Summary Of the Markets Today:
- The Dow closed up 415 points or 1.26%,
- Nasdaq closed up 1.74%,
- S&P 500 closed up 1.44%,
- Gold $1,987 down $10.50,
- WTI crude oil settled at $76 up $1.20,
- 10-year U.S. Treasury 3.481% down 0.07 points,
- USD $102.59 up $0.44,
- Bitcoin $28,417 up $450,
- Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. down 3 to to 755 rigs
*Stock data, cryptocurrency, and commodity prices at the market closing.
Today’s Economic Releases:
Personal income increased $72.9 billion (0.3%) in February 2023, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) increased $89.9 billion (0.5%) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased by $27.9 billion (0.2%). The PCE price index increased 0.3%. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index also increased 0.3%. But the real (inflation-adjusted) year-over-year growth is what is important – personal income is up 3.3% (blue line on the graph below), consumption expenditures up 2.5% (red line on the graph below), price index (inflation) is up 5.0% (green line on the graph below), and price index (excluding food and energy) up 4.6% (purple line on the graph below). At the current rate of moderation of inflation – it will be several years for inflation to fall near 2%. There is NO SIGN of a recession in this data.
The Chicago Business Barometer, also known as the Chicago PMI, inched up 0.2 index points to 43.8 in March. It was the first increase since December. The increase was unexpected. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal forecast a 43 reading. This is the seventh straight reading below the 50 threshold that indicates activity is contracting.
A summary of headlines we are reading today:
- Time To Buy The Oil Dip: Goldman Sachs
- Nickel Buyers On Edge As Another LME Scandal Unfolds
- Peter Schiff: We Are On The Cusp Of Another Financial Crisis
- U.S. Drilling Activity Slips Following Price Slump
- Supply Outage Fuels Oil Price Recovery
- Here’s what went wrong with Virgin Orbit
- Key Fed inflation gauge rose 0.3% in February, less than expected
- Trump campaign uses newly restored Facebook page to fundraise off of indictment
- Stocks could be shaky in the week ahead as sigh-of-relief rally runs its course
- Reasons To Be Cheerful (and Drear-full) About Stocks
- Simon Black: I Love How Everyone Pretends The Bank Crisis Is Over…
- In One Chart: Stocks are headed for gains in March. This chart shows why retirement should still be a worry for investors.
Click on the “Read More” below to access these, other headlines, and the associated news summaries moving the markets today.