Stocks Rock Higher, Look to Extend Rally on Coronavirus Treatments, Upbeat ADP Report

Tuesday's rally was the best since August of last year, as the spread of the coronavirus appeared to be centered in China and has not advanced with great intensity to the rest of the world. While the situation in China is still dire, with 494 deaths cumulative totaled worldwide as of Tuesday night, the number of cases reported outside of its epicenter appears to have been mostly contained. In the United States, confirmed cases is holding at 11, and the global total outside of China is just 216. That compares well to the number of confirmed cases inside China, at 24,391 and still growing.

There is a very good interactive map and graphical overview from John Hopkins, here.

Also encouraging is news on treatments for the disease on various fronts. Chinese researchers have applied for a patent to employ Gilead Science's Remdesivir as a treatment, which was used to treat the first US patient in Washington state in late January. The first known case of coronavirus in the US was treated with the drug and continues to recover.

In the US, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is collaborating with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on a coronavirus treatment.

These positive developments have driven stocks higher after a sudden collapse on the major indices last Friday.

Elsewhere, Nancy Pelosi, apparently still upset that Donald J. Trump is still president of the United States, tore up her copy of Trump's State of the Union speech, immediately after the president had delivered his positive message to the congress. Despite the hissy fit by Speaker of the House Pelosi, Mr. Trump's presidency appears to be sailing along nicely despite partisan Democrat attempts to derail it. The president is expected to be cleared of any wrongdoing on Wednesday at 4:00 pm ET, when the Senate will likely acquit him on impeachment charges brought by the House Democrats.

There was more good economic news prior to Wednesday's market open, as ADP reported January private sector job gains of 291,000, the largest upswing in four years.

Stock futures point to a positive open in New York.

At the Close, Tuesday, February 4, 2020:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 28,807.63, +407.82 (+1.44%)
NASDAQ: 9,467.97, +194.57 (+2.10%)
S&P 500: 3,297.59, +48.67 (+1.50%)
NYSE: 13,862.84, +184.91 (+1.35%)

ObamaCare a Complete Failure, May Prove to Bring About Peoples' Salvation from Over-reaching Government

Let's face it, ObamaCare, the health insurance mandate that all Americans MUST purchase, is an unmitigated disaster which, thankfully, threatens to bring down the entire government health care apparatus, and hopefully, the rest of the government with it.

The hits just keep coming for ObamaCare.

On Sunday, a major data hub failed, once again making the website, HeathCare.gov, inoperable.

Maybe the worst design flaw of ObamaCare is not the website, which hasn't worked since its rollout, October 1, but the soaring deductibles under the Affordable Care Act.

Experts are also questioning the security of the government's health care site, wherein customer data, including social security numbers, bank accounts and credit card information, can be easily hacked and stolen.

More lawmakers, including a swath of Democrats are now beginning to call for extensions to the "mandatory" filing deadlines, while others still are calling for the resignation of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Members of the House Oversight Committee have sent letters to 11 of the companies involved with design and implementation of HealthCare.gov, threatening subpoenas if the companies don't supply the information promptly.

With any luck, the administration, in its abject refusal to release data about the botched rollout of the President's signature social program, may trigger a constitutional crisis, which would play right into the hands of both sides, who do nothing and prefer to shut down the government rather than deal with issues of importance to the American people.

How long it will take for people in America to stop complying with demands from an out-of-control, opaque, oppressive government that continues to operate outside the rigors of the constitution is unknown, but one thing is for sure: Obamacare is pushing the limits of people's patience.

On the other hand, the American public has so far tolerated rigged elections, countless government lies, being spied upon by the NSA, the closure of national parks and monuments, $17 trillion in debt, trillions more in unfunded liabilities, so maybe nothing will change until cities are drone-struck and people hauled off to FEMA camps.

In unrelated news, the artificially-life-supported stock indices continue to display symptoms of atrophy at or close to all-time highs. Volume remains at distressed levels, but that's what you get when the same computer algos trade the same stocks, day-in and day-out, ad nauseum, forever. Crash is an optimistic outcome.

Another Tesla exploded into flames a week ago (unreported), and Lou Reed is dead.

Disgust? It's what's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, these days.

Dow 15,569.06, -1.22 (0.01%)
Nasdaq 3,940.13, -3.23 (0.08%)
S&P 500 1,762.12, +2.35 (0.13%)
10-Yr Bond 2.51%, +0.01
NYSE Volume 3,098,436,250
Nasdaq Volume 1,715,927,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2633-3071
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 357-27
WTI crude oil: 98.68, +0.83
Gold: 1,352.20, -0.30
Silver: 22.54, -0.101
Corn: 430.75, -9.25