In this pandemic environment, why are stocks climbing when news about the economy isn't good?
I've actually been getting that question a lot. And look, nobody really knows why stock markets move the way they do in real time. But there's a variety of factors why we've seen stock market rallies these days. So, one is improving investor sentiment that some of the government measures to stabilize the economy are working. And the other one is something you saw on Monday, when the Dow rose more than 900 points, there was some news out about a potential coronavirus vaccine. Some positive preliminary results on that experimental trial. So, that helped also improve investor sentiment.
Is there any major economic data coming out this week?
So, we've been carefully watching economic data to see the shape of the economy. Every week we've taken a look at the initial jobless claims that are filed on Thursday. That gives a great sense of how the jobs market is shaping up. The other piece of economic data to watch out for is retail sales. That indicates consumer spending in the first quarter. And of course, consumer spending is a big driver of the economy.