Diamonds and Dogs

3/3/20

Gold is one of the few investments higher today. Gold is up 2% today and up over 20% in the last year. Gold miner, Newmont Mining (NEM) is up 5% today near a 52-week high. The company reported better than expected earnings last week while also hiking its dividend. The yield is over 1%.

Banks taking a hit after the Fed surprise rate cut. Bank of America (BAC) is down 4% after the central bank's first emergency action since 2008. Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials voted unanimously to immediately lower the fed funds rate by 50 basis points to a range of 1% to 1.25%. The surprise wasn't necessarily the magnitude of the move, rather the shock is just how decisively the Fed chose to respond after signaling little urgency just a few days ago. JP Morgan is down 3%, Wells Fargo is down 3% and Citigroup is down 2.5%.