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A Study in Aimlessness
Stocks spent the day wandering like a house cat considering a nap, as morning enthusiasm dissipated into the afternoon.
Level Change 3/20/25 (%)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
-0.0 Dow
-0.3 Nasdaq
-0.3 Nasdaq 100
-0.2 S&P 500
-0.7 S&P 400
-0.5 S&P 600
Narrative-seekers came up empty, though a few traders gamely insisted the ongoing correction and oversold conditions deserved at least an honorable mention. The usual chatter about positioning and fund flows made the rounds, with CTAs (commodity trading advisors) still tilting short and the month-end rebalancing act looming.
Data keep presenting an economy more resilient than feared.
Weekly jobless claims arrived at the level expected, with continuing claims lighter than bears projected. The Philly Fed manufacturing index beat forecasts, offering a bullish counterpoint to the New York Fed’s Empire State report on Monday, which was about as cheerful as a goth poetry reading. February existing home sales rose 4.2% to 4.26 million, easily surpassing the 3.92 million consensus, thanks to more inventory and long-pent-up demand.
The price of WTI crude oil rose 1.7% after Washington took another swing at Iran’s oil sales, this time by targeting China’s so-called “teapot refineries.” These independent refineries, infamous for procuring crude under the radar, are about as concerned with sanctions as a squirrel is with traffic laws.
Shares of global consulting and IT services firm Accenture (ACN) slid 7.3% after reporting that Washington’s new obsession with federal spending cuts is bad for business. CEO Julie Sweet said on a conference call with analysts that “many new procurement actions have slowed, which is negatively impacting our sales and revenue.” Without government largesse, Accenture is more like Debenture.
Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang told reporters his firm isn’t part of any effort to buy Intel (INTC): “Nobody’s invited us to a consortium. Nobody invited me. Maybe other people are involved, but I don’t know. There might be a party. I wasn’t invited.”
Finally, from our “Better Late Than Never” file, Apple (AAPL) is at long last shaking up its AI executive team to see if someone can breathe life into Siri, an increasing embarrassment in the age of ChatGPT. After shipping its iPhone 16 without the brains, Apple Intelligence is becoming a vaporware punchline.
— Jason Kelly
