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Today, we achieve peak late-August trading. Not in terms of stock market highs — we’re still off mid-June levels — but in terms of low volume, low activity. We remain in the final stages of Q2 earnings season, but aside from a couple speeches by Fed members later today, we have a dearth of potential impacts to the market.
This is just as well — it allows hard-working people to enjoy their vacation without worrying about the need to re-route one’s portfolio. Market indexes are flattish over the past month: the Dow and S&P 500 up slightly, the Nasdaq down slightly and the Russell 2000 a bit lower. At this moment, the Dow is down -31 points, the S&P is +3 and the Nasdaq +8 points in today’s pre-market.
Even next week brings us NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) earnings and a Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report for July a week from Friday. In between, we’ll get Durable Goods Orders, Case-Shiller home prices, Consumer Confidence, Trade Balance, Retail/Wholesale Inventories and Weekly Jobless Claims. So it’s this week — today, precisely — that best represents a typical late-summer stock market environment.
July Fed Minutes Out Tomorrow
We’ll hear from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr after the open this morning, and they made provide some pre-context for the release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) latest meeting, July 30-31. Obviously, the Fed decided not to move on lowering the 5.25-5.50% interest rate level at that meeting, and it was unanimous among all voting members. We’ll find out if there is any notable nuance worth plucking from these minutes.
This week is also the Economic Symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where economic leaders from around the world come together to discuss the state of global financial and developmental affairs. Fed Chair Jerome Powell addresses this symposium on Friday, at which time the reading of tea leaves for the September 17-18 meeting will resume.
Lowe’s Mixed on Q2 Earnings Report
Home improvement retailer Lowe’s (LOW - Free Report) posted a beat on its Q2 bottom line ahead of today’s opening bell. Earnings of $4.10 per share outpaced expectations by +3.5%, though were still below the $4.56 per share reported in the same quarter a year ago. Revenues of $23.59 billion came in -1.34% shy of the Zacks consensus.
We’ve seen elsewhere in specialty retail, including Lowe’s competitor Home Depot (HD - Free Report) last week, that headwinds abound. Yet Lowe’s managed to hammer out another earnings beat, keeping its 5+ year earnings beat streak alive. Yet shares, which are underperforming the S&P year to date, are down marginally in today’s early trading. For more on LOW’s earnings, click here.
Medtronic Beats Estimates in Fiscal Q1
MedTech major Medtronic (MDT - Free Report) , with a vast portfolio of vascular and drug infusion products, outperformed of its bottom line in its fiscal Q1 report this morning, with earnings of $1.23 per share beating the Zacks consensus by 3 cents. Revenues of $7.92 billion narrowly outpaced expectations by +0.22% for the quarter. Medtronic is another underperformer in 2024, but is up off the July near-term lows. For more on MDT’s earnings, click here.
Image: Bigstock
Dog Day of Summer: Right Now in the Stock Market
Tuesday, August 20th, 2024
Today, we achieve peak late-August trading. Not in terms of stock market highs — we’re still off mid-June levels — but in terms of low volume, low activity. We remain in the final stages of Q2 earnings season, but aside from a couple speeches by Fed members later today, we have a dearth of potential impacts to the market.
This is just as well — it allows hard-working people to enjoy their vacation without worrying about the need to re-route one’s portfolio. Market indexes are flattish over the past month: the Dow and S&P 500 up slightly, the Nasdaq down slightly and the Russell 2000 a bit lower. At this moment, the Dow is down -31 points, the S&P is +3 and the Nasdaq +8 points in today’s pre-market.
Even next week brings us NVIDIA (NVDA - Free Report) earnings and a Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report for July a week from Friday. In between, we’ll get Durable Goods Orders, Case-Shiller home prices, Consumer Confidence, Trade Balance, Retail/Wholesale Inventories and Weekly Jobless Claims. So it’s this week — today, precisely — that best represents a typical late-summer stock market environment.
July Fed Minutes Out Tomorrow
We’ll hear from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr after the open this morning, and they made provide some pre-context for the release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) latest meeting, July 30-31. Obviously, the Fed decided not to move on lowering the 5.25-5.50% interest rate level at that meeting, and it was unanimous among all voting members. We’ll find out if there is any notable nuance worth plucking from these minutes.
This week is also the Economic Symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where economic leaders from around the world come together to discuss the state of global financial and developmental affairs. Fed Chair Jerome Powell addresses this symposium on Friday, at which time the reading of tea leaves for the September 17-18 meeting will resume.
Lowe’s Mixed on Q2 Earnings Report
Home improvement retailer Lowe’s (LOW - Free Report) posted a beat on its Q2 bottom line ahead of today’s opening bell. Earnings of $4.10 per share outpaced expectations by +3.5%, though were still below the $4.56 per share reported in the same quarter a year ago. Revenues of $23.59 billion came in -1.34% shy of the Zacks consensus.
We’ve seen elsewhere in specialty retail, including Lowe’s competitor Home Depot (HD - Free Report) last week, that headwinds abound. Yet Lowe’s managed to hammer out another earnings beat, keeping its 5+ year earnings beat streak alive. Yet shares, which are underperforming the S&P year to date, are down marginally in today’s early trading. For more on LOW’s earnings, click here.
Medtronic Beats Estimates in Fiscal Q1
MedTech major Medtronic (MDT - Free Report) , with a vast portfolio of vascular and drug infusion products, outperformed of its bottom line in its fiscal Q1 report this morning, with earnings of $1.23 per share beating the Zacks consensus by 3 cents. Revenues of $7.92 billion narrowly outpaced expectations by +0.22% for the quarter. Medtronic is another underperformer in 2024, but is up off the July near-term lows. For more on MDT’s earnings, click here.
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