oil prices which collapsed because of the coronavirus crisis. Those cuts are due to tapper to 7.7 million barrels from July to December. But sources say that Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to extend the deeper cuts until the end of July and possibly until August. The cost of oil is a prime factor in determining the health of a country’s economy, and therefore the world economy.
2) A surprise to everyone was the U.S. jobless rate dropped in May as hiring rebounded. This signals that the economy is picking up faster than expected from the damage of the coronavirus pandemic. The jobless rate fell from 14.7% to 13.3% in May, while economist had expected the rate to rise to 19%. Canada is also experiencing a reversal in joblessness too. This is with a possible resurgence of Covid-19 with a second wave of infections, and a resulting second crash of the economy and businesses. However, the unemployment rate is the highest since the Great Depression.
3) After the federal government made assurances on March 23, that it would make borrowing easier for American corporations, the food service giant Sysco Corp sold $4 billion dollars of debt. But then not long after, the company laid off one third of its workforce, or about 20,000 people, while their stock holders continued to receive dividends. As the virus spread in April and May, the federal promise spurred sale of corporate bonds with borrowing by top rated companies for a record $1.1 trillion dollars for the year, twice the previous year. Companies like Sysco, Toyota , Omnicom Group and Cinemark Holdings borrowed billions of dollars then fired workers. This calls into question of how the promise to purchase corporate debt helped preserve American jobs. While the feds have yet to buy a single corporate bond, their promise threw the bond marked into a frenzy to buy bonds.
4) Stock market closings for – 5 JUN 20: Job report sent markets skyrocketing.
Dow 27,110.98 up 829.16
Nasdaq 9,814.08 up 198.27
S&P 500 3,193.93 up 81.58
10 Year Yield: up at 0.90%
Oil: up at $38.97$2,531.81