In general, the stock market is heavy during the turbulent two weeks for humanity.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 600 points on Wednesday at the time of writing. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are approaching 2% gains. All three major indices are well off the lows affected by the close of trade on February 23, just hours before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Each member of FAANG [Facebook/Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google/Alphabet] the cohort has increased in the last five trading days, as has luck, with a nearly 7% increase in Alphabet.
And believe us, there are many things that are trying hard to put the main stock indexes on their knees.
Oil prices reached $ 110 a barrel on Wednesday as the war between Russia and Ukraine intensified. Western company after Western company tells Russia to see you later in the light of its actions. One of the last names is the credit card giant American Express.
These actions by the West have led some Wall Street strategists to tell Yahoo Finance Live that the Russian economy is ready to plunge into a deep, protracted recession.
Meanwhile, leading investors in emerging markets such as Mark Mobius tell us that Russia may be non-investment for more than a year, and investing in other emerging markets such as China and Brazil is not without increased risk.
And as oil prices rise – and this could be considered a jump (leading to a potential super jump, as Goldman Sachs chief strategist Jeff Curry explained to us) – gas prices in America continue to rise, rise and rise more. The average price of gasoline in California is approaching $ 5 per gallon, the highest price in the country.
The additional gas inflation that will flow out of consumers’ pockets is real. This is money that can be spent at Macy’s for a new pair of jeans. This is extra money that will cost FedEx to send a package due to higher fuel costs. And what is FedEx likely to do about it? Raise prices even further on consumers’ broken wallets.
Despite many problems – which could naturally hit corporate profits in 2022 – the stock market is difficult. Why is that, you ask? I’m glad you asked.
Market professionals say investors are looking beyond the chaos in the headlines and remain focused on factors that tend to upset stock prices.
Higher interest rates than the Federal Reserve. Strange things, right?
“One of the reasons the stock market is doing so well is the belief that the Fed will not be as aggressive in its new tightening policy as some thought it would be before the Eastern European crisis erupted. So, if we get a little bit of positive reinforcement on this issue, the stock market could hold back (or even bounce back) for a while, “said Miller Tobacco’s chief market strategist Matt Mali.
Mail is on par here, judging by the positive reaction in stock prices to the new comment of Fed chief Jerome Powell in his testimony to lawmakers today.
“The bottom line is that we will continue, but we will continue to be careful as we learn more about the consequences of the war in Ukraine,” Powell told the House Financial Services Commission.
Fed’s Yahoo Finance correspondent Brian Chung said Powell said he supported raising short-term interest rates by 0.25 percent at the next policy meeting on March 15 and 16.
In early March, most market experts were preparing to raise interest rates by 50 at the March meeting, followed by another eight to 10 rate hikes at the end of the year. But Powell has officially reset the story, and investors like it.
So, here it is, people.
Inflation is going on indefinitely. Profit margins are under attack. Vladimir Putin is playing terror in front of the world. Still, there are markets focused on comments on raising interest rates from one of Powell’s most influential people in the financial industry.
No one said investing made sense. It doesn’t make sense now, and it hardly makes sense tomorrow. Be assured, however, that at some point markets will soon move beyond fears of rising interest rates and shift to geopolitical and macroeconomic risks.
When this happens, the aforementioned low levels of shares on February 23 may be in play. You have been warned.
Brian Sosie is the editor – in – chief and a leader in Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and so on LinkedIn.
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