Stocks Down On Profit Taking Ahead Of 3-Day Memorial Day Weekend

Market Moves You Need to See Stocks Down On Profit Taking Ahead Of 3-Day Memorial Day Weekend [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Down On Profit Taking Ahead Of 3-Day Memorial Day Weekend Stocks closed lower yesterday, ahead of the 3-day Memorial Day weekend. (Markets are closed on Monday.) After heady gains over the last few weeks, following April's pullback, the market was due for some profit taking. And we saw some of that yesterday. Although, NVIDIA wasn't affected after another great earnings report on Wednesday afternoon which sent shares up 9.32% to new all-time highs at $1,037.99. Before the open, we heard from Intuit and NetEase. Intuit posted a positive EPS surprise of 5.78%, and a positive sales surprise of 1.54%. However, they were down -7.50% on the day. NetEase reported a negative EPS surprise of -3.68%, and a positive sales surprise 2.98%. They too were down on the day, giving up -3.68%. After the close, we heard from retailers Ross Stores and Deckers Outdoors. Ross reported a positive EPS surprise of 8.96%, and a positive sales surprise of 0.64%. That translated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 33.9% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 8.24%. They were up over 7% in after-hours trade. Deckers reported a positive EPS surprise of 75.5%, and a positive sales surprise of 9.00%. That equated to a quarterly EPS growth rate of 43.1% vs. this time last year, and a sales growth of 21.2%. They were up more than 8% in after-hours trade. We'll hear from another 71 companies on deck to report earnings today, including BoozAllen, Hibbett Sports, and The Buckle. In other news, yesterday's Weekly Jobless Claims came in better than expected shedding -8,000 at 215,000. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index slipped to -0.23 vs. last month's -0.04. The 3-month moving average came in at 0.01 vs. last month's -0.17. New Home Sales were lower at 634,000 units (annualized) vs. last month's 665K and the consensus for 675K. And the PMI Composite report rose to 54.4 vs. last month's 51.3. The Manufacturing Index was at 50.9 vs. last month's 50.0, while the Services Index came in at 54.8 vs. last month's 51.3. Today we'll get the Durable Goods Orders report, and Consumer Sentiment. We'll also hear from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller. Earlier in the week, while acknowledging that several recent reports showed inflation is heading back down, he commented that "in the absence of a significant weakening in the labor market, I need to see several more months of good inflation data before I would be comfortable supporting an easing in the stance of monetary policy." We'll see if he reiterates those same sentiments, or has more to say about the topic. We'll get our next look at the labor market in 2 weeks on June 7 with the Employment Situation report. Before that, however, we'll get another look at inflation with the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index (which is the Fed's preferred inflation gauge) on May 31. If it's anything like the latest PPI and CPI inflation reports from earlier this month, which showed inflation heading back down, the market should cheer the news. In the meantime, yesterday's dip notwithstanding, stocks are near their all-time highs, which were hit literally no more than a couple of days ago. And it looks like there's a lot more upside to go. Have a great 3-day Memorial Day weekend. See you on Tuesday, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research Sponsor [See ALL Zacks' Long-Term Picks for Only $1]( Through good markets and bad, one unique stock-picking method has more than doubled the market's average gain with an incredible +24.1% per year. 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