Goldman Sachs is Optimistic

    Goldman Sachs research team provided an assessment of the U.S. situation, saying that the damage to the U.S. economy from the Covid-19 was far less severe than what initially feared.

    Business bankruptcy filings are below pre-pandemic levels. Business shutdowns have proven temporary, and unemployment has fallen sharply, signaling good medium-term recovery, Goldman Sachs said in the report. The vaccine, combined with further fiscal support next year, is expected to limit long-term damage and keep the economy to recover on track, they said.

    Despite the recent increase in long-term unemployment, a rapid recovery in labor demand and an accelerated redistribution of labor should help most workers avoid the long-term unemployment seen in previous recessions. The drop in labor force participation since February largely reflects virus-related barriers, such as fear of getting sick or needing to care for children while schools are closed, that should be removed with the vaccine.

Overlaying Trump's support for a larger bailout, U.S. stocks continued to climb, with the Nasdaq performing prominently. The Philadelphia semiconductor index rose 1.7%. Microsoft, ADBE and other cloud services companies all posted decent gains, with the software industry index up nearly 1%. MSFT and CRM led the Dow higher.