U.S. stocks fluctuated on both sides of the flat line yesterday amid weakness in bank stocks caught in the downdraft of Friday’s margin call of the big hedge fund Archegos, as investors assessed the ripple effect from the forced block sells.

The CDC has extended the national ban on evictions through the end of June.  The eviction ban was scheduled to expire in two days, and advocates warned of a spike in evictions without an extension.  About 20% of adult renters said they didn’t pay last month’s rent.  This is putting a squeeze on smaller landlords, who are unable to directly access Covid rental relief funds, and some are starting to sell properties to recoup losses.  This will likely reduce the much-needed, affordable rental stock in an already unaffordable housing market.

Shares of Boeing traded higher after Southwest Airlines announced they agreed to buy 100 of Boeing’s 737 Max 7 planes as they plan to retire older jets, sticking with the manufacturer that has been the backbone of its fleet for 50 years.  Southwest, which operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet, said its order, the largest Max sale since two crashes caused a worldwide grounding in March 2019, is a vote of confidence in the planes.