Gold Gains Further As US-China Tensions Mount

Gold prices rose on Thursday and hovered near nine-year highs reached the previous day, driven by an escalation in U.S.-China tensions and expectations of more stimulus as global coronavirus cases grow by more than a million a week.

Spot gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,882.57 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.9 percent at $1,881.40 per ounce.

The Trump administration’s decision to close China’s consulate in Houston over concerns about spying has sent U.S.-China relations to a new low.

China vowed to retaliate and said the unilateral closure within a short period of time is an unprecedented escalation of its recent actions against China.

Meanwhile, U.S. deaths from the coronavirus rose by more than 1100 for a second day in a row Wednesday, while total cases neared 4 million.

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro again tested positive for the novel coronavirus, but the head of state was nevertheless “in good condition”, the president’s office said.

The three worst-hit countries— the U.S., Brazil, and India—account for nearly half of all confirmed cases globally and more than 40 percent of fatalities.

Researchers are making “good progress” in developing vaccines against Covid-19, but their first use cannot be expected until early 2021, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert said.

On the stimulus front, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to put forward the Republican version of another comprehensive stimulus relief package—including a second stimulus check—later today.

MarineMax Records Same-store Sales Growth Of 37% In Q3 – Quick Facts

MarineMax, Inc. (HZO) reported that its third quarter earnings per share increased over 88% to $1.58, from $0.84, last year. On average, eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.72, for the quarter. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

Third quarter revenue grew approximately 30% to $498.3 million, from $383.5 million, previous year. The company said the increase was driven by same-store sales growth of 37%, for the quarter. Analysts expected revenue of $412.56 million for the quarter.

At June 30, 2020, the company’s liquidity exceeded $180 million consisting of cash and cash equivalents along with availability under its credit facility, before considering sizable unleveraged real estate portfolio.

US workers file 1.4 million more jobless claims as crisis total tops 52 million

About 1.4 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits once again last week, new data show — a troubling sign that the nation’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis is unraveling.

Workers now have filed more than 52 million initial jobless claims since layoffs spiked in mid-March, suggesting about a third of the American labor force has been sidelined at some point during the pandemic.

Seasonally adjusted new filings increased last week for the first time since late March as the worst labor crisis since the Great Depression enters a precarious new phase, according to Thursday’s figures from the US Department of Labor.

A surge in coronavirus infections has forced several states to roll back reopening plans that fueled record job gains in May and June. And a $600 boost to weekly unemployment benefits under the CARES Act is set to run out after this week, delivering a big financial hit to the millions of people still out of work.

Lawmakers in Congress are still hashing out whether to extend those extra payments or potentially give jobless Americans a smaller amount of money. Republicans reportedly favor slashing them to $200 a week, an amount that would be tweaked based on state jobless benefits rates.

But even cutting payments to $400 a week “would have perceptible impact on the economy,” according to Bloomberg economists Eliza Winger and Andrew Husby. It would drive down total payments by about $22 billion a month, which is equivalent to the average monthly wage income for 5.1 million workers, they said.

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Twitter Active Daily Users Surge 34% To 186M In Q2, Revenue Dips 19%

Twitter reported active daily users surged 34% last quarter to 186 million even as revenue and earnings dipped from the year before on a challenge advertising climate amid a COVID-19 pandemic.

Revenue of $683 million was down 19% year over year reflecting what the social media giant called a moderate recovery in advertising demand relative to the last three weeks of March.

Total costs and expenses grew 5% year over year to $807 million, as Twitter said it continue to balance targeted headcount growth with further reducing lower priority investments, resulting in an operating loss of $124 million.

In a letter to shareholders, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey referred to a major breach of high-profile accounts last week from Bill Gates to Barak Obama. Twittter “suffered a very public and disappointing security issue. We moved quickly to address what happened, and have taken additional steps to improve resiliency against targeted social engineering attempts, implemented numerous safeguards to improve the security of our internal systems, and are working with law enforcement as they conduct their investigations.”

“We understand our responsibilities and are committed to earning the trust of all of our stakeholders with our every action, including how we address this security issue. We will continue to be transparent in sharing our learnings and remediations.”

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ECB’s Strategic Review Will Take a Deep Dive Into Fiscal Policy

The European Central Bank is restarting its strategic review that will now include a closer look at the impact of fiscal policy in the euro area.

“Fiscal and monetary policy in a monetary union” was added to the work streams that outline the scope of the review — joining topics such as inflation, digitalization and climate change. It comes just days after European Union leaders agreed on a landmark 750 billion euro ($869 billion) stimulus package that includes a plan to offer joint debt.

Just a few months into the process, the ECB decided in April to postpone the review as policy makers focused on trying to contain the economic fallout from the pandemic. New social distancing rules also forced the cancellation of conferences and events with the general public.

President Christine Lagarde and Chief Economist Philip Lane will now hold their first listening event with civil society organizations in a virtual format on Oct. 21, the ECB said Thursday. National central banks plan their events in the final three months of this year or the first quarter of 2021.

While the review was supposed to be concluded by the middle of next year, Lagarde said earlier this month that the second half of 2021 is more likely “because there’s an awful lot of work that needs to be done.”