Insights, Delivered daily.

Stocks had a mixed close yesterday after a private US jobs figure missed estimates igniting further fears that an economic downturn is looming on the horizon. Weekly jobless claims came in more or less on expectation further clouding the market’s perception of labor market strength.

Beige book tells a story of forming clouds on the horizon

Stocks took a beating yesterday after a key manufacturing gauge disappointed… again. Chips were hit hard because they are an easy target – taking profits is not as hard as taking losses when the market is in turmoil.

Stocks traded higher on Friday with a last-minute surge sealing the deal as traders rebalanced portfolios on the final trading day of the month. Core PCE inflation pulled back further than expected, further clearing the path for rate cuts later this month.

Stocks had a mixed close yesterday because… well, because things are better than traders thought with the economy. With NVIDIA’s earnings out of the way, traders turned their focus to the OTHER important economic numbers in today’s PCE inflation number and next week’s monthly jobs data.

Markets slipped yesterday because it was the last week in August and boredom ahead of NVIDIA’s earnings allowed their minds… and fingers to wander. NVIDIA beat almost every estimate handily, as usual, but investors were expecting it to be fireworks like a first kiss – it wasn’t, but it was still...