It was a rollercoaster of a four-day week that saw important economic announcements juxtaposed with market movers like dipping oil prices. Brent crude dipped below $100 a barrel Wednesday for the first time in two months.
While that price isn’t set in stone — a number of variables like hurricanes and geopolitical conflicts like that in Ukraine could send prices higher — it seems to be settling and may allow a little relief at the pump in the coming weeks.
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its June meeting on Wednesday, and they were about what we expected. The Fed anticipates another hike of 50 to 75 basis points on interest in July to stave off inflation increases and recession risks.
There’s no guarantee about how that will affect an already-bearish market, but again, keep an eye on those sectors we’ve been highlighting — retail, energy, and potentially tech stocks.
On Friday, the Non-Farm Payrolls report revealed that the U.S. added 372,000 jobs in June, much higher than the Dow estimate of 250,000, while the unemployment rate remained stable at 3.6%.
Overall, the job market remained strong in the face of headwinds like rising interest rates and inflation. Consistently better-than-expected jobs reports are offering strong protection against recession.
Shorts for a Short Week
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The dollar is up 20% from this time last year, which is good and bad news for stocks. The Federal Reserve rate hikes have been more aggressive than those of other central banks, which has resulted in the dollar being of higher value when compared with other currencies. This puts exporters at a disadvantage. Learn which stocks benefit from a stronger dollar and which stocks fall when the dollar rises in our latest livestream short.
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