How Things Stand in the Market as of Mothers Day, May 12th, 2024

Good afternoon, traders & investors and Happy Mothers Day!

With the major indexes remaining above their 50-day moving averages and near their all-time highs, things continue to look good, though volume on the Nasdaq’s up days is conspicuous by its absence. Now, we move from a week devoid of big inflation news to a week with lots of it, including the producer price index on Tuesday, and the consumer price index, along with retail sales on Wednesday. These economic reports will decide whether the recent rally remains intact with the market indexes above their 50-days, or a sharp pullback to, or perhaps below their 50-days. Lately, the employment numbers have been weakening, which is a step in the right direction, but it’s safe to say that the Fed is looking for weakening inflation across two or more highly inflation-related economic reports, that is, a credible, distinct downward trend. Expect some possible handwringing ahead of these big economic reports. As for earnings releases next week, Applied Materials (AMAT) Thursday after the close probably has the most market-moving potential.