Stocks are giving back some of yesterday’s gains, while crude oil is recovering a portion of yesterday’s losses. Gold and silver are slightly higher along with the dollar, while Bitcoin is rising.
McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) already faced a barrage of negative headlines tied to an E. coli outbreak. Now, the company reported same-store sales dropped 1.5% in the third quarter, hurt by weakness in several foreign markets. Overall profit came in at $3.23 per share excluding some items, slightly beating analyst estimates. But the stock slid a couple of percentage points in early trading, and it has been trailing the S&P 500, with a year-to-date return through yesterday of only 1.7%.
McDonald's Corp. (MCD)
Don’t look now, but Bitcoin is perking up again. The benchmark cryptocurrency topped $71,000 for the first time in four months, one of an increasing number of “Trump Trades” seen in the marketplace. While polls show a neck-and-neck race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, several recent moves in parts of the stock, bond, currency, and other markets reflect a Wall Street perception Trump will eke out a win. Election Day is one week away.
Finally, more companies are requiring employees to return to the office full time – and that’s helping ease the pressure on office property landlords. While the nation’s office vacancy rate is still 13.8%, close to a record high and up from 9.4% before the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s not rising anymore.
Some large, publicly traded companies like Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Dell Technologies Inc. (DELL) have made a point of reinstating five-day, in-office workweeks. That’s helping office Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). The office REIT subsector surged almost 7% in September and was up 22% YTD through the end of last month, according to the industry trade group Nariet.
