The KUIK Morning Market Report for Thursday, February 23:
Markets are mixed.
Index
Direction
Change
Units
Time
Dow
Up
31
points
20,805
7:08 AM
S&P500
Up
0.1%
percent
2,364
Nasdaq Composite
Down
-0.2%
percent
5,847
30 Year Treasury
Down
(2)
Basis Points
3.02
Annual Yield
The Labor Department reports new applications for unemployment benefits rose by 6,000 last week to 244,000. Economists expected 237,000. Continuing claims fell by 17,000 to 2.06 million the week ended February 11. New claims each week has rstayed below 300,000 for 103 straight weeks, the longest patch since Richard Nixon was president.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said today he has asked his staff to explore having the U.S. government issue debt maturities as long as 50 years or 100 years. In an interview on CNBC, Mnuchin said he was not ready to make a “formal announcement” of a 50-year or a 100-year bond. Other countries including Canada and France have issued debt maturing in as long as 100 years. He also repeated it’s the Trump administration’s goal to have Congress complete work on a tax-reform package by August and it aims for a 3% or higher annual growth rate, but said it may take a couple of years to get there. President Trump himself has stated a goal as high as 4%.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
