Stocks End Lower As Traders Weigh Inflation, The Economy, And Earnings

Plus 5 Just-Added Strong Buys Stocks End Lower As Traders Weigh Inflation, The Economy, And Earnings [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks End Lower As Traders Weigh Inflation, The Economy, And Earnings [Stocks End Lower As Traders Weigh Inflation, The Economy, And Earnings]Image: Bigstock Stocks closed lower yesterday, erasing most of Tuesday's gains. At the moment, the Dow is still up for the week, but the S&P and Nasdaq are both down with two days to go. There was no new news per se', but maybe further analysis of Jay Powell's comments from Tuesday, where he acknowledged that the Fed expects "2023 to be a year of significant declines in inflation," was overshadowed by his follow up comments that it will take a "significant period of time" to get to their 2% target, and that if the labor market remains strong and inflation ticks up, "it may well be the case that we have to do more and raise rates more than is priced in." Mr. Powell stuck an upbeat, but measured tone on Tuesday. The markets seemed to react to the upbeat part of Tuesday. The more measured part yesterday. Regarding the strength of the labor market, it's bound to start easing given all of the layoffs we've heard so far, including the latest ones from yesterday when Affirm announced a 19% cut in their workforce, and Disney announced a 7,000 cut in theirs. Speaking of Disney, they announced earnings after the close and posted a 43.5% positive EPS surprise, and a 0.76% positive sales surprise. They were up more than 5% in after-hours trade. We'll hear from another 282 companies set to report earnings today, and then another 75 tomorrow. In other news, yesterday's MBA Mortgage Applications report was up 7.4% with purchases up 3.1% and refi's up 17.7%. And Wholesale Inventories were up 0.1%, in line with expectations. Today we'll get Weekly Jobless Claims. And tomorrow we'll get Consumer Sentiment. We'll see if the markets can regroup and attempt to press higher. As the Fed has been saying, their decisions will be data dependent. If the market is too, the current trend of declining inflation and improving economic forecasts suggests stocks should have plenty more upside to go. And one of the bright spots this year should be the alternative energy market. Companies and countries are investing billions of dollars (even trillions), in the rush for new and reliable clean, green and renewable energy of all types. And it's promising to be one of the most profitable investment spaces for years to come. Because the world isn't trying to figure out how to get off of alternative energy like they are fossil fuels, they're trying to figure out how it can replace fossil fuels and power the future. The opportunities could be as spectacular as the burgeoning technology sector was many years ago. To learn more about the opportunities in the alternative energy market, be sure to read our latest commentary... [Finding Winners in the Booming Alternative Energy Market for 2023 and Beyond]( Best, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research Sponsor [Targeting Triple-Digit Gains with Breakthrough Energy Stocks]( Trillions of dollars are pouring into clean energy initiatives, from advanced solar power to next generation nuclear reactors. 75% of the new investment in the energy sector is going into renewable clean. The leading companies in this space could become the Exxons of the future. We're looking to get in early on alternative energy companies with serious profit potential. Each of our picks is primed to spike higher in today's market and offer significant upside for years to come. This is the perfect time to get in, but your chance to see these stocks ends midnight Thursday, February 9. 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