Josh Schafer

New York

Markets Reporter at Yahoo Finance

Markets reporter @YahooFinance via @Dailyorange. Say 👋[email protected]

Articles

Investor bets on July rate cut increase as 'employment risks are trending higher'

1 day ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

Investors are growing increasingly confident the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by the end of the year as labor market data has shown signs of cooling in recent weeks. On Thursday, data from the Department of Labor released Thursday showed 1.974 million continuing claims were filed in the week ending June 14, up from 1.937 million the week prior and the highest level seen since November 2021.
Consumers are feeling the pressure of a stagnant labor market

3 days ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

This is The Takeaway from today's Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with:The chart of the dayWhat we're watchingWhat we're readingEconomic data releases and earningsConsumers are feeling worse about the labor market outlook. In June's Consumer Confidence Survey, 29.2% of respondents said jobs were "plentiful," down from 31.1% in May. Meanwhile, 18.1% of consumers said jobs were "hard to get," down slightly from 18.4% in month prior.
Wall Street bull calls for another 10% rally in S&P 500 by end of 2025

3 days ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is back within one percentage point of an all-time high. One of Wall Street's notorious bulls believes the benchmark index has plenty further to run this year. BMO Capital Markets chief investment strategist Brian Belski boosted his year-end target to 6,700 from a prior forecast of 6,100. Belski had previously reduced his forecast amid the tariff turmoil that tanked markets in April.
Consumer confidence unexpectedly declines in June

3 days ago | sg.finance.yahoo.com | Josh Schafer

Tue, 24 June 2025 at 10:20 am GMT-5 2 min read Consumer confidence retreated in June after increasing the previous month amid President Trump's various tariff delays. The latest index reading from the Conference Board was 93 in June, below the 98.4 seen in May and the 99.8 economists had expected. The expectations index decreased to 69 in June from 73.6 in May when it saw its largest one-month increase since 2009.
Consumer confidence unexpectedly declines in June

3 days ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

Consumer confidence retreated in June after increasing the previous month amid President Trump's various tariff delays. The latest index reading from the Conference Board was 93 in June, below the 98.4 seen in May and the 99.8 economists had expected. The expectations index decreased to 69 in June from 73.6 in May when it saw its largest one-month increase since 2009.
Wall Street has a short memory for global crises

4 days ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

This is The Takeaway from today's Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with:The chart of the dayWhat we're watchingWhat we're readingEconomic data releases and earningsRising tensions in the Middle East haven't shaken the stock market yet. Since Israel's missile strike on Iran on June 13, the S&P 500 is essentially flat.
Oil prices are now the stock market's biggest driver

4 days ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

As stocks continue to shrug off rising conflict in the Middle East, strategists argue that any major moves in oil futures will likely be the biggest driver of shifts in the equities market. "Oil prices will determine whether volatility persists," Morgan Stanley chief investment officer Mike Wilson wrote in a note to clients on Monday morning. On Monday, overnight surges in oil prices subsided. Brent crude (BZ=F), the international benchmark, fell about 1% to slip below $77 a barrel.
US strikes escalate Israel-Iran conflict as geopolitics overshadow economics: What to know this week

6 days ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

Stocks drifted lower last week as investors continued to digest the impacts of a growing conflict between Israel and Iran while closely watching how President Trump's tariffs could impact the US economy. In the week ahead, geopolitics look set to dominate the conversation. On Saturday, President Trump said the US military struck three sites in Iran, marking the first entry of the US strike since the conflict escalated on June 13.
3 data points define the Fed's one big economic risk

1 week ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

This is The Takeaway from today's Morning Brief, which you can sign up to receive in your inbox every morning along with:The chart of the dayWhat we're watchingWhat we're readingEconomic data releases and earningsThe Federal Reserve's June meeting came and went with few surprises. As Citi's head of equity US equity trading strategy Stuart Kaiser wrote in a note to clients, it was a "Blah FOMC" for markets as stocks closed Wednesday's session nearly unchanged.
The market's recovery to near-record high has been led by momentum stock 'freight train'

1 week ago | aol.com | Josh Schafer

The "FOMO" trade is alive and well in markets once again. Recent IPOs, like stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) and AI cloud company CoreWeave (CRWV), have both seen their stocks rise more than 100% since going public. Shares of nuclear energy company turned AI play Oklo (OKLO) are up more than 70% in the past month. Quantum Computing (QUBT) shares are up more than 56% in the past month, and others in the space have also ripped higher.