The Dow Jones just saw its largest weekly return during a presidential election since 1932. Investors are relieved the political uncertainty has passed.
MARKETS
NBC News and other outlets projected that Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States;
Biden moves ahead with Transition Planning: The president-elect said he would name a group of experts to advise him on the coronavirus. He pledges to rejoin Paris accord on day one and launch a $2 trillion green stimulus package;
Donald Trump is refusing to concede and is pushing forward with legal challenges as vote tallies continue;
Asia-Pacific stocks gain while Dow Futures are up nearly 400 point this morning as post-election rally continues. Oil prices jump while the dollar stays weak;
Full-blown currency crisis in Turkey? On Saturday morning, Turkish President Erdogan decided to fire Turkish Central Bank Governor. On Sunday, the country Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is also Erdogan's son-in-law, unexpectedly resigned citing health reasons;
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) bought back a record $9 billion in stock in the third quarter. Net earnings — which account for Berkshire’s big investments in the public market like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) — skyrocketed more than 82% on a year-over-year basis to $30.137 billion;
China exports grew at the fastest pace in 19 months in October, while imports also rose, official data showed on Saturday.
WRAP
Stocks closed mostly flat on Friday as traders looked for clarity around the presidential and congressional election results. The S&P 500 ended the session flat while the Nasdaq Composite rose less than 0.1%. Energy and financials were the worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500. Despite the uncertainty around the presidential vote, Wall Street notched its best weekly performance since April. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq jumped 7.3% and 9%, respectively, for the week. For the S&P 500, it was the biggest election week gain since 1932. European markets closed lower on Friday with U.S. election, coronavirus in focus. But they recorded strong gains for the week. Cryptocurrencies surged.
The U.S unemployment rate fell to 6.9% in October from 7.9% in September. It was the sixth consecutive month of improvement. However, around a third of the unemployed have been out of work for at least six months. That ratio has been increasing rapidly.