February 8, 2021

Stocks began the week with every major index moving up about 1%. In economic news, U.S. productivity decreased 4.8% during the 4^th quarter. This was larger than the expected 2.8% drop.

Dow Jones +238 at 31,386

S&P 500 +29 at 3,916

NASDAQ +131 at 13,988

The 10 Year Treasury closed down 1 basis point yielding 1.12%

Oil prices closed up $1.14 ending at $57.99 a barrel

Gold prices closed up $19 ending at $1,830 an ounce

Corporate news:

Shares of both IBM and Palantir moved higher after the companies announced a partnership that will augment IBM’s artificial intelligence offerings and make them easier to use.
Royal Dutch Shell shares increased over 2% after the company struck a deal to supply renewable energy to Amazon. The online retail giant is aiming to derive 100% of its power needs from clean energy by 2025.
Stifel upgraded Target, noting strong gains in digital sales and the increasing popularity of the company’s same-day services. Target shares increased over 2% today.