Back to Work

In this buzz:Goldman ; Morgan Stanley; P&G and Netflix; Nasdaq, the S&P, the Dow and more …

There’s no rest for the weary in these markets. Hopefully, the long weekend provided some time to rest, reflect and recover. We’ll ease back into week with a quick roundup of what to watch for over the coming weeks.

Roundup:

• Earnings season rolls on and this morning Goldman missed its profit estimate due to a sharp decline in investment banking and asset management. To be fair, all the signs were there for disappointment, the RIF, the news about losses in its platform business. To say, GS “missed”, it a little sketchy as expectations were already low.
• On the flip side, Morgan Stanley beat expectations, aided by record revenue in wealth management.
• In any event, earnings season marched on with some closely watch names like P&G and Netflix reporting Thursday.

Overall, stocks have enjoyed a favorable start to 2023.

• Nasdaq is up almost 6%,
• the S&P up 4.2% and
• the Dow up 3.5%.

Despite the Fed sticking with its plan to continue to raise rates to bring inflation back to earth, investors are heartened by signs of consumer prices dropping, even as the job market remains healthy.

In world news, China* reported that its population dropped for the first time in 60 years; a fall of 850,000 to 1.41 billion. Though China reported better than expected GDP numbers for 2022,
(why it matters?) the population numbers are causing concern that demand in the country could slow for years.