Help, food aid. Yes, they are still talking. Investors like the idea of many more trillions poured into the economy, but it aint a done deal yet. The political world really cant stop talking about the debate. The president says he won. He, quote, held joe accountable, thats what the president says. Biden says the debate was a national disgrace. The Electoral Commission seems to agree. I they run the debates, and theyre looking at new rules. They agree, they seem to believe and blame the president for the interruptions and insults. Theyre even considering a kill button for the moderator to cut the mic of any offending candidates. The numbers are in. Far fewer people watched than i expected, just 73 million tuned in. Down from 84 million who watched the first debate in 2016. And if you look inside the numbers, the audience dropped away as the chaotic debate kept going. They tuned out. Stay with us for the next three hours, i promise it will be worth it. Varney company is about to begin.
Heres the markets performance this thursday morning. Not paying much attention to those jobless numbers. We are going to be down pretty much across the board. The dow industrials on the down side to the tune of 200. The s p down about 20. The nasdaq, not much of a loss there, down 12 points. Now, ive got some negatives to lay out for you. This may be a negative. Several states report big spikes in virus cases following their reopening. Its the second wave worry. Number two, medical authorities in beijing say the new outbreak has been controlled, their words, but virus statements out of china dont have much credibility with investors. Heres another one. This is not helping. The European Union will go ahead with its plan to tax big American Technology companies. The u. S. Has withdrawn from those talks. This too might be hurting investor sentiment. John boltons book, very negative on the president. Bolton says that everything he does is geared to his reelection and that includes shifting
Which is indeed making a comeback. The latest numbers show a sharp increase in new cases, running to about 40,000 a day. The virus task force reconvenes today for the first time in two months. Some states are pausing their reopening program. That is a warning to the nations economy and the rebound. The wall street journal, this is an important warning for the president. The powerful Editorial Board bluntly said hes heading for defeat. Thats a warning for wall street, too, because a biden win would be a real challenge for stocks. So where are we this morning . Warnings duly noted. Ive got some red arrows there. The dow is down about 180. The s p down about 10. The nasdaq down about 15. Red arrows for three indicators. All right. Im going to call this a positive. Remember the mob that threatened to take down the lincoln emancipation memorial . They were supposed to attack it at 7 00 eastern last night . Well, it rained. The limited number of people who showed up retreated to shelter. The
Gilead sciences, as you heard from maria, positive news from a government trial of their remdesivir and also from two of their own trials. Positive news on a treatment. That sent futures straight up earlier this morning and look at the stock, also straight up, 6. 8 . Thats the effect of this effective trial of remdesivir. Up go futures, up goes gilead stock. More on this in a moment. A second reason for the dows gains, investors expect a strong recovery for the economy starting in the summer. The market always looks to future conditions. Theres a third reason. The Federal Reserve is likely to say today they will do whatever it takes to stabilize your money. Wall streets expecting more stimulus. The dow will be up close to 550 points at the opening bell, close to 2 . The s p up 2 . The nasdaq solid indeed, up over 2 . We had boeings numbers out this morning. Continuing problems, but its cutting 10 of its work force and investors like that. The stock is up nearly 6 . Okay. More on all th
And it was fitting and proper that we come together to commemorate the life and legacy of abraham lincoln. Our first speaker is peter carr michael. I have seen cwi hats around this morning and it is wonderful to see youpjz here. He has a ph. D where he had the good fortune to study under gary gallagher. It was published by unc press in 2005. He is also one of the series editors of unc presses civil war america series, and i know him best through this capacity. He was my editor for midnight in america, and his thoughtfulness, careful attention to detail, and his generosity resources made my book a better bood. Today he will tell us about the war for the common soldier that was released in 2018 as part of the prestigious little field series. A review in the journal concl e concluded it is a poignant book. It brilliantly communities civil war combatants. It will be a valuable work for anyone with a lived experience of the civil war soldier. Please welcome peter carmichael. Good morning. E