Wall St loses steam, dollar gains as investors mull rate cut timing

All three indexes were handsomely in the black until about 1:30, the Dow up some 125 points in the morning, then a dive in the afternoon to close near flat, the Nasdaq not so lucky going a little into the red. After four days of euphoria over Powell’s “unlikely” comment, this is being attributed to a “take a breath” day and profit-taking as the consensus remains that the Fed isn’t doing anything anytime soon.  

Global shares rally on rate cut hopes, yen weakens

The power of “unlikely.” That’s the singular word, actually spoken last Wednesday, that is responsible for the fourth consecutive day of furious buying as the markets become ever more hopeful over the potential for coming rate cuts. As today’s expert put it, “Powell told the market that a hike was unlikely. Those were his words – ‘unlikely’ – and they took that to mean that he wants to cut.” The inflation outlook is still uncertain but the market hopes rates are restrictive enough to slow the economy. It’s also hopeful that the ECB is more confident about rate cuts and believe euro zone inflation will reach their 2% target by mid-next year. Volume came in at 10 billion, still below the 4-week average. 

AAII: Reasons for Not Selling Stocks This May

Here is another contribution from this week's AAII.  All the cynics are insisting that the market is heading for a major correction.  This article argues that those selling now in anticipation of a downturn will be sorry.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  

AAII: Winning the Battle Against Investment Fees and Biases

This brings back memories, all the time in our FastTrack study group ten years ago when we were talking about fees and biases in our transactions with our investment platforms.  Paul Merriman's article in this month AAII magazine, published this week, is all about it.  Enjoy.  

Wall St ends sharply higher, jobs data strengthens case for rate cuts

On the Dow it was a straight shot up 600 points right out the gate and took only a modest decline from there to end the session up 450.  The other indexes had similar sessions. It was a second day of “bad news = good news” as job growth slowed down, unemployment went up and wage growth cooled, in other words, very good news on the inflation front and very much raising expectations of a first rate cut come September. 

Wall Street ends higher as Fed signals dovish bias; jobs report eyed

It was a shot straight up on all the indexes from the outset and continuing until close, both the Dow and the Nasdaq respectably up 3-digits.  It was another day of ‘bad news = good news’ as a collection of new data including muted jobless claims, rising labor costs and a sharp deceleration in productivity showed weakening economic conditions which points toward earlier rate cuts. 

S&P 500, Nasdaq end lower after Fed rate decision, Powell press conference

Speak of a schizophrenic market, this was no seesaw action today but rather the battle of the bulge with all the indexes dancing near flat the entire session, then suddenly zooming way into the black from 2 pm to 3 pm, then just as suddenly back down until close. The Dow was up nearly 550 points by 3 pm before falling, the S&P and Nasdaq spending almost all day in the red except for from 2-3 pm.  How to explain this except that the market got exactly what it was expecting – no Fed rate change.