Simply ridiculous.....but that is the short term insanity. Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq drop with Powell speech looming over Fed rate-cut hopes https://finance.yahoo.com/news/live...ooming-over-fed-rate-cut-hopes-234122186.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "US stocks slid on Thursday after disappointing Walmart (WMT) earnings and hotter-than-expected jobless claims data, as focus tightened on the Federal Reserve's closely watched gathering at Jackson Hole. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell more than 0.3%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) moved down more than 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also dropped over 0.3%. A continued slide in Big Tech stocks is still a worry, even after the Nasdaq on Wednesday showed signs of a reprieve, coming firmly off session lows as buyers jumped in. Short sellers have reaped over $5 billion from bets against techs as AI fears rippled through markets. Dimmed rate-cut hopes are also weighing on minds after minutes from the Fed's July meeting signaled that sticky inflation rather than a faltering labor market is the main concern for policymakers. There was broad support for holding rates steady, despite a growing divide at the Fed. Meanwhile, more policymakers indicated this week that they don't necessarily view a rate cut as imminent. Amid that rate debate, jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 15 rose to 235,000, versus expectations for 225,000. Continuing claims jumped to 1.97 million, a notch above the 1.96 million anticipated by economists. Meanwhile, manufacturing activity rose to its highest level in three years in August. S&P Global's flash US composite PMI survey, which captures activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors, increased to 55.4 from 55.1 in July. Earlier, Walmart (WMT) capped the week's earnings from retail giants, raising its full-year forecast for sales and profit after second quarter results showed a low-price push is drawing in shoppers. But its quarterly profit fell short of high expectations, and its shares slid more than 4%. The Fed kicks off its Jackson Hole symposium of central bankers from around the world later on Thursday, with the countdown on to Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech on Friday. The gathering is taking place as President Trump puts public pressure on the Fed, most recently calling for Fed Governor Lisa Cook to resign. Cook has said she won't be "bullied to step down"." MY COMMENT YES....at this time I have ZERO expectation of a September FED rate cut. After that they only meet two more times......October and December. So if we pass September with NOTHING......I am expecting NOTHING for the year. Classic FED politics on review for the world to see. WHATEVER.
