• all S&P sectors close lower
• NASDAQ closes down for the 3rd time in 4 days
• NASDAQ on pace for a decline for the week
• Dow post a 2 day losing streak

• As it closes near session highs
• NASDAQ snapped today slide
• Dow industrial average snaps 2-day rise
• NASDAQ closes higher for the 1st time in 3 days. The pair fell -1.53% on Monday, and -1.37% yesterday
• S&P closed higher for the 2nd time in 3 days

Some big winners today included:

I came across a Bloomberg piece making a case for vaccine euphorias being overdone. The heart of the thinking was as follows:

1. Traders are not immunologists and have not driven down into the detail. Initial results show that protection is achieved 7 days after the second dose, which must come three weeks after the first dose. The whole process takes 28 days. So in order to be effectively vaccinated by year end you need to start the process by December 03.
2. A 90% base effectiveness rate is a good sign for other vaccines which suggests there may be a range of other options in the first half of 2021
3. The vaccine needs to be stored and transported at -70C which makes for logistical challenges. Pfizer hopes to apply to the FDA to start distributing later in November and has around 50 million doses prepared this year (enough to treat 25 million). This means that the best case scenario is for 25 million people vaccinated by year end.
4. Now consider that 3.9 million people got the virus last week. So that means that if you assume this number of people get the virus each week it will mean that by year end there will be 29 million new cases, but only 25 million vaccinated. A net growth of 4 million cases.

All of the above points mean that the vaccine process will take time and that a correction lower in US stocks would make sense heading into year end.

• NASDAQ down for the 2nd straight day
• Dow closes near session highs
• S&P closes near unchanged
• Dow transports post record close
• Dow closes higher for the 6 time and 7 days
• Russell 2000 index rises by 1.88%
• S&P closes lower for the 2nd time in 3 days

• S&P 500 index to hit 4,000 by early 2021
• Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine update “one of the best backdrops for sustained gains in years.”
• index to hit about 4,500 by the end of 2021

• All the major indices reached intraday all time record highs.
• Dow had his best day since June 5
• Covid gainers got hammered today including Zoom, Home Depot, Whirlpool, Amazon and Netflix

A look at the final numbers shows:

• S&P index rose 41.06 points or 1.17% at 3550.50. The high price reached 3645.99. The low price extended to 3547.48
• NASDAQ index fell -181.448 points or -1.53% at 11713.78. It’s high price reached 12108.06. The low price reached 11703.49
• Dow industrial average rose 834.57 points or 2.95% at 29157.97. It’s high price reached 29933.83. The low price extended to 29130.66.

• Study enrolled 43,538 participants and had no safety concerns
• 94 participants contracted covid-19
• Vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90% effective
• Trial will continue until 164 confirmed cases
• News release

“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO. “We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen. With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis. We look forward to sharing additional efficacy and safety data generated from thousands of participants in the coming weeks.”