Nasdaq ends lower as investors sell Big Tech stocks

As investors continue to sit on the fence, there was another mild exodus today away from tech and growth and back to industrials and cyclicals as unemployment claims sank to a 16 month low and people remain nervous about inflation and tax rates.  And it now appears that a great Q2 will not be good enough. The markets are also looking for evidence that the good times will extend into 2022 before they get comfortable with the high valuations. Volume remains below average at 9.6 billion. 

S&P 500 ends higher after Fed Chair Powell lulls market

After Fed Chair Powell once again reassured the markets that the recent bout of inflation was temporary and that no hawkish policy shifts were on the agenda, the indexes all took a day to take a breath with just modest gains and losses across the board as investors await more data and more Q2.  Though a strong Q2 is expected, there is going to be a certain amount of fence sitting. This was demonstrated today with Citigroup’s stock dropping slightly even though they handily beat their profit estimates. Volume remains below average at 9.8 billion. 

S&P 500 and Nasdaq end down after hitting record highs

After two record setting days in a row, the market pulled back a bit today even though JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs turned in stellar profit reports.  In fact, despite the good news, both companies’ stocks fell. Data showed that consumer prices are at their highest in 13 years and this might have contributed to the slide even though economists and the Fed widely view the price surge as temporary. The good news is that with growth outperforming value again, inflation appears not to be a real threat. Tomorrow and Thursday everyone will be paying close attention to Fed Chair Powell’s testimony before the Congress.  Volume remains below average at 9.5 billion. 

Wall Street closes at record highs, lifted by Tesla

It was another record breaking day clear across the board with Q2 earnings now expected to jump 66% and the markets generally optimistic about the banking reports coming this week.  The S&P is up 17% in the first half of the year and Q2 reports will be watched closely for clues about how long the recovery will last and whether inflation will be an issue.  But while awaiting reports and data on inflation and retail sales, volume remains below average at 8.3 billion. 

Rethinking Demographics

I guess it's pretty much an unavoidable conclusion now that Barry Ritholtz is no longer doing his succinct weekly summation. But on Friday I summed up three days worth of market action so let that suffice. There is so much interesting stuff on his daily blog that I'll just continue doing what I've been doing and provide an interesting selection from the many he posts each day, over each weekend, and particularly on Sundays. Today there was a great article about demographics which is posted below along with a graphic that sums up a huge amount of information about past, current, and changing trends in one visual.  

Check a Firm’s Health in Its Annual Report

For this weekend's reading, I found it might be a good idea to get back to basics when I found this article in last month's AAII.  Since so much good investment information can be culled from an annual report, this essay on how to properly read an annual report in order to evaluate a company as a good buy I thought was worth a look-see.  

Wall Street posts record closing highs as financials lead rebound

This is my attempt to succinctly sum up three days of market activity. Wednesday the Dow rallied about a hundred points and then took a big dive of 259 points Thursday mostly on worries about the pace of the recovery. As yesterday’s expert said, “We’re still effectively at all-time highs so I wouldn’t read much into today’s actions.” And what a wise comment that indeed was as the market snapped back huge today with a 448 point rally on the Dow and 142 on the Nasdaq sending all three indexes to new record closings. It was a complete reversal from yesterday’s doom and gloom. Today everybody did well – cyclical, growth and bonds. As today’s expert put it, “The U.S. is in a bubble compared to the rest of the world with a lot of free money and low interest rates.” The Q2 earnings forecast is for 65.8% growth vs the prior forecast of 54 percent. Volume was below average at 8.5 billion.