Stocks ended the week with relatively moderate declines, considering the “new normal” of high volatility on most days of the coronavirus crisis. The week’s winners were mainly energy companies.
• The S&P 500 index SPX, -1.51% lost 1.5% Friday for a one-week decline of 2.1%. The benchmark index has now fallen 26.5% from its closing high on Feb. 19 and is down 23% so far in 2020. This year’s slump, of course, follows a 28.9% jump in 2019. Considering how quickly the COVID-19 pandemic led to 10 million in new unemployment claims in two weeks, you may be surprised that the S&P 500 is down only 13.4% from a year ago.
The oil story After President Trump called Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said on Thursday via Twitter that he expected the countries to cut oil production by 10 million barrels a day. The president is trying to help U.S. shale oil producers — who have relatively high production costs — survive the lack of demand, which has been exacerbated by production increases by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Myra Saefong explained that the U.S.
Water is far more valuable than oil right now - Donald J. Trump