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By Alex Eule
| Tuesday, December 8 The
First Shot. For weeks now, we've had
a stream of vaccine-related milestones. Stocks have reacted with
excitement almost every time, though each new announcement comes with
diminishing returns for stocks. That was the case today, when the U.K.
delivered its first vaccine doses to the public, while the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration said it had found Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to be
safe and effective. The S&P
500 rose
gently on the news, finishing up 0.3%. That was still good enough for another
record close, its 30th of the year. The Nasdaq
Composite was up 0.5%, also closing at a record. Another day
ended without compromise on a stimulus bill from Congress, though both sides
continue to talk up the need for some sort of rescue package. "We can't
leave without doing a Covid bill," Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell said. "The country needs it."
McConnell said he would back down on one sticking point -- liability
protection for business -- if Democrats dropped their focus on aid
for state governments. Sen. Chuck
Schumer, the Democratic Senate
minority leader, said McConnell was undermining a $900 billion bill that
a bipartisan group of senators had already agreed upon. Investors
took the day's back and forth as a sign that compromise was still
possible. After opening the day in negative territory, stocks moved higher on
news of McConnell's changing stance. Things got
more complicated once markets closed, though. At 5:30
p.m., Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin issued a
statement indicating that he had presented a new
proposal to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that included, yes, liability protection for
businesses, as well as aid for states. Mnuchin
said that McConnell, President Donald
Trump, and Rep. Kevin
McCarthy, the Republican leader in
the House, had "reviewed this proposal." Reviewed, of course,
is a long way from approved, and that's likely to leave investors
disappointed again tomorrow. |
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DJIA: +0.35% to 30,173.88 The Hot
Stock: Equifax +7.8% Best Sector:
Energy +1.5% |
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