Inflation Signs, Rising Stocks, And Earnings To Watch On Monday

Monday's top 10 things to watch

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1. The Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq are expected to bounce back Monday after their worst week of the year so far. Although the yield on the 2-year Treasury note reached its highest point since July 2007, stocks held onto gains prior to the opening bell. Since the beginning of the year, there has been a strong rally around the Dow, but it has waned somewhat, with the Dow now in the red for the year. While the S&P 500 index was down almost 6% in 2023, the Nasdaq index was still up nearly 9%. Is Bitcoin the best example of overexuberance at the moment? There has barely been any reduction in its price.

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2. As Wall Street prepares to close the books on what has been one of the most dreadful months on record, investors will enjoy a temporary reprieve from the hard-hitting inflation data of the previous two weeks. In this week's earnings report, Costco (COST) and Salesforce (CRM), two of the club's holdings, report their earnings. According to reports, there is a "good chance" Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff is about to announce succession plans under activist investor pressure, as he faces pressure from activist investors.

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3. Due to a bumper crop of wheat in Russia, the price of wheat has collapsed. There has been a lot of food inflation going on lately, which is great for inflation. The same can be said for wages and housing. As reported by Trade Algo, rents are starting to be pushed up due to the growth in apartment buildings. There is no evidence of it in the government's data. This might be a positive for reducing the cost of shelter in the future.

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4. It was an amazing sight to see everyone who came out to attend the first ever "Annual Meeting" of the Club in New York City on Saturday. Before you buy a single stock, there is one thing that you must do first. It's about figuring out how you view the world. 

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5. Is it time to buy more semis? In response to the strong move last week and Nvidia's (NVDA) call, the group is trying to bottom off. Besides Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), we also have Qualcomm (QCOM), one of our other Club chipmakers.

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6. Morgan Stanley has increased its price target for Crowdstrike (CRWD) to $150 per share from $135 per share; it maintains a buy rating of overweight (buy). Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is a cybersecurity company we like and own as part of the Club's cybersecurity strategy.

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7. A recent report by Barclays suggests that Tesla's (TSLA) analyst meeting on Wednesday might be just another sell-the-news event. Elon Musk's Elon Musk EV-maker shares have risen 60% year to date after a terrible 2022, but remain down nearly 50% from the high they reached back in April when they were at their 52-week high.

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8. It has been reported that The New York Times reports that Musk's latest project, Twitter, has cut another 10% of its workforce, which had already been severely reduced.

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9. What are the chances of Pfizer (PFE) buying Seagen (SGEN)? The WSJ reports that the companies are in early talks. Seagen shares surged 12% on Monday morning. There would be a lot of costs involved in this deal. Pfizer would also benefit long-term as it would add to its cancer treatment arsenal.

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10. Buffett dwells on the power of buybacks as Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.a) experienced disappointing operating results so he focuses on how buybacks can help the company. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was confronted in front of the media. In his interview with Trade Algo, Buffett discusses Coca-Cola (KO) and American Express (AXP) and how old investments have made him a lot of money in the past. He discusses the tailwind that is coming from the U.S.