Weekly Recap

• The S&P 500, the NASDAQ, and the Dow each climbed more than 1% for the week. The Dow closed more than 450 points higher. At Friday's close the S&P 500 was within 0.58% of the record high that it reached in mid-July, while the Dow was just 0.06% shy of the historic peak it reached in July.
• Powell signals Fed rate cuts are finally ahead. U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell declared in a speech on Friday that “the time has come for policy to adjust,” reinforcing market expectations for an initial interest-rate cut at the Fed’s next meeting ending September 18.
• A volatile week for government bonds. The yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury on Wednesday fell to as low as 3.76%, slightly above a year-to-date low set a couple weeks earlier.
• A revision in job data. Employers added 818,000 fewer jobs than previously thought in the 12-month period that ended in March 2024, based on records collected from state unemployment office.  
• A small cap benchmark explodes. The Russell 2000 Index, jumped 3% for the day versus gains of around 1% for large-cap indexes. 
• An uptick in home sales.  A recent decline in U.S. mortgage rates helped lift sales of existing homes in July, which ended a four-month string of declines. Sales of previously owned homes rose 1.3% from the prior month, the National Association of Realtors reported on Thursday. 
• Oil falls. The price of U.S. crude oil on Wednesday briefly fell to its lowest level in more than six months, sinking to $71.46 per barrel.
• Gold settles lower after record high. The price of gold settled lower on Thursday, two days after prices marked a fresh record high. 

Most Active Stocks

• Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
• InnerScope Hearing Technologies (INND)
• Lucid Group (LCID)
• SoFi Technologies (SOFI)
• Carnival Corp. (CCL)

Biggest Gainers

• Cava Group Inc. (CAVA) +19.63%
• Surgery Partners (SGRY) +17.63%
• Bilibili (BILI) +15.28%
• Uranium Energy (UEC) +13.05%
• Workday, Inc. (WDAY) +12.49%

Biggest Losers

• Intuit Inc. (INTU) -6.83%
• Mobileye Global (MBLY) -5.01%
• Advance Auto Parts (AAP) -3.82%
• Lotus Technology (LOT) -3.54%
• United States Steel Corp. (X) -2.65%

Weekly Notables

These are the Takeaways from the Fed's Annual Jackson Hole Conference

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s widely anticipated speech this past Friday affirmed expectations for an interest-rate cut at the central bank’s next gathering on Sept. 17-18th. Several members of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council present at the conference said they would support another reduction in interest rates next month. A a series of Fed officials offered updated views on the economy with Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker saying that rate cuts should be “methodical.” He agreed it’s time to lower interest rates, adding, “Just start the process and keep it moving.”

Edgar Bronfman's has Big Paramount Global Plans 

Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s offer for a controlling stake in Paramount Global may keep Paramount's non-executive Chairwoman Shari Redstone close to the company, if his bid is successful. His plans for Paramount Global also include partnering with technology companies like Amazon.com or Apple to improve its streaming TV business, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday. Bronfman has raised $6 billion to challenge Skydance Media for ownership of National Amusements, the holding company founded by Sumner Redstone, according to people familiar with the matter.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested

Russian-French billionaire Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening according to TF1 TV and BFM TV. Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website. The billionaire was targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.

The Week Ahead

• Potential market moving catalysts this week include: Durable goods orders from the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday. S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index and Consumer Confidence Index on Tuesday. Second-quarter GDP, second estimate, from U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday as well as weekly unemployment claims from the U.S. Department of Labor and pending home sales from the National Association of Realtors. The Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment will be released on Friday. 
• Earnings on deck this week include: HEICO, American Woodmark, Bank of Nova Scotia, ScanSource, Ambarella, Box, nCino, Nordstrom, PVH, Semtech, SentinelOne, Veradigm, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bank of Montreal, Bath & Body Works, Chewy, Foot Locker, Kohl's Li Au, 1800-flowers, American Eagle, Best Buy, Dollar General, GMS, Autodesk, Dell, Gap, Lululemon Athletica, and JinkoSolar.

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“The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data.” 

- Central bank Chair Jay Powell

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Earnings Spotlight: Nvidia (NVDA)

Nvidia will disclose its second-quarter earnings results after Wednesday's close. When the chipmaker forecast quarterly results in May 2023 – it forecast revenue 50% above what Wall Street analysts were calling for at the time. Now analysts expect NVDA to report earnings of 57 cents per share. Note that this is considerably lower than its Q1 results due to the 10-for-1 stock split the company enacted in June. The Street's forecast compares to the company's year-ago, post-split earnings of 25 cents per share. Revenue is expected to land at $25.6 billion, nearly double the $13.5 billion it reported in the year-ago period.

Earnings Spotlight: Salesforce (CRM)

Salesforce is set to report its second-quarter results after Wednesday's close as well. Industry analysts expect Salesforce to disclose earnings of $2.36 per share, up 11.5% over the year-ago period. Revenue is forecast to arrive at $9.2 billion, down 3.8% on a year-over-year (YoY) basis. "CRM has the easiest comparisons of the year," said Jefferies analyst Brent Thill.

Thill expects management to give updates on "artificial intelligence and data cloud, adoption within customer base, and commitment to giving more margin upside." The analyst has a "BUY" rating.