Day Traders Diary

5/16/24

The major averages are closing where they started after a surge in the averages on Wednesday with the S&P 500 closing at a record high above 5300. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is modestly higher by 10 points. The S&P 500 is down 6 points while the Nasdaq is down 34 points.

On the earnings front, shares of Walmart  surged 4% as the big-box retailer reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 60 cents per share, topping expectations. Revenue rose to $161.5 billion, beating the $159.5 billion consensus estimate. Walmart said it made big gains in e-commerce and won over more high-income shoppers during the quarter.  were up more than 4% in early Thursday trading after the retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Other stocks reporting earnings today and last night included Cisco, JD.com, Deere, Baidu, Canadian Goose, Under Amour and Dillards. Canadian Goose is having a good day, but the rest of the stocks are lower. Deere is down 2%, Dillards is down 4% while Under Armour is down a percent.

Bond yields are quiet after a nice rally yesterday. 10-year Treasury is flat at 4.356%. The 2-year Treasury is rising 3 basis points to 4.768%.  Bonds are performing well again after the April reading of the consumer price index, a broad measure of how much goods and services cost at the cash register, increased 0.3% from the prior month. That was slightly below the Dow Jones estimate of 0.4%. Consumer prices still grew 3.4% from a year ago.