The Buzz on Business for May 7th 2024

Wall Street has been wishing and hoping for a rate cut from the Federal Reserve, probably since rates started heading up in March of 2022. Those hopes have been dashed upon the rocks of economic reality, especially over the last four months, yet hope springs eternal, and it is those hopes that appear to be driving this latest leg of the rally that began last October.

The Fed almost never alters interest rate policy between meetings, and the next meeting isn’t until mid-June. Between now and then, we have any number of rocky shores upon which hopes and dreams could be dashed. The next one is the release of the April Producer and Consumer Price Index reports on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

Stock Market Report

Stocks gapped up AGAIN and closed at or near their highs on Monday but, in what is becoming a bit of a pattern, volume slipped for the third straight day

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 38,852, up 177 points, or 1/2 of 1%.
• The S&P 500 was up 53 points. That's over 1%, and it closed at 5181.
• The NASDAQ Composite was up 193 points, that's 1.2%, and it closed at 16,349.
• The small cap, Russell 2000, was up 25 points over 1.2% and closed at 2061.

Bond Market Report

Rates were mixed.

• The yield on the 2-year treasury closed at 4.835%. That's up three basis points.
• The 20-year was basically flat and closed at 4.736%.

Oil, Gold, and Bitcoin

• Oil managed a small gain but still appears to be in a downtrend. It was up $0.57. A barrel now changes hands at $78.51.
• Gold was up $23.40. And the triangles will now set you back $2333.60.
• Bitcoin was also up on the session. It closed at $63,241.00, even. That's up $1,083.52.

Good Earnings News, Little Economic News This Week

Twelve public companies that have managed to pass the filters and make it onto the Giant Quote Machine reported earnings on Monday. Only one red number among the bunch. Today, Disney reports its first-quarter results. Uber and Airbnb report tomorrow, but there is mostly nothing expected that is likely to move the markets.

Likewise, the Economic Calendar is unlikely to provide much drama this week. But you never know. So, we think that the only rational course of action for you is to keep it right here, on the Buzz!