The Buzz on Business for February 16th, 2024

Do you remember back on Wednesday or something like that? It seems like a lifetime ago now when I said that the market would take some time to consolidate. When I said it might fall further before righting itself and heading higher once again? When I said, don’t ever try to catch a falling knife?

Do you remember? Do you remember that?

Me neither.

Stock Market Report

If you didn’t know that the bottom had fallen out of the market on Tuesday and just looked at yesterday and Wednesday, you’d have never known it. Markets rallied broadly on Thursday. Advancing stocks swamped decliners—only four of the thirty Dow stocks were down on the day. And all of it came on good volume.

The cherry on top. The S&P 500 hit a new all-time high.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average did not quite hit a new all-time high. It closed at 38,773, up nine-tenths of a percent or 349 points.
• As I said, the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high of 5,030. That was up 29 points, or six-tenths of a percent.
• The NASDAQ Composite struggled early in the session due to some weakness in the semiconductor stocks, but it worked its way back for a gain of 47 points or three-tenths of a percent and closed at 15,906.
• The RSP was up 1 1/4%.
• The SOXL was basically flat on the day.

Bond Market Report

Interest rates had been lower early in the day but closed with little change.

• The 2-year treasury was flat on the session. It stands at 4.578%.
• The yield on the 20-year? It was off four ticks and closed at 4.529%.

Oil, Gold, and Bitcoin

• Oil got back most of what it lost on Wednesday. It was up $1.04 and closed at $77.53.
• Gold was up $10.60 and closed to $2014.90.
• Bitcoin closed at 51,698, off $192 or four-tenths of a percent.

Good Earnings but Economic Data Disappoints

Sixteen companies reported earnings during the day on Thursday—only three red numbers. None are likely to move the market one way or the other.

Next week, though, we get earnings from Walmart, Home Depot, NVIDIA, and about one hundred others.

On the economic front, the labor market came in a little weaker than expected, in contrast with its extraordinary strength and resilience over the last year or so. Both Initial and continuing jobless claims came in higher than expected.

Retail sales also disappointed. However, both the New York and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing indexes came in significantly above expectations, although the industrial production numbers disappointed.

Japan and Great Britain In Recession

More interesting and concerning to all of us here at World Headquarters was the news report that the economies of the 4th and 5th biggest US trading partners, Japan and Great Britain, slipped into recession last month.

Recessions can be like a running nose in a first-grade classroom. When one gets it, the rest of the class won’t be far behind. We will be keeping our eye on this story here at The Buzz.

Markets Closed on Monday for President’s Day

One brief housekeeping note: markets are closed on Monday For the observance of Presidents Day, or is it Washington’s Birthday? Anyway, there will not be a Buzz on business Monday morning. We will pick up right where we left off on Tuesday.