With the giant greeting “Someday is here. Welcome back” projected on a wall of a port building, Celebrity Edge departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida Saturday evening – the first cruise ship to leave a U.S. port since the coronavirus froze the cruise industry. Royal Caribbean says 99% of the passengers are vaccinated. It’s sailing at 40% capacity.
Gas prices are up around the nation as demand rose over the weekend while total domestic gas stocks fell and analysts warn that dynamic isn’t likely to change as we head into the Independence Day holiday weekend. The national average price for a gallon of regular is $3.08, up a penny from last week. Drivers were paying an average of $2.17 a gallon a year ago at this time.
We wrap up the second quarter of 2021 this week. According to FactSet, analysts are projecting 62% earnings growth from S&P 500 companies in Q2.
It was expected to bring in about $60 million in North America. F9 did 10 million better, easily topping the previous pandemic best of $48 million for “A Quiet Place Part II” four weeks ago.
A mixed close to the day Friday, with the Dow 238 points higher, the S&P up 14, and the Nasdaq losing 9 points. Futures are mixed.