1) There are growing fears that the long running bull market is about to crumble and collapse. The biggest sign is there are fewer stocks helping to drag benchmarks toward fresh records. When the underlying momentum wanes then we see weaknesses developing under the surface, which is what’s happening now. Fewer stocks are managing to end above their short-term moving averages even as indexes show record closing highs and yet fewer than 45% of their stocks managed to close above their 10-day moving averages.

2) China is working to overtake America by leading the global recovery from the pandemic thereby becoming more influential on the world stage than ever before. And China just might have the momentum and confidence to pull it off. As the world’s second largest economy shrugs off much of the Covid-19 pandemic this last year, China’s economy continues growing while the world crashes into recession. This could mean China’s GDP will exceed the United States later this decade, which will be years earlier than expected. China has outpaced the United States in attracting foreign direct investment for the first time, signing a trade agreement with the European Union giving European companies greater access to China’s1.4 billion consumers. Furthermore, China’s starts the new year without one of its most aggressive political adversaries, the former President Trump. China has sent help to other countries and in the process left many third world countries deeply in debt to China, claiming they are injecting more momentum into growth. But a host of geopolitical challenges, including the clashes over Hong Kong and alleged human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, taking control of islands in the South China Sea and threats to Taiwan have all exacerbated tensions with the West and may stymie efforts to foster multilateral cooperation. These actions are unacceptable to the democratic nations, who are pulling away from China despite its attractiveness as a market.

3) There are fears that Biden’s executive order will aggravate America’s food crisis, by signing an executive order that addresses America’s most pressing economic needs. This order includes measures to blunt the meteoric rise in food insecurity during the pandemic. The order calls on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expand three key food assistance programs, which are the Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT), SNAP, and the Thrifty Food Plan.

4) Stock market closings for – 26 JAN 21:
Dow 30,937.04 down by 22.96
Nasdaq 13,626.06 down by 9.93
S&P 500 3,849.62 down by 5.74
10 Year Yield: unchanged at 1.04%
Oil: down at $52.75

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *