Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Today we reach the peak of late August trading. Not in the sense of market highs – we are still off mid-June levels – but in the sense of low volume and low activity. We are still in the final stages of Q2 earnings season, but aside from a few Fed speeches later today, we have a lack of potential market impact.

That’s a good thing – it allows hard-working people to enjoy their vacation without worrying about the need to restructure their portfolio. Market indexes have been fairly flat over the past month, with the Dow and S&P 500 up slightly, the Nasdaq down slightly, and the Russell 2000 down a bit. Right now, the Dow is down -31 points, the S&P is down +3, and the Nasdaq is down +8 points in today’s premarket trading.

Next week also brings us NVIDIA (NVDA Quick QuoteNVDA – Free report) and a personal consumption expenditures (PCE) report for July a week from Friday. In between, we get durable goods orders, Case-Shiller home prices, consumer confidence, trade balance, retail/wholesale inventories and weekly jobless claims. So this week – today, to be more specific – best represents a typical late summer stock market environment.

Fed minutes for July to be released tomorrow

We will hear from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Fed Vice Chairman Michael Barr after the opening this morning, and they provided some pre-context for the release of the minutes from the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on July 30-31. Obviously, at that meeting, the Fed decided not to cut interest rates any further from 5.25-5.50%, and this was decided unanimously by all voting members. We will find out if there are any notable nuances from those minutes worth picking out.

This week also marks the Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where business leaders from around the world will gather to discuss the state of global financial and development affairs. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak at this symposium on Friday, and then the tea leaf reading will continue for the September 17-18 meeting.

Lowe’s reports mixed second quarter results

Hardware store Lowe’s (LOW Quick QuoteLOW – Free Report) beat its second-quarter earnings ahead of today’s IPO. Earnings of $4.10 per share beat expectations by +3.5%, but were still below the $4.56 per share reported in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue of $23.59 billion was -1.34% below the Zacks Consensus.

We have seen elsewhere in specialty retail, including competitor Lowe Home Depot (HD Quick QuoteHD – Free Report) last week that there are plenty of headwinds. Yet Lowe’s managed to post another profit, extending its 5+ year winning streak. Still, shares that have so far underperformed the S&P are down slightly in early trading today. For more on LOW’s earnings, click here.

Medtronic exceeds forecasts in the first quarter

Major in MedTech Medtronic (MDT Quick QuoteMDT – Free Report), with a broad portfolio of vascular and drug infusion products, beat its earnings in its first-quarter financial report today, beating the Zacks Consensus by 3 cents on earnings of $1.23 per share. Revenue of $7.92 billion narrowly beat expectations for the quarter by +0.22%. Medtronic is another underperformer in 2024, but has broken out of near-term lows set in July. For more information on MDT’s earnings, click here.

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