What Happened last week…
The S&P 500 reached a new all-time high on Friday and closed at 5,815.03. The index has landed in positive territory for five straight weeks and is higher in eight of the previous nine weeks. It is up 21.91% YTD.
The meeting minutes were released from September’s Federal Reserve gathering in which interest rates were reduced by 50 basis points to 4.75% to 5.00%. According to the minutes, “A substantial majority of participants supported lowering the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points… These participants generally observed that such a recalibration of the stance of monetary policy would begin to bring it into better alignment with recent indicators of inflation and the labor market.” The minutes continued, “Some participants observed that they would have preferred a 25 basis point reduction of the target range at this meeting, and a few others indicated that they could have supported such a decision… A few participants also added that a 25 basis point move could signal a more predictable path of policy normalization.” The next Federal Open Market Committee meeting takes place November 6-7.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its proposed remedies against Google (GOOG) “that not only addresses the harms that already exist as a result of Google’s illegal conduct, but also prevents and restrains recurrence of the same offense of illegal monopoly maintenance going forward.” Under the proposed framework, the DOJ appears to desire breaking up the company as it is “considering behavioral and structural remedies that would prevent Google from using products such as Chrome, Play, and Android to advantage Google search and Google search-related products and features—including emerging search access points and features, such as artificial intelligence—over rivals or new entrants.”
Furthermore, a U.S. judge ruled that Google must open its Play app store to rivals for three years, which includes allowing competing third-party app stores on its own Google Play store while granting access to its library of apps. Google said it will appeal the ruling.
The inflation rate year-over-year for September landed higher than expectations (2.3%) but decreased to 2.4% from 2.5%, making it the sixth straight monthly decline and the lowest reading since February 2021 (1.7%). The rate peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. Meanwhile, the core inflation rate year-over-year for September also landed higher than expectations (3.2%) as it increased to 3.3% from 3.2%.
Happening this week…
There is not much to report on the economic schedule this week.
Thanks for Reading!
- The Rockline Team
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