Stocks Down On Friday, But Up For The Month, And Stellar Gains YTD  Image: Bigstock Stocks closed lower on Friday, and for the week. But they are up for the month. And YTD, the Dow is up an impressive 14.1%, the S&P is up 17.0%, and the Nasdaq is up 13.9%. It was a bit disappointing to see a few big names turn lower on Friday, even after strong earnings reports. But, of course, stocks don't always go straight up all the time. Nevertheless, earnings season is off to a fantastic start. And we'll get another 1,915 companies reporting this week. And another 1,322 on deck for next week. It was also a bit disappointing last week to see Q2 GDP come in under expectations at 6.5% vs. views for 8.0%. But as I mentioned last week, while supply chain disruptions and worker shortages have been cited as reasons for temporarily higher levels of inflation, they are also partly to blame for the less than expected Q2 growth. But again, these issues are transitory. With extended unemployment benefits scheduled to end in September, and many of those who were incentivized to stay home now being 'forced' to return to work, that will begin to bring relief to both supply shortages and worker shortages while simultaneously easing inflation concerns as well. Traders will be closely watching Friday's Employment Situation report. It's possible we could see a lighter than expected read there, as we did with Q2 GDP, for the same reasons. But that just suggests an explosive Q4. The fact of the matter is we are still in the midst of history in the making. And historic times typically usher in historic price moves. 2020, 2021, and 2022 are years people will likely look back on and marvel at what took place in both the economy and the market. So make sure you're taking full advantage of it. See you tomorrow,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
Post a Comment
Post a Comment