The period between now and year-end marks a historically bullish final stretch of the year for US stocks, particularly just before and after Christmas. The question for investors is whether favorable seasonal factors will be outweighed by economic fundamentals. The momentum toward a year-end rush to stocks seems to only be getting stronger now that … Read more
The numbers: Sales at retailers jumped 1.3% in October, signaling US consumers are still spending plenty of money despite efforts by the Federal Reserve to slow the economy. Retail sales were forecast to rise 1.2% last month, according to economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. That’s the biggest increase in eight months. Receipts rose … Read more
According to Fed Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller and several strategistslast week’s softer-than-expected October CPI that sent the S&P 500 to its best level in five months was overdone. His words may be getting through as stock futures point to a softer start as the last full week before Thanksgiving kicks off. We’ll also get retail … Read more
Markets probably didn’t need another more brick on the 2022 wall of worries, but got one anyway as FTX, the world’s third largest crypto exchange, is teetering on a collapse that could upend already shaky broader risk appetite. Read: Sequoia on its FTX investment: Some surprise to the upside, and some surprise to the downside … Read more
Walt Disney Co. wrapped up its fiscal year with record sales and its best revenue growth in more than 25 years, but executives predicted much slower sales increases in the year ahead while missing expectations for fourth-quarter earnings and sales, sending shares down about 7 %Tuesday afternoon. disney SAY reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of … Read more
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell feels a clear signal interest rates will move higher and stay there longer than previously anticipated. Investors wonder if that means new lows for the beaten-down stock market lie ahead. “If we don’t see inflation start to come down as the fed-funds rate goes up, then we’re not getting to … Read more
Markets continue to absorb the reverberations from this week’s Federal Reserve policy decision. The S&P 500 SPX has given up a chunk of its latest rally after Chair Jerome Powell suggested it was likely borrowing costs would peak at a higher level than investors had previously thought. The benchmark remains down 22.5% for the year. … Read more
The numbers: A key barometer of American factories fell to a 25-month low of 52.8% in July in a sign of creeping weakness in the US economy. The good news? Inflation pressures eased. Tea Institute for Supply Management’s closely followed manufacturing gauge dipped from 53% in June, in no small part due to another decline … Read more
It’s been some rally. The S&P 500 SPX is starting the week at a seven-week high, bolstered by hopes for a less hawkish Fed and a sense that earnings pessimism was overdone. The benchmark stock index is up 12.6% from the recent low hit md-June, having delivered its best July performance since 1939, according to … Read more
The numbers: A key gauge of US inflation rose a sharp 1% in June, led by higher fuel prices, in a sign that price pressures in the economy are still intense and unlikely to relent quickly. The increase in the so-called personal-consumption price index exceeded Wall Street’s forecast. Economists had predicted a 0.9% advance. A … Read more