All three major indexes are headed for weekly wins
Wall Street had a lot of work to do to reclaim lost ground from last week’s global market selloff, but it did just that thanks to upbeat economic data. This week’s producer price index (PPI) and consumer price index (CPI) readings helped calm investors’ nerves, with optimism spiking after better-than-expected retail sales data. Stocks are headed for their best week of 2024, with the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) and S&P 500 (SPX) looking to snap four-week losing streaks.
Major Players’ Reallocations
While investors figured out how to play all the upbeat economic data, the Oracle of Omaha had his hands busy reallocating his investments. Specifically, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) took a $266 million stake in Ulta Beauty (ULTA), and exited its entire stake in Snowflake (SNOW). Elsewhere, activist investor Starboard Value took a considerable stake in Starbucks (SBUX), which replaced CEO Laxman Narasimhan with Chipotle (CMG) CEO Brian Niccol.
More Earnings Reports to Parse
While earnings season is slowing down, there’s a few names that reported results this week worth mentioning. Walmart (WMT) hit a record high after its beat-and-raise, and H&R Block (HRB) snagged an all-time peak of its own. Gold stock Barrick Gold (BRK) also popped after a top-line beat, while Cardinal Health (CAH) gapped higher thanks to a quarterly win and upbeat full-year forecast.
Revisiting the VIX’s Meteoric Rise
In case you missed it, Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White looked back on the last time the VIX crossed above 60, and V.P. of Research Todd Salamone dug deeper into the week’s inflation and retail sales data. Investors will now shift their attention to the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) July meeting minutes, as well as quarterly reports from retailers Lowe’s (LOW), Macy’s (M), and Target (TGT).