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Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Why did stocks tumble this week?
The stock market had a tough week, with the S&P 500 and tech-stock-heavy Nasdaq retreating sharply on Thursday and Friday following a batch of concerning news on inflation, jobs, and tariffs. The S&P 500 fell 2.7% from an early-week high while the Nasdaq lost 3.9% of its value from its peak on Thursday. Here's why stocks retreated, and what could happen next. The stock market sell-off began in earnest following the Federal Reserve's controversial decision to keep interest rates at 4.25% to 4.5%. President Trump has advocated for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut rates aggressively, recommending a 3% reduction. Related: Goldman Sachs revamps Fed interest rate cut forecast for 2025 Lower interest rates support stock prices because they increase household and business spending, fueling revenue and profit growth. Powell's reluctance to lower rates remains a headwind for stocks this year. Powell cited risks of tariffs driving inflation higher later this year and a "solid" economy for the decision to leave rates unchanged. Many viewed his hawkish tone during his press conference as an indication that rates may not get cut at the next meeting in September either. The decision drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who has previously called Chairman Powell "Mr. Too Late" and a "numbskull" for not already reducing interest rates. The President renewed his calls for Powell to resign following the Fed meeting. Despite White House pressure, the Fed's dual mandate targets low unemployment and inflation, which dictates its decisions on monetary policy. The Fed's mandate purposefully excludes political jawboning. Unfortunately, the Fed's dual goals are contradictory. While Fed rate cuts boost economic activity and lower unemployment, they increase inflation. The opposite is true when it raises rates. This dynamic often means that the Fed hesitates for fear of causing more economic problems than it solves. Unfortunately, that often means that the Fed falls behind the curve when setting interest rates at appropriate levels, forcing it to act more aggressively than it might otherwise because the economy has gotten too hot or cold. That chasing can lead to greater uncertainty, causing stock market volatility. The stock market's sell-off earlier in 2025 was primarily due to higher-than-expected import tariffs and the risk that they would boost inflation, zapping economic activity. Those worries fell when President Trump paused many tariffs on April 9, kickstarting a massive stock market rally that sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up over 28% and 38%, respectively. More Layoffs: Intel's recent layoffs take an unexpected turnWalmart makes more cuts customers won't likeLooking for a job? Job ads probably won't help you find one However, now that President Trump's tariff pause expired on August 1, he's announced new tariffs ranging from 10% to 41%, including a 35% tariff on Canada, up from 25%. Canada was our third-largest trading partner in 2024. The higher tariffs are problematic, given that they occur even as the impact of tariffs left in place earlier this year seems to be increasing inflation. The Personal Consumption Expenditures index showed inflation increased to 2.6% in June, up from 2.4% in May and 2.2% in April. The higher and faster inflation rises, the more likely business and household spending will shrink, dinging corporate revenue and earnings growth at publicly traded companies. The stock market was also hit by disappointing jobs data. Stocks perform best when the economy creates more jobs and wages grow, creating extra discretionary income. Related: Jobs report shocker resets Fed interest rate cut bets On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the US economy only added 73,000 jobs in July, far fewer than the 100,000 expected and 147,000 in June. As a result, the unemployment rate increased to 4.24%, its highest level this cycle. Meanwhile, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed the number of open jobs fell to 7.4 million in June from 7.7 million in May. In case that wasn't concerning enough, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported that US employers announced 62,075 layoffs in July, up 29% from June and 140% year over year. Stocks have had a remarkable rally, and it's not shocking that they might take a break. August is a notoriously weak month for stock market returns, and recent gains have lifted the S&P 500's forward price-to-earnings ratio, a key valuation measure, to lofty levels. According to FactSet, the S&P 500's forward P/E ratio was 22.4 on Friday, near the highs set in February before tariff announcements caused a sell-off, and up from about 19 in April, when stocks were near the lows. With valuation arguably rich and inflation and jobs uncertainty growing, stocks could experience more volatility than usual this month. Long-term investors are likely best off simply recognizing that pullbacks are common. According to Capital Group, a money manager with $2.2 trillion under management, the S&P 500 retreats 5% to 10% about once per year. Short-term investors may want to take a different approach, locking in recent gains and looking for lower entry points in the coming weeks. Related: Morgan Stanley resets S&P 500 target for 2026 The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
Walmart Stock (WMT) Trailing Rivals in Blogging Stakes
Everyone has an opinion nowadays on a variety of topics from sports to politics, celebrities, food and business. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Online those opinions are often expressed in a blog. They can exasperate, interest, bore and in the world of investing shine an insight onto how your favorite stocks are performing in the big, bad, business world. On TipRanks, we can tap into the wisdom of bloggers in a tool we have creatively called Blogger Opinion. (WMT). Walmart Wordmsiths Walmart Blogger sentiment is based on 35 blogger opinions. As we can see above Walmart has a Bullish rating of 70%. Most of the opinions are published on known financial websites such as SeekingAlpha and InvestorPlace. But there is also a special place for TipRanks contributors to have their say and be counted in the overall score. Take Bernard Zambonin who has a bullish stance on the Walmart stock. In one of his most recent articles in TipRanks he said: 'This is a company that consistently generates earnings from its invested capital, and it does so predictably, especially in environments where consumer spending is under pressure. That kind of consistency deserves a premium. Walmart, based on its recent results and the current momentum, remains a bullish proposition that won't take long to reclaim its highs.' Leo Sun in the Motley Fool recently wrote: 'Walmart will likely keep dominating the retail sector over the next two decades. It only pays a forward yield of 1%, but it's still a Dividend King having raised its dividend annually for 52 consecutive years — and its low payout ratio gives it plenty of room for future hikes. Simply put, Walmart is still one of the best retail stocks for long-term investors to buy and forget.' How Do Rivals Measure Up? Retail rival Target (TGT) also has a Bullish blogger ranking with a 70% rating. E-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) is very highly thought of by the keyboard warriors with a Bullish ranking and a 92% rating. But Kroger (KR) takes the crown with a Bullish ranking and a 94% rating. Is WMT a Good Stock to Buy Now? On TipRanks, WMT has a Strong Buy consensus based on 28 Buy ratings. Its highest price target is $120. WMT stock's consensus price target is $111.33, implying a 13.38% upside.
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
Top 3 Trending Stocks, According to Analysts – 8/1/2025
Wondering which stocks are trending today? TipRanks has calculated which stocks have received the greatest number of new ratings from analysts and compiled them into one chart. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Our Trending Stocks By Analysts table lets you screen by the last 30 days, last seven days, or last 72 hours to find the stocks most heavily covered by analysts. Following the page can help clue you in on trending stock picks. Here's a list of the top three most-rated stocks of the past 72 hours (in descending order). Click on any ticker below to see all of TipRanks' unique datasets on the stock. Meta Platforms (META) – This technology company owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and is focused on social media and virtual reality. The stock has received 38 ratings in the past 72 hours, primarily due to Meta's strong Q2 results. The analyst consensus on the stock is a Strong Buy, with an average price target of $860.17, suggesting a potential upside of 14.9%. Microsoft (MSFT) – This technology company is known for its software, hardware, and cloud services, including Windows, Office, and Azure. MSFT stock has been rated by 28 analysts in the past three days. This ratings flood came after Microsoft reported better-than-expected fiscal Q4 results. The analyst consensus on the stock is a Strong Buy. With an average price target of $614.72, the stock's implied upside is 17.54%. Check Point (CHKP) – This cybersecurity company provides software and hardware solutions for network security, data protection, and threat prevention. The stock is also trending, having been rated 23 times in the past 72 hours. These ratings came after CHKP's upbeat second-quarter results. It earned an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $226, indicating a 19.46% upside. What Is TipRanks' Smart Portfolio? The TipRanks Smart Portfolio offers insights about the stocks you own and enables a full portfolio analysis. It even allows you to compare your portfolio to those of other investors, including top performers. Interestingly, the tool has been upgraded to provide an AI-generated explanation for each holding's stock movement and to track all the assets on your watchlist. Like all TipRanks tools, Smart Portfolio is easy to use and helps you make data-driven investment decisions.
