Markets were somewhat lower most of Thursday but strengthened near the close. The S&P 500 finished the day up 0.6% while Toronto was down 0.4%.
Amazon continues to soar as did Shopify.
Costco was up 3.6% after its dividend announcement. Costco is a fantastic company. But I have to wonder if it deserves to be at pretty close to its an all-time high With the world slowdown that seems set to last quite some time even after things reopen. After the close, Costco announced a large debt issue to both payoff some existing maturing debt adn to grab some additional funds at a low rate. Costco has a very strong balance sheet and can easily absorb the added debt.
Dow futures are currently up over 700 points this evening apparently due to Trump’s plan to reopen the economy. We shall see if much reopens on May 1. From a virus perspective it seems that tighter lockdowns and mask wearing are what is needed. But if it is decided that that the best that can be done is to slow the spread and that the virus can’t really be beaten back then perhaps reopening is called for. And perhaps there are a lot of sectors of the economy that could reopen if testing and mask wearing and distancing are in place.
The higher futures may also be due to some good news regarding drugs to treat the virus. That seems like a more valid reason to me.