Diamonds and Dogs

4/15/20

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) working on a coronavirus blood test. The drug company is up 1% not far from all time highs as the company works on a test to help identify disease-fighting antibodies in people who have been infected but may have had mild symptoms or none at all, making it different from the current diagnostic tests that require nasal swabs to confirm active infection. Abbott Labs plans to ramp up manufacturing to produce 20 million tests per month by June. Abbott plans to file for FDA approval for its test through the emergency use pathway.

Oil demand at a 25-year low. Exxon Mobil (XOM) is down 6% today and down 42% for the year as global demand has dropped by 29 million barrels per day this month to the lowest level in 25 years. OPEC and top non-members, together known as OPEC+, agreed to the deepest cuts ever of 9.7 million barrels of production a day for May and June. Unfortunately, analysts say we still have 15 million-20 million bpd imbalance in oil markets. OPEC+ hopes for a 5 million-bpd cut from G-20 members. Canada, the U.S. and Norway said oil companies have cut production in their countries but didn't put a formal cut agreement on paper. The top oil-producing state is also considering a proposal to mandate output cuts.