Friends Jitters about global tensions and jitters about corporate earnings sent stocks lower today. Earnings from the big banks were good but it didn’t seem to matter. Buyers disappeared and sellers were left to their own devices. For the day, the Dow Jones...
Friends The PPI number came in a little better than expected which helped take the pressure off of stocks, although the bears did try to press the situation early in the trading session. But the bulls did step in and did some buying to move stocks higher by the...
Friends We teed up the CPI number for you yesterday and sure enough it came in on the hot side of our range. Month over month we saw the CPI up .4 vs. the .3 that was expected, and the all-important year over year number came in up 3.5% vs. the 3.4% expected. Stocks...
Friends Market participants are very indecisive as we wait for tomorrow's inflation report. Stocks started higher, took a couple of legs lower (down 300 Dow points midday) and then recovered into the close. As we mentioned yesterday, if tomorrow’s number is hot...
Friends Stocks were quiet as traders wait for inflation data to be released this week. On Wednesday we will get a look at the Consumer Price Index and then on Thursday we will get the Producer Price Index. Remember, the last couple of months CPI data has been a...
Friends This morning’s employment numbers were better than expected once again. In March 303,000 new jobs were created vs. the 200,000 expected, and the unemployment rate fell back to 3.8% after ticking up to 3.9% last month. Average hourly earnings came in as...
Friends It was quite a reversal day for stocks. After a nice opening where it appeared that buyers were willing to step in and buy the recent weakness, market participants worrying that tomorrow’s jobs number would be too good began to sell. Yes, good news...
Friends The stock market is off to a horrible start here in the second quarter of 2024 as market participants are becoming weary given the bullish narrative of Fed rate cuts continues to dissipate. Coming into 2024 there was a common belief that the Fed could lower...
Friends Stocks slumped on this first day of the new quarter as bond yields pushed higher. As we prepare for the upcoming earnings season, investors are beginning to ask themselves if the Fed is going to follow through with rate cuts that were...
Friends So, today’s Fed release and subsequent press conference with Jerome Powell delivered a message that was pretty much anticipated. The statement indicated that the Fed sees 3 quarter point rate cuts in the Fed Funds rate in the second half of the year. That is...
Friends Stocks finished the quarter strong with the market averages pushing new all-time highs. We’ve said that conditions have been right for higher stock prices and that was certainly true in the first quarter of 2024. We have also worried that valuation is...
Friends As we have seen time and time again lately, stocks just can’t stay down for long. After a few days of lackluster interest, the bulls seemed to have rediscovered their appetite for stocks. Nothing has really changed with regards to the investing environment...
Friends As the market waits for new inflation data and a holiday released jobs report on Friday, stock buyers seemed to be biding their time. The market averages were lower but not in any meaningful way. We might just be in a spot where we drift into the quarter...
Friends Stocks were mixed today with the Dow faltering while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq mainly held serve. If you are a long-term bull (and I hope you are) days like this are needed. We continue to be concerned about valuation and one way to deal with that is to...
Friends Even the Department of Justice couldn’t kill this bull market run. Yes, their anti-trust case against Apple took a bite out of the tech giant’s shares but it wasn’t enough to stop the bullish momentum of the market averages. For the day, the Dow Jones...
