Stock market today: S&P 500, Nasdaq on track for 8th daily win as countdown to Jackson Hole begins
08/20/2024 00:09
Investors are counting down to a speech by Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole that could reset rate-cut expectations.
US stocks advanced on Monday after posting their best week in a year as investors began counting down to a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole that could reset rate cut expectations.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.5%, on pace towards its longest winning streak of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also gained 0.5% or more than 200 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) increased more than 0.5%.
If Monday's gains hold, the S&P 500 will have stretched its daily wins to eight, its longest streak since November of last year, according to Bespoke Investment data. The Nasdaq was also on track for an eight consecutive session win.
Stocks were set to consolidate last week's strong gains as a measure of calm returns to a market previously whipsawed by worries about a potential recession. Last week's rally recouped the losses stacked up in an early August sell-off as Wall Street fretted about cracks in the economy — concerns that have since been eased by encouraging inflation and consumer spending data.
Focus is already turning to Powell's speech at the central bank's Jackson Hole symposium on Friday in a quiet week for economic data. As confidence in a "soft landing" for the economy grows — Goldman Sachs now sees a lower likelihood of recession — the question for investors isn't whether the Fed will lower interest rates in September but by how much.
As of Monday morning, traders were pricing in a 72% chance the Fed will reduce rates by 0.25% at that meeting and 28% odds for a 0.50% cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool. But the release on Wednesday of minutes from the Fed's July meeting could sway those bets.
Meanwhile, investors will also keep a watchful eye on the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off on Monday and could bring more insight into what to expect from presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
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Boeing's new CEO may need a decade to truly turn things around, says one veteran leader
Yahoo Finance's Grace Williams reports:
Boeing’s (BA) season of discontent may stretch into years before the newly appointed CEO Kelly Ortberg can right the ship, literally and metaphorically.
“[They] have to think differently because they’ve been on the wrong track for 20 years,” said leadership guru Bill George during a conversation with Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi on his Opening Bid podcast (video above; listen in here).
The former Medtronic (MDT) CEO has also sat on the boards of Target (TGT), ExxonMobil (XOM), and Goldman Sach (GS). George says it could take Ortberg 10 years to put Boeing back on a flightpath toward success.
“You can get a lot done in five months or years, but you’ve got to change the culture back to aviation,” he added.
Read more here.
All S&P 500 sectors in green as stocks advance
All eleven S&P 500 (^GSPC) sectors were in green territory as the major averages advanced on Monday.
Energy stocks led the gains, with XLE (XLE) up 0.8% followed by Consumer Discretionary (XLY) and Real Estate (XLRE).
Technology (XLK) gained 0.2%, underperforming the S&P 500 index which rose 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also rose roughly 0.4% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 0.3%.
S&P 500 Sectors on Monday around 12 p.m. ET Recession mentions are near a 3-year low for corporate America
While discussion around a slowing US economy has rippled through Wall Street this month, the amount of companies actually discussing recession with investors during conference calls is near its lowest level in three years.
From June 15 to Aug. 15, just 28 S&P 500 companies mentioned recession on their earnings calls, according to new data from FactSet. That's well below the five-year average of 83 companies and less than the 10-year average of 60 companies.
In the first quarter of this year, there were just 27 mentions of "recession." Before that, you'd have to go back to the fourth quarter of 2021 to find less talk about recession during earning calls.
Mentions have fallen significantly from levels in 2022, when one of the most widely anticipated recessions in history never came.
"The very low levels of 'recession' mentioned in the just-completed second quarter of 2024 is a sign of management confidence in current and near-future earnings power," DataTrek’s Nicholas Colas wrote in a note to clients on Monday morning. "If there were any need to excuse either earnings misses or reduced forward guidance, we would certainly be hearing more about recession looming somewhere just over the horizon."
AMD, Palantir, fuboTV: Top stocks making news today
Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal rounds up the biggest movers on Monday.
AMD (AMD): Shares of the chipmaker rose about 2% early Monday after the company announced plans to acquire hyperscale solutions provider ZT Systems in a deal valued at $4.9 billion.
The deal comes as AMD looks to broaden its AI infrastructure in order to compete with market leader Nvidia (NVDA). Shares of AMD are up just over 2% since the start of the year while Nvidia shares have soared about 150%. Nvidia will report second quarter earnings next week.
Palantir (PLTR): Data analytics company Palantir was in the spotlight on Monday after co-founder and CEO Alex Karp participated in an in-depth New York Times profile. In the interview, Karp, who largely stays out of the spotlight, defended his military partnerships, discussed his political views, and laid out the origin story of Palantir, along with his relationship with co-founder Peter Thiel.
Palantir has faced recent criticism over its work with the military and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Notably, the company does not do business with China, Russia, or other countries that are outwardly against Western ideologies.
fuboTV (FUBO): Shares of sports streamer fuboTV rallied another 30% on Monday following a Friday ruling that temporarily blocked the launch of Venu Sports, the upcoming sports streaming service from Disney's ESPN (DIS), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), and Fox (FOXA).
US District Judge Margaret Garnett determined in her ruling that the launch of the joint venture would "substantially lessen competition and restrain trade." Furthermore, it would also ensure "a swift exodus of large numbers of Fubo’s subscribers" and that "Fubo’s bankruptcy and delisting of the company’s stock will likely soon follow. These are quintessential harms that money cannot adequately repair."
Read more here.
Gold pauses after touching all-time highs
Gold took a breather on Monday after touching record highs last week on the expectation of a Fed rate cut this year.
Spot gold retreated slightly after surpassing the $2,500 level for the first time last Friday. Meanwhile, gold futures (GC=F) fell 0.2% on Monday to hover near $2,530 per ounce.
The precious metal has rallied this year amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and expectations that the Federal Reserve will start its rate cut cycle soon.
Prices have also risen as central banks have continued to add to their gold reserves.
Stocks hold steady as countdown to Jackson Hole begins, more earnings from retailers on deck
US stocks gained slightly on Monday after posting their best week in a year as investors awaited Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday at Jackson Hole, with Wall Street set to receive further glimpses of the state of the consumer amid a slew of retail earnings.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) opened flat but held near record highs while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also rose above the flat line. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 0.1%.
Investors will pay close attention to any signals as to rate cut expectations when Powell speaks at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday.
Wall Street will get further insights on the health of the consumer this week as Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), Macy’s (M), The TJX Companies (TJX), and BJ's (BJ) Wholesale Club post quarterly results. The reports follow encouraging inflation and consumer spending data.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Convention kicks off on Monday, which could give investors more insight into what to expect from presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
