Stocks Closed Lower Yesterday, All Eyes On Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole Speech Today

Plus 5 Just-Added Strong Buys Stocks Closed Lower Yesterday, All Eyes On Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole Speech Today [Kevin Matras - EVP - Photo] Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President Stocks Closed Lower Yesterday, All Eyes On Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole Speech Today [Stocks Closed Lower Yesterday, All Eyes On Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole Speech Today]Image: Bigstock Stocks closed lower yesterday, undoing Wednesday's gains. With one more trading day left, the Dow is currently down for the week, while the S&P and Nasdaq are up. Wednesday afternoon's blowout earnings by NVIDIA and Splunk were not enough to keep the major indexes higher yesterday. While NVDA still managed a positive finish, they were up as much as 6.57% before closing with just 0.10%. Splunk on the other hand finished near their highs of the session ending with a 12.91% gain. For context though, it should be noted that NVDA is up more than 222% YTD, and SPLK is up 31%. So it's good to keep that in perspective. Additionally, the Dow is up 2.87% YTD, while the S&P is up 13.9%, and the Nasdaq is up 28.6%. In other news, Durable Goods Orders fell by -5.2% m/m vs. last month's 4.4% and views for -4.0%. Ex-Transportation, it was up 0.5% vs. last month's 0.2% and views for the same. Core Capital Goods rose by 0.1% vs. last month's -0.4% and estimates for 0.0%. Weekly Jobless Claims fell by -10,000 to 230K vs. the consensus for 241K. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index came in at 0.12 vs. last month's -0.33 and views for -0.30. And the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index came in at 0, which was a solid improvement vs. last month's -11. There was no new news per se' that sent shares lower yesterday. But there might have been some nervousness ahead of Fed Chair, Jerome Powell's speech this morning at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole, WY. He will give a speech in the morning. And while he isn't expected to break any new ground, people will be listening for any clues as to what he and the Fed might do on rates at their next FOMC meeting on September 19-20. He was pretty adamant at the last Jackson Hole Summit that the Fed was prepared to do what it takes to tackle inflation and get it back down to 2%. Some worry that he might come off just as adamant which would increase speculation that the Fed will raise rates again in September. We all know that at least one more rate hike is likely on the table by the end of the year. So none of this should come as a surprise to anyone. Especially with inflation staying persistently elevated. It's down from its peak last year, but still too high. Either way, some worry that Powell could inadvertently talk stocks lower as he speaks about the continuing fight against inflation. We shall see. In addition to Mr. Powell's speech today, we'll also get the Consumer Sentiment report, and the Baker Hughes Rig Count report. Should be a busy end to a busy week. Best, [Kevin Matras - Signature] Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research [Stocks Under $10 to Buy Today]( Zacks is now revealing its most compelling picks priced under $10 per share (but perhaps not for long). These high-quality companies have prospects for gains of up to 2X and more. Recently, our recommendations have closed returns of +76.0%, +100.6% and even +221.2%. These stocks offer the best of both worlds: immediate growth potential AND the strong likelihood of long-term profitability. This special opportunity ends at midnight Sunday, August 27. [See Stocks Now »]( Most Popular Articles from Zacks.com [2 Stocks With Bullish "Shakeout" Patterns]( A "shakeout" is the sudden and sharp decrease in the price of a stock or market, followed by an equally quick recovery. 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