Day Traders Diary

8/14/24

The major averages are fixed following better than expected inflation data out this morning.The Dow Jones Industrial Average  is up 200 points or 0.5%. The S&P 500 is up 10 points or 0.19% while the Nasdaq fell into the red down 38 points.

This morning, the consumer prices index rose 2.9% year over year, down from 3% in June and the lowest reading since March 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday. Month over month, prices ticked up 0.2%. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a 0.2% increase from the prior month and a 3% gain year over year. The yield on the 10-year Treasury is down 3 basis points to 3.822%. The 2-year Treasury is down a basis point to 3.93%.

Another quiet day for earnings. UBS is up 4% on better than expected earnings and news the company will sell Credit Suisse's US mortgage servicing business. Cardinal Health is up 3% after beating earnings and raising guidance. 7% on news Mars confirmed it will acquire Kellanova for $83.50/share in cash deal. Merger Wednesday this week. Southwest Airlines is up a percent as Elliott Investment Management will launch a proxy fight, according to WSJ.

After a volatile two weeks, all three major averages are now above their Aug. 2 closing level, which was the session before the global market sell-off on Aug. 5 that appeared to be related to an unwind of the yen carry trade and concerns about economic growth.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the 'fear gauge' is down below18, after spiking above 65 during last week's sell-off.