JJ Kinahan

The fresh air of Wyoming beckons this week, but it will have to be from a distance as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and company prepare for a virtual Jackson Hole symposium.  Powell’s keynote speech doesn’t happen until Friday morning at 10 ET. It’s titled simply, “The...

In boxing, they say it’s the punch you don’t see coming that hurts the most. It’s the opposite today on Wall Street, where stocks are falling sharply despite a blow from the Fed that almost everyone probably knew was in the works. It probably didn’t surprise many investors...

“Buy the dip” is facing its toughest test in a month.  If you think back to mid-July, the major indices tanked as concerns about the Delta variant and Fed tapering ramped up. The same factors helped set off the market’s worst drop in four weeks Tuesday and could keep...

If the phrase, “Never sell a dull market” needs a perfect example, yesterday might be the one. We had a really impressive rally despite very little market-related news. Today, the long streak of positive performances appears to be threatened.  The S&P 500 Index (SPX)...

Walmart’s (NYSE: WMT) ability to keep customers coming to its stores will again be on display when Q2 results are released tomorrow morning. A year ago, people had few shopping options beyond WMT and a few other big stores that kept doors open through the pandemic. Now, with more choices...

It’s a shopping extravaganza this week as retailers line up to report.  The fun starts tomorrow when Walmart (NYSE: WMT) steps to the plate. Before that, the focus this morning appears to be on the Fed, China, and Afghanistan. Data showed the Chinese economy growing a little...

These days, monthly inflation reports carry almost as much weight in the market as monthly job reports. Today’s consumer price index for July came in around expectations, meaning the impact on Wall Street might not be too heavy. Consumer prices rose 0.5%, right on target with the average...

If there was ever a time when Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) needed a happy ending to a rough 12 months, it might be now. But this fairy tale isn’t over quite yet. There doesn’t seem to be enough magic in the world to totally do away with the pandemic that blew the park earnings...

Whoever thought up the expression “dog days of summer” probably had mornings like this in mind.  Looking around for news, it’s hard to find much. And U.S. markets didn’t move very far overnight. European trading hasn’t provided a lot of direction, either, though...

The week begins with Wall Street vacillating between signs of an improving economy and worries about the Delta variant.  This morning, the bias seems to be a bit lower. Maybe that’s in part because of a sharp decline in crude prices to the lowest level since May, below $66 a barrel....

Did Goldilocks find the right bed with the July Labor Department’s strong jobs report? Fed Chairman Powell has said in the past that the Fed will need to see solid jobs growth before it starts to taper. Although we won’t know what the Fed might be thinking, this month’s jobs...

The market is still in a waiting mode, with a lot hinging on tomorrow’s jobs report. Predictions of a volatile, choppy week in the equity markets did not disappoint on Wednesday as the market continued to ride waves of concern about Lambda, the Delta variant’s apparent successor, supply...

We started the week with risk-off sentiment and choppy markets. The choppiness could remain until the payrolls number comes out on Friday. But the mood seems to have shifted back toward risk, for now. Wednesday has started out pretty much flat to slightly higher after stock indices were able to...

With quarterly earnings still coming in at a steady clip, along with a resurgence of Covid-related concerns (and an eye on what could be an interesting employment report to end the week), we’ve got all the makings of a choppy market. And that seems to be playing out over the first couple of...

As people have become more comfortable leaving their homes again, major global economies and their industries are riding gains on the path to a return to normal. But ride-sharing companies Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) and Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) seem to have been having trouble...