After closing at a new record high on Thursday, stock indexes declined fractionally today, as Congress struggled to meet a weekend deadline to write a law that would provide about $900 billion in additional federal relief to individuals and businesses suffering financially amid the deepening public health catastrophe.

The news has been grim. Daily death and hospitalization rates tragically broke records recently and millions of families are in financial jeopardy.  At the same time, however, the broad economy is doing fine, and stocks have been breaking records due to a shift in the asset valuation paradigm, as the relative value of bonds has declined versus stocks.