The Week on Wall Street
Stocks were mixed last week amid wide intra- and inter-day price swings, as technology shares bore the brunt of the downdraft.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.15% for the week. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 1.55%, and the Nasdaq Composite index dropped 3.11%. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, lost 2.48%.1,2,3
Breathtaking Volatility
An above-consensus consumer inflation number sent stocks tumbling in early Thursday trading before inexplicably surging higher in a stunning reversal that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average rally 1,500 points from its intraday low. Before reversing, stocks had touched levels last seen in 2020. Friday surrendered much of the previous day’s gains, sending stocks mostly lower for the week. 4
The stock market began the week on a volatile note, with the Nasdaq hitting a two-year low. Recession fears and new export controls may limit U.S. companies from selling advanced semiconductor chips and related manufacturing equipment to China.5
Sticky Inflation
September’s inflation reports provided little evidence that inflation was moderating meaningfully. The Producer Price Index’s first report on inflation showed a 0.4% increase in supplier prices over August and an 8.5% increase 12 months ago. While down from August’s 8.7% rise, it was higher than market expectations.6
The subsequent release of the Consumer Price Index showed consumer prices rising 0.4% in September and 8.2% year-over-year. More troubling was core inflation (excludes energy and food prices), which gained 0.6% in September and registered an increase of 6.6% from a year ago–the biggest 12-month increase since August 1982.7
T H E W E E K L Y R I D D L E
They are sometimes stomped on, yet they can also be very tasty and sweet. What are they?
LAST WEEK’S RIDDLE: A man leaves home and makes three left turns. He comes home again and sees two masked men waiting for him, but he jogs straight toward them with a smile as others cheer. Why is this man so unafraid?
ANSWER: He’s a baseball player who has just hit a home run. The masked men are the umpire and opposing team’s catcher.
John Dombroski Jr. may be reached at (480) 991-1055 or
[email protected]
www.grandcanyonplanning.com
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