1) Walt Disney Co. will close at least 60 Disney stores in North America this year, which amounts to about one-third of their stores. Like so many other retailers, Disney has found that shopping has changed because of the coronavirus pandemic- and so has Disney’s entire business with its theme parks closed to some extent. But Disney+ streaming service has blossomed to 94.9 million subscribers. Disney’s revenue in the October to December quarter fell 22% to $16.25 billion from $20.88 billion in the previous year but still beat Wall Street expectations.

2) General Motors said it’s exploring the possibility of a second battery production site in the country, the first is its facility in Lordstown, Ohio, a site it will operate with partner LG Chem. Reports are that GM is interested in a second site in Tennessee, as a venture with Korea’s LG. The Ohio operation is set to open next year with enough capacity to build hundreds of thousands of batteries per year. The automaker is keen to quickly capitalize on a shift to electric vehicles and said it aspires to only sell zero-emissions, light-duty vehicles by 2035, including light-duty pickup trucks. The Ohio plant may be a down payment on this EV future, in which the automaker has invested $2.3 billion.

3) Lumber prices have skyrocketed 140% over the last year, although the economy might not be able to handle further increases in 2021, nevertheless lumber is the best performing commodity. Analyst predict lumber prices could gain another 35% in the next year. Rising lumber prices are from the pandemic induced housing boom, fueled by record low mortgage rates and a mass exodus to the suburbs. It’s a sign that the economy is recovering, but if prices of lumber and other commodities continue to rise quickly, the economy might falter, as prices move higher driven by demand, while supply will continue to shrink. Worker wage increases haven’t been keeping pace with the dramatic spike in all the commodities at this point in time. With interest rates going up and all these inflationary commodities advancing in price, there are growing fears of people being self-sustaining when wages remain static.

4) Stock market closings for – 5 MAR 21:

Dow 31,496.30 up by 572.16
Nasdaq 2,920.15 up by 196.68
S&P 500 3,841.94 up by 73.47

10 Year Yield: unchanged at 1.55%

Oil: up at $66.28

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