S&P 500, Nasdaq score longest win streak in 2 years on rates view

It was a choppy day but at least it was mostly in the black with modest gains for the Dow and S&P and more than modest gains for the Nasdaq. But with three Fed governors today refusing to rule out rate cuts, investors continue to push the narrative that the Fed is done with rate hikes. Yesterday the mood was – maybe, maybe not. Today it changed to “the Fed is done.” This pushed the Dow and S&P to their seventh straight gains and the Nasdaq to its eighth, the longest streak in two years. There is a 90.2% chance of no December rate hike vs 69% a week ago. Powell speaks again on Wednesday and Thursday.  Volume again came in at 10 billion. 

Wall St extends winning streak; eyes Fed speakers, Treasury auctions

The indexes were up rather handsomely in the morning, then took a substantial dive at noon to begin another rally at 2 pm that closed the day with modest gains, the 6^th in a row for the Dow and S&P, 7^th for Nasdaq. But last week’s exuberant buying seems to have now dissipated as the markets look for more guidance from the Fed but still with strong confidence that there will be no hike in December (90.4%) and there may well come cuts as early as May. This week eyes are on jobless claims on Thursday and consumer sentiment data on Friday. 4/5^th of the S&P has reported with 81.6% beating estimates. Volume was 10 billion. 

9 of the Best Stocks for a Starter Portfolio

Given that the theme this weekend is a review of basics, I'm sharing last week's edition of U.S. News Invested on choosing stocks for a beginner portfolio, in other words very safe.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  

AAII: Expanding Upon the 10 Commandments of Investing

A while back we talked about the AAII's Wayne Thorp's 10 rules of investing. As I feel it's a good idea to get back to basics from time to time, this week, the AAII published an expansion on this topic.  Have a great weekend.   

US stocks close higher as Treasury yields fall after weak jobs data

Just like yesterday it was another shot straight up with again triple-digit gains on both the Dow and Nasdaq.  For a long time investors have been waiting for the very tight job market to loosen up a bit and today they got that good news with new jobs increasing by 70K less than expected and unemployment ticking up to 3.9%.  This lent confidence that rates will remain steady for the foreseeable future and the corresponding drop in Treasury yields for the fourth session reinforced all this with the 10-year at its lowest level in five weeks.  

Wall Street indexes rally on bets of peak US interest rates, strong earnings

Today it was one great big shot straight up on all three indexes as investors take a second day to further digest yesterday’s Fed comments and continue a bullish mood that rate hikes are done.  This same optimism sent Treasury yields tumbling which also supported stocks, and good earnings news from such heavy hitters as Starbucks, Qualcomm, PayPal and Apple added to the surge. 

US stocks rally as Fed holds rates, prompts hope for end to hikes

It was another exuberant day as all three indexes were in the black all day starting high but with a dip between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. but then another straight shot up for 3-digit advances on both the Dow and Nasdaq. Sentiment was positive with Powell’s remarks suggesting “the bar has become higher for rate hikes,” which investors took that hikes were done with November rates remaining unchanged.