Weekly Market Commentary - March 15th, 2021
ROBARE & JONES ON THE MARKETS
This Past week the S&P index rose by 2.6% closing at yet again another record high. The S&P 500 is now up over 5% Year-To-Date. The Indexes leading the charge were Consumer Discretionary and Real Estate each up 5.7% while the weakest index was a .7% gain from Communication Services.
The recent market rally grew from optimism from rapidly decreasing COVID-19 cases and the most recent $1.9 Trillion stimulus package. The stimulus package called for all American adults to be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccination by May 1st.
We have seen a recent hike in interest yields lately also. Concerns around those lessened as inflation data came within expectations. In the past year the bond market has been pretty beat up, but analyst hope that rising interest rates can make the bond market more attractive to investors.
Next week we will examine the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meeting which will announce Jerome Powell as the Federal Chair and the future on the federal lending rates. Some of the other topics to be address will be the 6.2% unemployment rate and the Federal manufacturing survey.
Let's take a look at the benchmarks from this past week!
Plans For The Moon!
Big plans for the moon. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 set forth principles making space – including the moon and celestial bodies – the province of all mankind. It confirmed the exploration and use of outer space should benefit all people. Here are a few of the plans various nations have for the moon:
- International Lunar Research Station. Last week, China and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding. The nations plan to build a base on the moon. “…the base will be self-sufficient enough to work without constant resupply from Earth. It will be a launching point for "utilization" of the moon's resources,” reported LiveScience.
- Lunar fish farming. The European Space Agency has plans for a Moon Village where settlers may be able to “boldly farm fish where no one has farmed fish before,” reported Hakai Magazine. Researchers at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea have found that European sea bass and meagre are strong candidates for the first underwater life in space.
- Solar-powered Lunar Ark. University of Arizona has proposed building a modern-day ark to hold “cryogenically frozen reproductive cells from 6.7 million species on our planet.”
The moon isn’t the only part of space nations on Earth plan to explore more fully. The United Arab Emirates put a scientific satellite into orbit around Mars in February, according to The Washington Post. The new space race is now here.
Would you want to live on the moon?
Sources:
https://www.barrons.com/articles/higher-rates-wont-kill-the-stock-market-what-to-do-now-51615599362?refsec=the-trader (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2021/03-15-21_Barrons-Higher_Rates_Wont_Kill_the_Stock_Market-What_to_do_Now-Footnote_1.pdf)
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/03/09/974841565/heres-whats-in-the-american-rescue-plan-as-it-heads-toward-final-passage
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/more-states-ease-coronavirus-restrictions-despite-warnings-from-health-officials/
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm
https://www.barrons.com/articles/as-the-covid-19-pandemic-fades-the-u-s-economy-could-soar-51615592979 (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2021/03-15-21_Barrons-As_COVID_Wanes_the_US_Economy_could_Soar-What_that_Means_for_Investors-Footnote_7.pdf)
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/what-does-it-mean-that-the-coronavirus-is-mutating/
https://history.nasa.gov/1967treaty.html
https://www.livescience.com/china-russia-moon-mission.html
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/the-plan-to-rear-fish-on-the-moon/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_A.E.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a35796298/scientists-want-to-build-lunar-ark-to-preserve-mankind/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/new-space-race-shoots-for-moon-and-mars-on-a-budget-quicktake/2021/02/18/661c1c0a-7243-11eb-8651-6d3091eac63f_story.html (or go to https://resources.carsongroup.com/hubfs/WMC-Source/2021/03-15-21_TheWashingtonPost-New_Space_Race_Shoots_for_Moon_and_Mars_on_a_Budget-QuickTake-Footnote_14.pdf)
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/elon_musk_567227
