Gold often is viewed as a hedge against rising prices and a classic fear trade. Even though higher oil prices are a symptom of inflation, they also could lead to a pullback in consumer spending. With that in mind, the Fed may need to err on the side of caution and not raise rates too sharply. The Dow plummeted nearly 900 points in late morning trading…and all 30 Dow components were in the red. Nine Dow stocks, including tech giants Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and Salesforce (CRM), were down more than 4% each. The tech sector was hit particularly hard Tuesday, as investors ratcheted up their bets for a historically large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week.

Mr. Duggan is also the author of the book “Beating Wall Street With Common Sense” and has contributed news and analysis to U.S. News & World Report, Seeking Alpha, InvestorPlace.com and The Motley Fool. Mr. Duggan is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and resides in Biloxi, Mississippi. Going back to 1976, the average U.S. government shutdown has lasted just 9.5 days, and the S&P 500 has gained an average of 0.3% during the shutdowns. Congress reached a last-minute deal on September 30 to keep the government funded for an additional 45 days.

• Going back to 1976, the average U.S. government shutdown has lasted just 9.5 days, and the S&P 500 has gained an average of 0.3% during the shutdowns.
• Before the conflict with Ukraine began, it was trading between 70 to 80 rubles to the dollar.
• Nike (NKE), Foot Locker’s biggest supplier, is ramping up its focus on its direct-to-consumer business.
• That prompted Glenmede chief investment officer of private wealth Jason Pride to note in a report that these are the most dramatic annual price increases for food since Sony released the Walkman portable cassette player.

With over $10.8 billion in trailing 12-month net sales and 20.4 million active customers, Chewy has scaled its business to the point where profits are possible. The chart below shows that the company’s earnings per share (EPS) are now positive, thanks in part to its higher revenue. Piper Sandler upgrades enterprise software firms Zscaler (ZS) and Datadog (DDOG) to overweight from neutral. The firm raises its risk management forex price target on Zscaler to $190 a share, up from $160, and lifts its price target on Datadog to $115 a share, from $88. Goldman removes Club name Salesforce (CRM) and Johnson Controls International (JCI) from the list, while maintaining buy ratings on both stocks. An earlier version of this article and a news alert that accompanied it misstated the last time the S&P 500 fell more than it did on Monday.

S&P 500 ends near flat; utilities drop, focus on rate outlook

Analysts expected volatility in financial markets in the opening days of October after it was assumed Republicans and Democrats would fail to reach a deal to avoid a U.S. government shutdown prior to the October 1 deadline. DA Davidson upgrades Clorox (CLX) to buy from neutral, with an unchanged price target of $152 a share. With the stock down 18% since the company disclosed a cyberattack in mid-August, the firm believes too heavy a financial impact is discounted at current levels. The energy sector, which is up about 35 percent since the start of the year, is the only part of the S&P 500 that has not fallen this year.

Aside from the shock and uncertainty of the war, the conflict has increased concerns about prolonged inflation worldwide. The Goldman Sachs call specifically cited new sanctions levied by the West on Russia in recent days aimed at punishing Moscow for the war. Citi noted in the filing that it is “pursuing the exit” of its global consumer banking business in Russia but it still expects to have a presence in Russia through its institutional clients group for businesses. But the banking giant still has a significant presence there…and that is hurting the company and its investors. The Russell 2000, an index of smaller American companies, was also up Monday. The Russell 2000 surged more than 2% Thursday and Friday as well.

Bitcoin prices surged more than 10% Monday to above $41,500, their highest level in nearly two weeks. Croft said the food price inflation risk stemming from this conflict “appears acute” because Russia and Ukraine account for a combined 25% of global wheat exports and Ukraine alone for 13% of corn exports. RBC added that Russia is the largest producer of ammonium nitrate, a key component in fertilizer. Want to see how much sanctions from the United States and Europe against Moscow could hurt Russian businesses, stocks and its economy? Look no further than Yandex, the search engine often referred to as Russia’s Google.

• The International Energy Agency held an emergency meeting Friday to strategize a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Top holdings, such as Cloudflare (NET), Fortinet (FTNT) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) posted double-digit percentage gains.
• Sayed noted that in addition to the spikes in gold and palladium, the prices of aluminum, copper, zinc, corn, and wheat are surging too.
• Stock declines have accelerated, with the Dow down 850 points.
• The Russian Ruble has plunged even further against the dollar, hitting record lows, as talk grows over possible sanctions against Russian energy.
• Jeff Corey, senior vice president at Claro Advisors, says investors should hope for a soft landing for the economy but prepare for a hard one.

The Dow has tumbled 900 points as Wall Street waves the white flag on inflation. Jeff Corey, senior vice president at Claro Advisors, says investors should hope for a soft landing for the economy but prepare for a hard one. U.S. real personal spending was up 0.1% in August, a significant deceleration from 0.6% growth in July.

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Alexey Mordashov, chairman of steelmaker Severstal, lost $4.2 billion on Thursday but is his net worth is now $23 billion. And the country’s wealthiest individual, Norilsk Nickel president Vladimir Potanin, lost $3 billion. The Dow’s remarkable rebound in the past day and a half briefly pushed best charting software for stocks the 30 industrials back into positive territory for the week. The tooth-alignment company is searching for a buyer in bankruptcy to continue as a going concern. Stock declines have accelerated, with the Dow down 850 points. Tuesday’s losses wiped out a week’s worth of gains on Wall Street.

Down and down the stock market goes…

Bloomberg reported that some of the country’s wealthiest individuals collectively lost $39 billion as a result of the market upheaval in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. US stocks rallied for a second straight day after Russia reportedly agreed to hold talks with Ukraine. Better-than-expected jumps in personal spending and durable goods orders also helped lift market sentiment. ByteDance, the privately held parent of China-based social-media video-sharing app TikTok, managed a $6 billion profit in the first quarter of 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday.

Steel (X) to overweight from equal weight, while raising its price target on the stock to $40 a share, up from $25. Steel a “top pick” on expected value creation from the company’s investments and strategic review process. But the war’s financial fallout is hitting Europe the hardest.

US stocks rise as Russia opens possibility of diplomacy

And all of that is on top of Berkshire’s gives right to buy nearly 84 million more Occidental shares — part of a 2019 deal in which Berkshire invested $10 billion in Occidental to help the company buy rival Anadarko Petroleum. With a half hour left in the trading day, the Dow is down nearly 700 points, near the lows of the day. The last time the Nasdaq had this bad of a downturn was in the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. The Nasdaq plunged nearly 12% in September 2008, another 18% in October of that year and 11% further in November 2008. Shares of Yandex (YNDX) got cut by more than half Thursday, nosediving 53% in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, the U.S. unemployment rate of 3.8% was up significantly from July and is currently at its highest level since February 2022. Spending per customer can only be expected to do the heavy lifting for so long before also plateauing. Chewy would benefit immensely from growth in active customers, considering it has the logistics network to support it.

While the looming shutdown is contributing to the recent market dip, it’s not the only driver. Birol said the IEA discussed the possibility of holding a minister-level meeting and agreed to closely monitor developments and to “continue to act in solidarity to ensure global energy security.” The Nasdaq and S&P 500 were both surging too, gaining 1.3% and 1.9% respectively. Banks, basic materials and healthcare companies led the rally.

Investors concerned about the potential for a U.S. recession can also take a more defensive approach to the market and increase their financial flexibility in 2023 by dialing back exposure to stocks and increasing their cash holdings. Value stocks have historically outperformed growth stocks when interest rates are high. High interest rates have a negative impact on discounted cash dwti after hours trading flow valuations, which can hurt high-growth stocks. Since the beginning of 2022, the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV) has generated a total return loss of 1.2%, while the Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) has generated a total return loss of 14.2%. The U.S. federal government shuts down when Congress can’t pass legislation to fund the government before its fiscal year begins on October 1.