This morning's initial jobless claims data came in at 860,000 – slightly better than expectations. Continuing claims came in at 12.7m, as signs grow that the early rapid recovery in the U.S. economy has slowed. Fed Chair Jerome Powell hit on this theme in his press conference yesterday, saying that "the path ahead remains highly uncertain" while he and Fed officials stressed the likely need for further fiscal stimulus. (Bloomberg)

Snowflake, the newest cloud computing company IPO doubled in value yesterday, giving it a market capitalization of more than $70B, well above the $12B it was valued at in February. Why so much excitement? Snowflake's data warehouse, which allows companies to analyze and manage multiple data sources, has massive revenue growth and caught on to the shift towards remote work as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Following yesterday's wild session, Snowflake's Price/Sales ratio approached ~190x on a trailing twelve-month basis, and it is very richly valued compared to other cloud businesses. (SA)

Several airline executives are planning to meet White House officials today with only two weeks to go before a ban on industry job cuts is set to expire. Airline CEOs and labor unions want another $25B in federal aid to preserve sector jobs through the end of next March as a recovery in travel demand hasn't yet materialized. The proposal has won bipartisan support in Congress, and while lawmakers and the White House have yet to reach a deal on a new coronavirus package (that could include another round of relief), President Trump is pushing Republicans to back a bigger stimulus bill. (FT)

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Josh Fenili.