Thursday September 16, 2021

// September 16th, 2021 // Daily News

Dow sheds 190 points despite strong retail sales as September sluggishness continues

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped Thursday despite better-than-expected August retail sales, as the latest weekly jobless claims report pointed to a mixed economic picture.

The blue-chip average shed about 195 points, or 0.5%. The S&P 500 fell 0.6%. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.6%.

August retail sales surprised the market and rose 0.7% from the month prior, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected a 0.8% month-over-month decline.

However, the retail sales beat came after the initial estimate for July was revised down sharply from a month-over-month gain of 0.5% to a decline of 1.8%.

Meanwhile, the latest unemployment insurance weekly data showed 332,000 first-time jobless claims last week. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a total of 320,000 initial claims.

“People are starting to see that some of the economic data that we’ve received lately has been affected by delta and are probably waiting for some of the effects of that to roll off,” said Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments. “I think we’re going to see a little bit of ‘two steps forward, one step back’ in the markets over the next few weeks.”

Mining names Freeport-McMoRan and Newmont were the biggest laggards on the S&P 500, down about 7% and roughly 4% respectively.

Energy names, which popped the day prior, edged down with the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF down more than 1%.

On the upside, Moderna shares rose after the company released more data on breakthrough Covid cases that supports the push for the wide use of vaccine booster shots.

Despite a rebound on Wednesday, the S&P 500 and the Dow are still in the red for September. After seven straight months of gains for the S&P 500 and a near 20% rally to records this year, many on Wall Street expect bumpier trading and lower returns for the rest of the year.

History is also not on the market’s side as September tends to be a typically negative month for stocks. The S&P 500 has fallen 0.56% during the month on average since 1945, according to data from CFRA

Today’s Inspiration

Speak the Truth

People-pleasing behavior often leads people to tell lies because they fear people won’t accept the truth. They say “yes” with their mouth while their heart is screaming “no.” They may not want to do something, but they act as if they do for fear of displeasing someone. If they ever do say no, they usually make an excuse rather than tell the truth that they just don’t want to do what they are being asked to do. They may not feel it is the right thing for them to do. 

We don’t want to be rude, but neither do we want to be liars. Most people pleasers are not honest about their desires, feelings, and thoughts. They tell people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear. A healthy relationship demands honesty. We should be able to say to people, “I don’t have peace about making that commitment right now,” and they should graciously receive that answer, but it rarely happens. Some people may not want to hear the truth, but that does not relieve us of the responsibility to speak the truth.

Prayer Starter: Lord Jesus, help me to speak and live the truth in all that I do. I don’t want to be rude, but I refuse to be dishonest or to resort to half-truths to avoid the real truth, amen.