M Notes: Mon, 3-2
| Weekly Close: 2-27-26 | + (-) | % | Feb% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dow30 | 48,978 | -648 | -1.3% | +0.2% |
| S&P500 | 6,879 | -30 | -0.4% | -0.9% |
| Nasdaq | 22,668 | -218 | -1.0% | -3.4% |
| R2000 | 2,632 | -32 | -1.2% | +0.7% |
| 10-year | 3.95 | -0.14 | -3.4% | -6.8% |
| Oil | 67.08 | +0.77 | +1.2% | +2.0% |
LAST WEEK:
Markets: February was a mixed month for Markets. The Nasdaq has had a bumpy start this year.
S&P roller coaster last week: Down significantly, Up a lot, Up a lot, Down, and Down.
Fed Balance Sheet: $6.6 Trillion.
Inflation: The Producer Price Index (PPI) is the Wholesale Inflation index. The PPI rose +0.5% in January. It dropped a tick from +3.0% in December, down to +2.9% in January.
Metals: Gold finished the week at $5,281. Silver finished the week at $93.
National Debt: $38.7 Trillion.
Russell 2000: I’ve been charting the Russell 2000 (small caps) for years in my Market Spreadsheet. But I’ve not placed it in the Grid above, until now. The R2000 is up +6.0% YTD.
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THIS WEEK:
Focus of the week: Iran and Oil. As I write this (Monday morning), Markets are still processing the actions from this weekend in the Middle East. Futures are down a fair amount, but not anywhere near what they could be. It could be a bumpy week. Expect a fair amount of volatility.
Normally, since Jobs and Unemployment get reported the first Friday of every month, that would be our focus. But the developments over the weekend have shifted things a bit. The Consensus is for 60,000 jobs in February, while the Unemployment rate is expected to rise a touch from 4.3% up to 4.4%.
Calendar: ISM Manufacturing index (Mon); the Beige Book, the ADP employment report (Wed); Retail Sales, Business Inventories, and the new Jobs and Unemployment numbers (Fri).
Earnings: The current Earnings Season is winding down. Some of the companies reporting this week: Broadcom and Costco.
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* The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks. The NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System. Yahoo! Finance, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily and Barron’s are several of the sources used for financial information.
* The National Debt figure comes from usdebtclock.org.
* Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance. Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision. You cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance does not guarantee future results. No strategy can assure a profit or protect against a loss. Investments in the securities markets involve risk, such as loss of your principal.