From the wsj's "Stock Futures Rise on Stimulus Bets" posted early Thursday:
U.S. stock futures rose Thursday as investors cheered signs of progress toward a fresh stimulus package that could support the economy through a potential winter slowdown.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.5%, suggesting the benchmark stocks gauge may rise for a third-straight day at the opening bell. The S&P 500 closed at its second-highest level ever on Wednesday. Futures tied to the technology-focused Nasdaq-100 also rose 0.5%.
Congressional leaders on Wednesday closed in on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief deal that includes another round of direct payments to households. After months of gridlock, the emerging agreement represented a breakthrough at a critical time in the pandemic, with vaccine distribution under way but hospitalizations hitting record highs.
Investors broadly think a new dose of stimulus is necessary to gird the economy until the end of winter and widespread vaccinations have the potential to bring the virus under control in 2021. Rising cases appear to have hit consumer sentiment, weighing on retail sales, and there are new business restrictions in some states.
“The stimulus is key,” said Mary Nicola, a portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments.
My take: Nothing gets done in Congress without a deadline.
As for holiday spending, the higher end will be dampened slightly but the mid and lower economic tiers will be curtailed a fair bit by lack of B&M sales and weighed down by uncertainty regarding paychecks, rents, and impending energy costs due to winter.
This stimulus bill is a stopgap for the next round of negotiations post inauguration and the aftermath of the Senate runoffs.
“…More certainty about the election outcome…”
Really, Bart? You see that as a recent development, do you?
What I meant is the Republicans were not going to do any negotiating on a stimulus bill until THEY could NOT deny that Trump lost. Once all the “legal” “efforts” failed, state elections certified, and electors cast – leading to “certainty”, suddenly the GOP and McConnell are willing to talk instead of stonewalling. After the Monday Dec. 14 elector vote was cast, that’s it short of an extremely brash and dangerous weirdness that only Trump and 2020 might unleash. There are those who believe that the GOP has to get a stimulus through to defuse this being an issue for the Georgia GOP senate candidates.
So until everyone survives the Inauguration on Jan. 20, there’s still some risk IMO.
Ford stockpiling thousands of new F-150 pickups near Detroit airport
USA TODAY. While thousands of F-150 trucks are being shipped to dealers, thousands of early production models are undergoing extra quality review. Read the full story. https://apple.news/AnC6aiy02SqiF-fGFbDiYPQ
Oh, I wouldn’t bet on that, PED. Call me cynical, but the party presently in power is not going to “gift” the party taking over power with an economy in good shape if they can possibly help it, the good of the little person be damned. If we haven’t learned anything else from the Age of Trump, we should have learned this about how his enablers tick.