Dow gains on more stimulus talk

Recovering from the pandemic recession is no straight path: different parts of the country were hit to varying degrees by the pandemic. For example, areas more reliant on the hospitality industry are struggling to rebound.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Wednesday report on metropolitan unemployment hammers this point home.

Of the 389 metropolitan areas in the country, the majority -- 268 areas -- had a lower unemployment rate in July than the national average of 10.5%, according to the BLS. 116 areas had a higher rate than the country-wide average.

Among big cities -- defined as those with a population over 1 million as of the 2010 Census -- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim had the highest unemployment rate at 16.8% in July, followed by Las-Vegas-Henderson-Paradise and New York-Newark-Jersey City at 16.4% each.

Salt Lake City sported the lowest jobless rate among the major cities at only 5.3%.

Not adjusting for city size, El Centro in Southern California, had the highest unemployment rate of any metropolitan area in July at 26.8%.

The national jobs report for August will be published Friday morning. Economists expect 1.4 million new jobs, bringing the unemployment rate down to 9.8%, according to estimates from Refinitiv.

Wall Street opened in the green on Wednesday after starting the month off with a bang and a double record from the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

Investors are hopeful Congress will agree a new stimulus package soon, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday "a bipartisan agreement still should be reached".

A much worse-than-expected ADP employment report didn’t taint the mood either. The ADP and government jobs numbers have differed widely throughout the pandemic, although many economists agree that the rebound is slowing down.

DraftKings announced Wednesday that Michael Jordan will be a special advisor to the company’s board, sending the stock 14% higher in premarket trading.

Jordan will take an undisclosed equity stake in the sports-betting company in exchange for "providing guidance and strategic advice." DraftKings' shares have more than tripled since it went public earlier this year.

“Michael Jordan is among the most important figures in sports and culture, who forever redefined the modern athlete and entrepreneur,” said DraftKings CEO and co-founder Jason Robins. “The strategic counsel and business acumen Michael brings to our board is invaluable.”

The basketball great is now chairman of the Charlotte Hornets NBA team, after winning six MVP awards and six championships during his playing career. He also became the nation's leading commercial pitchman during his career for products including Nike, Gatorade, Hanes and others. He has continued to earn tens of billions from endorsements more than a decade after his playing career ended.

Macy's (M) is getting walloped by the pandemic.

The company said Wednesday that sales at stores open for at least one year dropped 35.1% during the three months ending on August 1 compared with the same stretch a year ago. Macy's also lost $431 million last quarter.

Macy's results underline "the dismal performance of stores," Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said in a research note.

One bright spot for Macy's: Digital sales. Sales online grew 53% last quarter.

That helped push Macy's stock up around 5% during pre-market trading. Heading into earnings Wednesday, Macy's stock had dropped nearly 60%.

Ooff, what a start to the day.

The ADP employment report came in quite a lot worse than expected. Economists had predicted 950,000 new jobs in the private payrolls report for August, but ADP reported just 428,000 jobs were added last month.

For those watching the ADP report as an indicator for Friday's government jobs report, disappointment could be on the horizon. Economists expect 1.4 million jobs added to the economy in August, bringing the unemployment rate to 9.8%. It would be the first time since April that the jobless rate is below the peak of the Great Recession.

The ADP report showed that large companies had the strongest job gains and that the leisure and hospitality sector continues to add back the most jobs. The sector was decimated by the spring lockdown and gaining back all the lost jobs will take the biggest rebound.

It's been the same story for the past several months, so why not continue it today? Stocks are rallying on hopes for more stimulus from Congress and the Federal Reserve.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged Congress to allocate money to help people hurt most by the recession, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is moving to temporarily halt evictions for some Americans struggling to pay their rent .

That gave investors the warm fuzzies Wednesday morning, as efforts to prop up the economy continue to send stocks soaring.

Here's where things stand this morning:

Stocks hit yet another record Tuesday, and the Dow moved into positive territory for the year again.

Eastman Kodak, the erstwhile photography leader that lost its way in the digital age, wants to reinvent itself as a drug company in the era of Covid-19. And one top hedge fund seems to like the strategy.

D.E. Shaw, a money manager run by billionaire David Shaw owns a more than 5% stake in Kodak.

Kodak (KODK) disclosed the D.E. Shaw investment in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Monday. D.E. Shaw bought more than 3.9 million shares of the company.

Shares of Kodak soared 25% on the news Tuesday. The stock is now up nearly 70% this year.

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