Friends
It was a good day for the bulls as rallies were able to hold up even into the dreaded last hour of trading. About a half a dozen Fed officials, including the Chair Powell were either speaking or interviewed today, and nothing really earth shattering was muttered by any of them.
By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 431 points to finish the day at 32,654. The S&P 500 was up 80 points to close at 4,088. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 321 points to close at 11,984. Gold was up $1 to trade at $1,814 per ounce, while oil was down $2.26 to trade at $111.94 per barrel WTI.
On the earnings front it was a tale of 2 stocks. Walmart was one of the few stocks up for the year that was not energy related, while Home Depot was down nearly 30% coming into their earnings report. Walmart reported a lousy quarter filled with excuses about worse than expected effects of inflation, and the shares got drilled. Home Depot on the other hand actually had a very good quarter as they seem to have supply chain and inflation issues sorted out. Home Depot’s shares rallied with the market, fell with the market, and then once again rallied with the market. Both stocks were great illustrations of how expectations factor into how the shares move after earnings releases. It was assumed that Walmart would be able to handle inflation pressures better than most, they were not. In fact, their customers might be the most affected by inflation. Home Depot on the other hand traded all year as if inflation and supply constraints were going to be difficult for the hardware retailer to deal with. As we mentioned, not really. We’ll see what Target and Lowes have to say tomorrow.
Once again, we will see if he bulls can build on today’s move higher. Stay tuned.
Have a nice evening everyone.
