Markets rallied, fell and then staged yet another furious rally to close the day’s trading after President Donald Trump announced a potential tax cut to combat the coronavirus’ impact on the economy, plus more in today’s Closing Bell on Money & Markets.
The Top Story
On Monday, Trump discussed the possibility of some kind of payroll tax cut or stimulus to help offset the negative economic impact from the coronavirus.
U.S. markets initially came out of the gate strong this morning as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose as much as 945. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also moved up 3.7% and 3.8%, respectively.
But the rally didn’t last long as all three indexes fell back into negative territory by lunchtime — before ultimately surging again.
The Dow ended 4.9% higher. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also moved up 4.9% — all a far cry from the day’s mid-afternoon lows.
Oil prices also were 10% higher in the afternoon session, just one day after the sector’s deepest decline since 1991. Brent crude gained $3.01 to trade at $37.31 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 10.3% to $34.36 per barrel.
Money and Markets: Closing Bell*
S&P 500: 2,882 (+135 points, +4.9%)
DOW: 25,018 (+1,167 points, +4.9%)
NASDAQ: 8,344 (+393 points, +4.9%)
GOLD: $1,650.10 (-$25.60, -1.5%)
BITCOIN: $7,948.39 (+1.4%)
U.S. 10-YEAR YIELD: 0.79%
*- as of 4:22 p.m.
A Big Win
This morning, we told you to be on the lookout for Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA). Premarket trading had the electric automaker up 10.2%, but the company scaled back some of those gains and closed up 6.1%.
Another on our watch list this morning was Stitch Fix Inc. (Nasdaq: SFIX). The personal styling company had weak quarterly earnings and guidance. As a result, Stitch Fix shares fell 25.2%.
M&A News
Investment firm Blackstone (NYSE: BX) is buying a majority stake in health care technology provider HealthEdge. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Golden Nuggets
Despite only a slight gain in U.S. equities, precious metals took a hit in the market Tuesday.
After hitting a seven-year high of $1,700 an ounce Monday, gold futures retreated more than 1.5% to $1,649.10 an ounce.
Silver futures took a similar hit, falling 0.84% to $16.91 an ounce. Platinum did see a 1% rise in price to $871.70 while palladium fell 3.2% to $2,327.40 an ounce.
Cannabis Corner
Illinois residents are buying more than $1 million of legal cannabis — every day.
That number comes from the enormous amount of tax revenue the state has brought in. In January, the state collected $10 million in cannabis tax revenue, the first month cannabis sales were legal.
The state collects taxes from growers as well as from the sale of cannabis.
Taxes from the sale of cannabis in the state pay for regulators as well as for anti-drug and mental health programs. The state expects at least $28 million in tax revenue by the end of its fiscal year in June 2020.
Stock Market Update
Thanks to a drop in mortgage rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association has revised its annual refinancing forecast for 2020.
According to the organization, it expects total mortgage originations of $2.61 trillion this year — a 20% jump from 2019. That’s a significant increase from its forecast last month of $1.99 trillion.
“Last month’s activity was the calm before the storm,” MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan said in a statement. “Mortgage rates dropped steeply in the last week of February and a large surge of refinance activity followed. Investors may adjust their future mortgage credit offerings based on the sudden upswing in demand.”
The biggest cause for the forecast increase is the projected jump in mortgage refinancing. The organization expects refinancing to double earlier projections and jump 36.7% from last year to around $1.23 trillion.
Today’s Big Winners:
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) +16.2%
Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) +21.2%
American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL) +15.2%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (Nasdaq: WYNN) +10%
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) +7.7%
Today’s Big Losers:
Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE: DGX) -3.2%
Ventas Inc. (NYSE: WTR) -2.1%
Nextera Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) -2.1%
Cerner Corp. (Nasdaq: CERN) -1.6%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) -1.6%
Check back for the most important news and numbers each day after the Closing Bell, only on Money & Markets.
Don’t forget about “Marijuana Markets: a POTcast,” featuring the biggest cannabis news and investment notes from Banyan Hill’s Anthony Planas, here on Money & Markets each Saturday morning.