Markets started the fourth quarter on a hopeful note as German drugmaker Merck unveiled an anti-viral pill that can cut Covid cases and hospitalizations (of all variants including Delta) in half. Their findings need to be peer-approved and governmental authrorities must scrutinize the testing data , but if Merck’s findings are accurate, it would be a game-changer in the ongoing war against Covid. After markets sank this week, they revived on Friday with convincing gains. The Dow jumped 1.43%, the S&P 1.15% and the Nasdaq 0.82%. Though utilities and, ironically, healthcare showed weakness, most sectors rallied in particular travel and leisure.<\/p>\n
Live Nation<\/a> surged 8.35%, United Airlines<\/a> soared 7.86%, Disney<\/a> 4.06% and American Express<\/a> 3.86%. Merck<\/a> itself soared 8.44%. Even battered big tech names enjoyed gains, including Apple<\/a> up 0.85%. In contrast the U.S. 10-year yield slipped to 1.468%. Vaccine makers retreated from the Merck news as BioNTech<\/a> closed -6.67%<\/p>\n The optimism overflowed into Canada as the TSX gained 0.5%. Consumer staples lagged while real estate, industrials and financials rallied. Big movers included Air Canada<\/a> which soared 6.53%, Baytex<\/a> up 4.06%, TD Bank<\/a> up 1.81% and Chorus Aviation<\/a> jumped about 7%. On the downside were Canopy Growth<\/a> at -3.36%, Fairfax Financial<\/a> -2.78% and Labrador Iron Ore<\/a> at -2.25%. Energy shortages in parts of the world lifted WTI crude by nearly 1% to nearly $76 per barrel, while WCS added 0.3% to $63.60. Gold held steady and the Canadian dollar remained just above 79 cents against the greenback. Finally, Bitcoin<\/a> leapt nearly 10% to nearly $48,000.<\/p>\n 🎟 Live Nation Entertainment Inc.<\/a> +8.35% Markets started the fourth quarter on a hopeful note as German drugmaker Merck unveiled an anti-viral pill that can cut Covid cases and hospitalizations (of all variants including Delta) in half. Their findings need to be peer-approved and governmental authrorities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":174836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No","cwp_rev_product_name":"","cwp_rev_product_image":"","wppr_links":[],"cwp_rev_price":"","wppr_options":[],"wppr_pros":[],"wppr_cons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily"],"wppr_data":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stockchase.com\/discover\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n🛫 United Airlines Holdings<\/a> +7.86%
\n👸 Walt Disney Co.<\/a> +4.06%
\n🏛 American Express<\/a> +3.86%
\n💊 Merck & Company<\/a> +8.44%
\n🍎 Apple<\/a> +0.85%
\n🧫 BioNTech<\/a> -6.67%
\n🛫 Air Canada<\/a> +6.53%
\n🛢 Baytex Energy Corp<\/a> +4.06%
\n🏛 Toronto Dominion<\/a> +1.81%
\n✈ Chorus Aviation Inc<\/a> +7%
\n🌿 Canopy Growth Corp.<\/a> -3.36%
\n🏛 Fairfax Financial<\/a> -2.78%
\n⛏ Labrador Iron Ore Royalty<\/a> -2.25%
\n🅱 The Bitcoin Fund<\/a> +10%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"