The First Slice for Friday, March 15, 2024

Let’s dive into the world of economics and finance with a look at the recent happenings in the U.S. market. Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a key stock market index, ended its three-day winning streak. Why? Well, it’s all about inflation and consumer behavior.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, or 137 points.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2%.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%.

First up, we’ve got the Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation data. In February, the PPI, which measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output, rose by 0.6% from the previous month. This increase pushed the annualized rate to 1.6%, which was higher than the expected 1.1%. This data is important because it gives us an idea of how much it costs to produce goods, and these costs can eventually trickle down to consumers.

Speaking of consumers, U.S. retail sales, which reflect consumer spending, grew by only 0.6% in February, falling short of the expected 0.8%. This suggests that consumers might be starting to tighten their belts, which can have a big impact on the economy since consumer spending is a major driver of economic growth.

Despite these signs of a slowing economy, the labor market seems to be holding strong. The number of Americans filing for unemployment claims was 209,000 for the week ending March 9, indicating that the job market is still pretty robust.

Now, what does all this mean for the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the U.S.? According to Rob Conzo, CEO at The Wealth Alliance, this data probably won’t change the Fed’s plans to cut interest rates later this year. The Fed is meeting on March 19, and while they’re not expected to change interest rates immediately, everyone’s eager to hear their economic and rate outlook.

Conzo remains optimistic about the market. He believes the economy is in a “soft landing period,” which means it’s slowing down but not crashing. He also sees a lot of positives in the recent economic and earnings data……….[read more]

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