Weekly Market Update & SPY Technical Analysis Markets posted a record close last week after both the S&P500 and The Dow pushed to another new all time high for the year, once again proving buying resilience despite lingering inflation and economic uncertainty. Last week’s inflation data reflected mixed results between the consumer and producer side per the CPI and PPI reports, with consumer side inflation declining from 3.5% to 3.4%, but producer side rising for the fourth month in a row. The rise in prices on the producers’ side shouldn’t be eclipsed by the moderate improvement on consumer prices because often times rising costs on the wholesale/manufacturing level lead to a rise in prices for consumers, which will ultimately move...
Weekly Market Update & SPY Technical Analysis Inflation is once again back in focus this week as markets prepare for the Consumer and Producer Price Index releases. Last month’s inflation data sent markets in a spiral after a spike in consumer prices reflected the highest CPI reading since September of last year. Energy, groceries, and rents all climbed in price, which brought the overall year over year CPI to 3.5%. The Federal Reserve’s target rate is 2%, and they’ve been adamant about reaching that level, even if they have to keep interest rates elevated. Current interest are at the highest level in more than 20 years, which is putting serious strain on companies from small to large, but especially those...
Weekly Stock Market Update & SPY Technical Analysis Markets kicked off the new month with optimism as stocks rallied to end last week following multiple key economic and earnings reports. The Fed left rates unchanged as expected, and large cap tech stocks came in line with earnings estimates. Following The Fed’s meeting, Powell’s speech sparked hope of a July interest rate cut, but he stated it will highly depend on economic developments. We got some of those economic developments on Friday after the U.S. Unemployment Report reflected an uptick to 3.9% in unemployment, the highest in months. Although higher unemployment puts a strain on the economy, it can help slowdown demand, which ultimately cools inflation and helps The Fed’s agenda....
Weekly Market Update & SPY Technical Analysis The Federal Reserve is set to hold their third FOMC meeting of 2024 this week, which could set the tone for the new month that we’re transitioning into. April proved to be a very volatile month for markets due to lingering inflation, rising geopolitical tensions, and mixed earnings; however this week’s events will give markets a clearer picture of where The Fed stand on monetary policy and how some of the biggest companies on the market performed last quarter. Despite the excellent progress on inflation, odds of an interest rate cut in this week’s FOMC meeting have dwindled down to near zero percent. Investors started off this year hopeful that we’ll see a...
Weekly Market Update: The market downturn intensified last week after tensions heightened in the Middle East and new earnings were released. The situation between Palestine and Israel introduced new threats geopolitically, specifically the involvement of Iran. With the U.S. already funding Ukraine against Russia, economists are uneasy on how this new war will impact the U.S. economy. Unlike Ukraine, the countries involved in the Middle East aren’t major grain or wheat exporters, which means that this war won’t directly impact food prices like we saw after Russia’s invasion. However the Middle East accounts for roughly 30% of global oil production, and tensions in the region have historically driven oil prices higher. A rise in oil prices impacts all other sectors...
