Thursday,
March 14, 2024
Market recap
Dow Jones
39,043.32
+37.83 (+0.10%)
S&P 500
5,165.31
-9.96 (-0.19%)
Nasdaq
16,177.77
-87.87 (-0.54%)
Top Story
Eggs are getting expensive again, just in time for Easter
Remember how eggs got more expensive during the pandemic? Weāre back at another price spike just in time for an egg-heavy holiday.
US stocks were mixed on Wednesday but oil prices jumped
• U.S. oil futures settled nearly 2% higher, following the news of falling inventories and an attack by Ukraine on Russian refineries.
• The 30-year mortgage rate declined to 6.84% last week, its first time below 7% since early February. Mortgage applications increased 7.1%.
What to be on the lookout for today
• February retail sales and wholesale inflation. Weāll also get weekly jobless claims.
• In earnings, Adobe, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dollar General, and Ulta Beauty will report.
This time is different ā or is it??
Itās a rather remarkable time in financial markets, as investors balance factors including sticky inflation (that ticked higher again last month), geopolitical crises, hopes for policy rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, and lingering concerns about a soft landing. Against all of this uncertainty, markets have soared to record highs.
Not long ago, recession worries weighed on investorsā minds, and market watchers pointed to the inverted Treasury yield curve as a bad omen. This inversion, a phenomenon when government securities with shorter-dated maturities carry higher yields than longer-dated bonds, suggesting weakening economic conditions are on the horizon, is often considered a warning that a recession could be coming. But so far, that hasnāt been the case.
Even so, this has been the longest yield curve inversion ever. SoFi Head of Investment Strategy Liz Young dives into the data to break down what it all means.
Todayās top stories
What does being rich mean to you?This is one of the questions SoFi set out to answer in its YouTube series Richer Live$. Hereās what we learned in episode one.
Read more >> When it comes to work-life balance, Americans choose ālifeāIn many ways, the labor market today looks the same as it did pre-pandemic. But the mindset of American workers may have changed permanently.
Read more >> Whatās the difference between investing in mutual funds and stocks?If you want to start investing but feel like there are two many options, itās important to do your research first to find out whatās right for you. Uncertain about mutual funds and stocks, for example? Look no further.
Read more >>Other news that caught our eye
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The House of Representatives passed a bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S. unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance divests its stake. The bill will now head to the Senate.
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Google is restricting the types of election-related questions users can ask its Gemini chatbot.
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Trader Joe's $2.99 mini tote bags are being resold at steep markups after going viral on TikTok. A single bag has been listed for as much as $500 on eBay.
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Petcoās CEO Ron Coughlin is stepping down. Board member and former Best Buy executive Michael Mohan will serve as interim CEO.
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Eli Lilly is partnering with Amazon to deliver prescriptions, including its weight-loss drug Zepbound.
Financial planner tip of the day
"Whether itās in a wallet or bank account, cash money means something. Itās liquid, which means a person can get to it whenever they need to and the returns donāt fluctuate. That stability comes with the drawback of purchasing power. Cash investments donāt keep up with inflation."
Brian Walsh, CFPĀ® at SoFi