1) Crude oil prices and energy stocks aren’t the only things that have fallen during this oil downturn, land prices with potential oil shale have also plummeted. The average price of U.S. oil shale acreage has fallen by more than 70 percent in two years, falling from $17,000 per acre in 2018 to $5,000 per acre in 2020. The value of oil and gas assets has plunged because of the coronavirus pandemic sending crude oil demand down globally, consequently most energy companies are slashing their costs instead of purchasing new land for oil and gas drilling. Oil and gas companies are forced to sell assets to make up money lost on deals.
2) On January the first of next year, President Trump’s pause on student loan payments for 33 million Americans is set to expire, just three weeks before President-elect Joe Biden is slated to take over. The Education Department is warning borrowers this week that their monthly payments will resume. For the incoming president, the economic and administrative mess could take months to untangle, consuming the early days of his Education Department. The student loan system was not designed to start and stop at any time for 30 million borrowers. This became apparent in March when loan payments were suspending and problems for borrowers quickly arose. This is just one facet of the economic problems facing the new president in just a few months, that not only must be addressed, but addressed correcting if problems are not to get worst.
3) The United States has surpassed 11 million coronavirus cases , that’s 1 million new infections in just one week, or 2 million since the beginning of the month. Consequently, hospitals are reaching a breaking point trying to treat nearly 70,000 Covid-19 patients. Medical workers are tired . . . mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. The stress is being felt around the nation, with the virus spreading like wildfire and the medical system having no backup. If you act early, you can save lives, but if you don’t, you’ll be swamped by a tsunami of this virus. But a Covid-19 vaccine may be in the making with Moderna announcing it has developed a vaccine that’s nearly 95% effective, capable of preventing severe illness, and it could start giving vaccinations to high-risk patients and health care workers as soon as December. A week before, drugmaker, Pfizer announced that its human trials suggest its coronavirus vaccine is more than 90% effective.
4) Stock market closings for – 17 NOV 20:
Dow 29,783.35 down 167.09
Nasdaq 11,899.34 down 24.79
S&P 500 3,609.53 down 17.38
10 Year Yield: down at 0.87%
Oil: down at $41.40