Equities had a nice late rally yesterday, and we’re seeing modest follow-through buying this morning. Gold and silver are higher, too, while Treasuries, crude oil, and the dollar are mostly flat.
On the news front...
The tech giant Apple (AAPL) is pushing further into the financial arena, unveiling a high-yield savings account product. It teamed up with Goldman Sachs Group (GS) to roll out the 4.15% APY account to customers who also have an Apple Card. That yield is well above the national average, but still lags what other banks, money market funds, and even short-term U.S. Treasuries pay.
It looks like investors are piling into their bunkers rather than their brokers’ offices! Bank of America’s global fund manager survey found 10% of respondents net “overweight” bonds relative to stocks. That’s the most bearish reading since March 2009, the tail end of the Great Financial Crisis. A separate reading on cash allocations has topped 5% for 17 straight months. That hasn’t happened since the Dot Com bust.
A “Contrarian Alert”? It very well could be! When pessimism surges, it’s often a good time to lean the other way and buy.
The outward migration from places like New York and California to warmer, lower-cost states in the Southeast is continuing. One example: 319,000 new residents moved to Florida last year, according to the National Association of Realtors, and experts say that trend is continuing in 2023.
Finally, American journalist Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Russian courtroom – his first public appearance since the Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested March 29 and charged with espionage. The U.S. has vehemently denied Gershkovich has any ties to its intelligence-gathering agencies.
