1 Stock to Buy, 1 Stock to Sell This Week: Home Depot, Walmart
Stocks on Wall Street closed lower on Friday to break their five-week winning streak as investors digested a hotter-than-expected producer price inflation report that added to fears the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates anytime soon.
After five consecutive weeks of gains, all three major U.S. averages posted a weekly decline. The benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.4%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 1.4%, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%.
Source: Investing.com
The holiday-shortened week ahead — which will see U.S. stock markets closed on Monday for the Presidents’ Day holiday — is expected to be another busy one as investors continue to assess when the Fed may decide to lower rates.
Most important on the economic calendar will be the minutes of the U.S. central bank’s January FOMC meeting, due on Wednesday.
Source: Investing.com
As of Sunday morning, financial markets see just a 10% chance of the Fed cutting rates in March, according to the Investing.com Fed Monitor Tool, while the odds for May stand at about 30%. Looking out to June, traders believe there is a roughly 75% chance rates will be lower by the end of that meeting.
Meanwhile, the reporting season’s last big week sees earnings roll in from market heavyweight Nvidia, as well as notable retailers Walmart, and Home Depot. Other noteworthy companies on the agenda include Block (NYSE:SQ), Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY), Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW), Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), and Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN).
Regardless of which direction the market goes, below I highlight one stock likely to be in demand and another which could see fresh downside. Remember though, my timeframe is just for the week ahead, Monday, February 19 — Friday, February
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