CWS Market Review – June 24, 2022
“There seems to be an unwritten rule on Wall Street: If you don’t understand it, then put your life savings into it.” – Peter Lynch
The stock market seems to have chilled out over the past few days, especially when compared to the frenzied market we had previously. Of course, that could be a premature analysis. We know how the market likes to freak out at a moment’s notice. Still, the emerging evidence suggests that Wall Street’s recent bout with hyper-volatility may slowly be fading.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 closed at its highest level since June 13. Three of the last four trading days had daily changes of less than 1% (up or down). Of the seven days prior to that, that only happened once. Even the Volatility Index has backed off some. As I said in Tuesday’s letter, we may be past the “panic phase” of the bear market, but it doesn’t mean the coast is clear.
There’s also a dearth of economic news. Earnings season doesn’t begin for another month, and there isn’t another Fed meeting until late July. The next jobs report is a week from today, and the next CPI isn’t until July 13. Traders, and nature to a lesser extent, abhor a vacuum. As such, the market is zealously over-analyzing every bit of new info.
In this week’s issue, I’ll go over what’s really happening. We also had an outstanding earnings report from FactSet. The folks behind all that financial info beat Wall Street’s estimate by 53 cents per share. The company also raised guidance for Q4, and the shares rallied more than 8% on Thursday. I’ll have all the details in a bit. But first, let’s look at the latest from the canyons of Wall Street.