Yiwen Lu8/14/24

US stocks gain, erase entire drop since jobs report

The S&P 500 was up 0.4%, while the Nasdaq 100 eked out a small gain of 0.1% in the final minutes of trading, after the closely-watched CPI report showed inflation came in below expectations.

The benchmark US stock index has now made back all the losses it suffered in the wake of the surprisingly soft July jobs report.

The annual rate of CPI inflation last month was down to 2.9%, lowest since March 2021. Excluding food and energy, rose 3.2% compared to one year ago.

Financials were the best-performing S&P sector ETF, led by soaring shares of Progressive Corp, which hit an all-time high after the company posted strong results for the month of July, as well as big gains for Allstate and Charles Schwab. Communications Services was the worst performing sector, while consumer discretionary was the only other sector to go negative on Wednesday.

An index that tracks the so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks, which had gained 7.5% in the last four trading days, gave back 0.5% on the session.

Kellanova was the top S&P gainer, up 7.8% at Wednesday’s closing. The stock surged after Mars, the owner of M&Ms and Dove, agreed to buy the owner of Cheez-Its and Pringles for nearly $36 billion, the year’s biggest deal to date.

Conversely, Albemarle Corp. lost the most among all S&P stocks, down 5.7%. The company is the world’s biggest producer of lithium, a critical metal used in batteries. But as global EV demand dropped over the past year, lithium prices have tumbled.

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Markets end first week of November on a mixed note

While November is historically the best month for US stocks, the first week of the month in 2025 wasn’t great.

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BEAR NECESSITIES

The insanity over the Starbucks “Bearista” cups tells you everything you need to know about the US economy and markets

Upper-income consumers and megacap tech companies are both a) doing well and b) supply constrained.

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Retail traders are “skipping the dip” this time

Here’s one noteworthy feature of the recent market downturn that has the S&P 500 poised for its worst week since reciprocal tariffs were announced in early April: retail traders seemingly aren’t eager to buy the weakness in single stocks the way they used to be.

JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain has flagged that retail traders instead appear to be “skipping the dip.”

“In contrast to the behavior observed during the post-Liberation Day selloff, retail investors did not seize the opportunity to buy-the-dip on Tuesday, with a few exceptions such as META,” he wrote of the day where the benchmark US stock index fell 1.2%. “In fact, they scaled back their ETF purchases and turned net sellers in single stocks.”

Then on Thursday, when the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, Jain projected that retail traders sold $261 million in single stocks. Through noon ET on Friday, his daily outflow estimate stands at $851 million.

With that intel, it’s little wonder why the carnage this week has been particularly intense in more speculative single stocks that had been favored by the retail community, including IREN, IonQ, Rigetti, Cipher Mining, Bloom Energy, and Oklo.

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Archer Aviation plunges on $650 million share sale following its third-quarter results

Air taxi maker Archer Aviation is deep in the red on Friday morning after reporting its third-quarter results after the bell Thursday. The stock is down more than 12%.

Investors don’t appear to be thrilled about the company’s $650 million direct stock offering, announced alongside its results.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

Archer Aviation sinks after reporting better-than-expected Q3 loss, announces it will acquire LA’s Hawthorne Airport

Archer Aviation sinks after reporting better-than-expected Q3 loss, announces it will acquire LA’s Hawthorne Airport

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

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