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Stock Market Today: S&P 500 Swings Higher After Fed Minutes

Stocks spent most of Wednesday in negative territory as investors mulled the latest Russia-Ukraine headlines.

Following Tuesday’s reports that Russia was withdrawing some troops from Ukraine’s border (which gave markets a boost), NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said his organization has not seen any de-escalation. “On the contrary, it appears that Russia continues its military buildup,” Stoltenberg told a group of defense ministers from NATO’s member states at a meeting in Brussels.

  • SEE MORE 5 Super Stocks to Stave Off Sizzling Inflation

But the major benchmarks erased their earlier losses after the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January policy meeting.

“In markets, timing is everything, and the delayed reaction [to raise rates] from the Fed has investors convinced that aggressive policy tightening is on the horizon,” says Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management.

And although today’s minutes did indicate the central bank is poised to raise rates at a quicker pace than it did during the last tightening cycle in order to combat surging inflation, “there was nothing in the minutes that suggested the Fed would be more aggressive than what the market has already priced in,” Ripley adds.

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While the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.2% at 34,934) and Nasdaq Composite (-0.1% at 14,124) still ended the day in the red, the S&P 500 Index (+0.1% at 4,475) managed to hang on for a win.

YCharts

Other news in the stock market today:

  • The small-cap Russell 2000 gained 0.1% to end at 2,079.
  • The Russia-Ukraine news sparked a fire under U.S. crude futures, which ended up 1.7% at $93.66 per barrel.
  • Gold futures rose 0.8% to settle at $1,871.50 an ounce.
  • Bitcoin slipped 0.2% to $44,120.38. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
  • Also in focus today was the latest retail sales data, which showed retail sales jumped by a seasonally adjusted 3.8% in January, much higher than forecast (though Kiplinger economist David Payne says the results come with an asterisk). “Retail sales and core retail sales both increased by more than expected in January, reflecting strong spending even after allowing for a boost from residual seasonal factors, and only a modest drag from Omicron on spending at eating and drinking establishments,” Goldman Sachs economists wrote in a note.
  • Roblox (RBLX) shares plunged 26.5% after the open gaming platform reported a fourth-quarter loss of 25 cents per share and bookings of $770 million. Analysts, on average, were expecting a slimmer per-share loss of 13 cents on $772 million in bookings. Still, RBLX reported 49.5 million daily active users, up 33% year-over-year. CFRA Research analyst John Freeman says he expects losses to “continue until 4Q22, driven by a somewhat troubling doubling of G&A and R&D expenses (ex-stock comp.) and a 47% higher expense related to the labor-intensive monitoring and security enforcement to ensure safe interactions on the platform, a key imperative given the majority of daily active users are still under 18.” However, he kept a Strong Buy rating on the metaverse stock.
  • Shopify (SHOP) was another post-earnings loser, sinking 16% after its results. While the e-commerce platform reported higher-than-expected earnings per share and revenue in its fourth quarter, it warned fiscal 2022 revenue growth would slow compared it 2021. “We expect merchant solutions to continue to benefit from strong growth in merchant sales, up 35%, and as Shopify Payments see greater penetration (49% of GMV vs. 45% a year ago),” says CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino (Hold). “We also think Shop Pay Installments (buy now, pay later product) is seeing greater traction as it has proven to boost repeat purchases among first time customers by 23%. Despite decelerating growth, we remain encouraged by e-commerce trends and new growth opportunities.”

A Special Breed of Dividend Payers

With geopolitical uncertainty front and center, markets are likely going to remain volatile.

“In the short term, stocks are moving in lockstep with headlines from the Russia/Ukraine situation,” says David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group.

  • SEE MORE The 22 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2022

He counsels investors to make sure their portfolios are well-constructed, with “high-quality stocks with strong cash flows and a long history of dividend growth.” There are many different corners of the market investors can look to find solid dividend growers.

The Dividend Aristocrats – companies that have raised their dividend payments annually for the last 25 years – is certainly a good place to start, as are the yield-friendly real estate, healthcare and energy sectors.

Another strategy is to home in on companies that consistently pay “special dividends,” or additional one-time payouts on top of their regular dividends. In any given year, there are typically only a handful of companies that reward shareholders with these bonus dividends, and these 10 names are shining examples of this special breed.

  • SEE MORE 22 Best Retirement Stocks for an Income-Rich 2022

5 Best Dow Dividend Stocks to Buy Now

If there’s one thing recent macroeconomic and stock market turbulence should reteach us, it’s that the best blue-chip dividend stocks never go out of style. And the Dow’s best dividend stocks are proving that handily so far in 2022.

True, inflation is advancing at the fastest pace in four decades, and the market is seething with anxiety over impending interest rate hikes. Yet the top-rated dividend payers among the 30 Dow Jones stocks are beating the market so far this year – and should continue to give income investors some much-needed peace of mind.

  • SEE MORE The Pros’ Picks: 22 Top Stocks to Invest In for 2022

Many of the Dow’s best dividend stocks also happen to be dividend growth stalwarts. Quite a few names in this elite bastion of 30 blue-chip equities are members of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats – an index of 66 best dividend stocks that have increased their payouts for at least 25 consecutive years. 

It’s also noteworthy that the Dow Jones’ best dividend stocks hail from sectors that hold up well when inflation runs hot. As we’ll see below, four of the five best Dow dividend stocks are classified as healthcare, energy and consumer staples bets. 

The Dow’s Top Dividend Stocks Right Now

Here’s how we found the Dow’s best dividend stocks to buy now. Using data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, we screened the blue chip barometer for Wall Street analysts’ highest-rated Dow components with dividend yields of at least 2.0%. 

A quick note on S&P Global Market Intelligence’s ratings system: S&P surveys analysts’ stock calls and scores them on a five-point scale, where 1.0 equals a Strong Buy and 5.0 is a Strong Sell. Any score equal to or below 2.5 means that analysts, on average, rate the stock at Buy. The closer a score gets to 1.0, the stronger the consensus Buy recommendation.

That led us to the following five Dow Jones dividend stocks, which we list below by strength of analysts’ consensus recommendations, from lowest to highest. (Market data and analysts’ ratings are as of Feb. 13.)

5. Johnson & Johnson

  • Market value: $441.5 billion
  • Dividend yield: 2.5%
  • Analysts’ consensus recommendation: 2.11 (Buy)

The best healthcare stocks have historically generated market-beating returns during inflationary periods, and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, $167.71) is one of the top-rated names in the field. 

  • SEE MORE The 22 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2022

Of the 18 analysts issuing opinions on JNJ tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence, seven rate it at Strong Buy, two say Buy and nine call it a Hold. 

JNJ is set to spin off its consumer health business – the one that makes Tylenol, Listerine and Band Aid – from its pharmaceuticals and medical devices divisions. The breakup is meant to free the faster-growth, higher-margin parts of J&J from the drag of its more mature, less profitable operations. 

We’ll see how that goes, but the old arrangement helped JNJ become one of the 30 best stocks of the past 30 years. It’s also worth adding that Johnson & Johnson has increased its dividend for 59 consecutive years.

4. Merck

  • Market value: $193.6 billion
  • Dividend yield: 3.6%
  • Analysts’ consensus recommendation: 2.00 (Buy)

Merck (MRK, $76.64) is another Dow healthcare stock putting up market-beating returns in 2022, and analysts see additional outperformance ahead. With an average target price of $92.15, the Street gives MRK implied upside of about 20% over the next 12 months or so.

The Street has admittedly become incrementally less bullish on this Dow Jones stock over the past year, partly due to the pharma giant’s spinoff of Organon (OGN), its women’s health business. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) actually sold off its entire position in Merck in the third quarter – along with all of the OGN shares it received as part of MRK’s spinoff to shareholders.  

Nevertheless, the Street’s consensus recommendation stands at Buy. Of the 25 analysts issuing opinions on MRK, 10 rate it at Strong Buy, five say Buy and 10 call it a Hold, per S&P Global Market Intelligence.

3. Chevron

  • Market value: $267.6 billion
  • Dividend yield: 4.1%
  • Analysts’ consensus recommendation: 1.86 (Buy)

The best energy stocks tend to outperform when inflation is on the rise, and the Street singles out Chevron (CVX, $138.81) as one of the sector’s top bets.

  • SEE MORE 22 Best Retirement Stocks for an Income-Rich 2022

“In the current volatile energy environment, a company’s balance sheet strength and place on the cost curve are critical, and favor those integrated oil companies that are well positioned to manage a potentially long period of volatile oil prices,” writes Argus Research analyst Bill Selesky (Buy). “CVX is one of these companies.”

The analyst adds that CVX benefits from “best-in-class production growth, industry-low operating costs and a strong balance sheet.” Selesky further praises Chevron’s “strong free cash flow” and “safe and sustainable” dividend.

Of the 29 analysts issuing opinions on this Dow dividend stock, 13 rate it at Strong Buy, seven say Buy and nine have it at Hold, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

2. Coca-Cola

  • Market value: $260.4 billion
  • Dividend yield: 2.8%
  • Analysts’ consensus recommendation: 1.85 (Buy)

Consumer staples stocks, such as Coca-Cola (KO, $60.29), tend to do well when prices are rising rapidly.

In addition to being one of Warren Buffett’s favorite stocks, KO has increased its dividend annually for nearly six decades. It’s also one of the 30 best global stocks of the past 30 years. 

Analysts are increasingly bullish on KO as a post-COVID-19 play. The beverage giant was hit hard by the pandemic, which shut down restaurants, bars, live events and myriad other venues serving its vast portfolio of fizzy drinks, juices, teas, sports and energy drinks, as well as other refreshments. Those sales are now coming back.

Additionally, Coca-Cola’s “unique pricing and franchise model” makes it “better positioned than peers to weather the challenges of the current inflationary environment,” notes UBS Global Research analyst Sean King (Buy). 

Twelve analysts rate KO at Strong Buy, six say Buy and eight have it at Hold, per S&P Global Market Intelligence. 

1. McDonald’s

  • Market value: $190.7 billion
  • Dividend yield: 2.2%
  • Analysts’ consensus recommendation: 1.73 (Buy)

McDonald’s (MCD, $255.16) gets the strongest consensus Buy recommendation of any Dow dividend stock yielding at least 2.0%.

  • SEE MORE 10 Metaverse Stocks for the Future of Technology

Nineteen analysts rate MCD at Strong Buy, nine call it a Buy and nine have it at Hold. They forecast the global fast food chain to generate average annual earnings per share (EPS) growth of more than 12% over the next three to five years. 

Even the best consumer discretionary stocks can struggle in inflationary environments, and shares in MCD are indeed down for the year-to-date. Regardless, the stock is beating the broader market by more than 2 percentage points, and analysts say it’s poised to post positive returns in 2022.

The Street’s average 12-month price target of $255.16 gives MCD stock implied upside of more than 11%. And that’s before factoring in the 2.2% yield on MCD’s dividend – a payout the hamburger chain has increased annually for 45 straight years and counting. 

So Far, So Good

Have a look at the chart below and you’ll see that every one of these five Dow dividend stocks is beating the S&P 500 on a total-return basis (price appreciation plus dividends) for the year-to-date through Feb. 13.

YCharts

More impressively, an investor who held a customized portfolio of these five dividend payers would be outperforming the broader market by more than 9 percentage points this year. 

Indeed, a market-cap weighted index of these five Dow dividend stocks generated a year-to-date total return of +2.1%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. That compares with the S&P 500’s year-to-date total return of -7.2%:

Chart data courtesy of S&P Global Market Intelligence

True, Chevron’s YTD total return of 18.3% is doing much of the heavy lifting. Be that as it may, the above chart makes a powerful visual statement: A highly concentrated portfolio of the best Dow dividend stocks is beating the broader market by a wide margin through the first seven weeks of a most troublesome 2022.

  • SEE MORE 2022’s Best Mutual Funds in 401(k) Retirement Plans

How to Get More (and Better) Feedback at Work

As a collective workforce, we’re all wanting more feedback. Without it, we don’t know where we stand, how we rank, what we need to improve, or where we’re hitting it out of the park.
 
“Employees are hungry for feedback from their leaders, managers, and peers,” according to Gallup. “They want to gain insights that advance their abilities and future potential. And more than ever, feedback is pivotal for engaging employees. Gallup data show that when employees strongly agree they received ‘meaningful feedback’ in the past week, they are almost four times more likely than other employees to be engaged.”
 
So why aren’t our managers and peers giving us maximum feedback? Well… it may be important, but it’s also awkward, time-consuming, and often not the thing that’s on fire.
 
So if you’re tired of sitting around waiting for feedback to find you, let’s talk about strategies you can use to open the spigot and let that feedback flow freely.

1. Ask better questions

Ever been around a dry-diapered, just-fed, tightly-swaddled baby who won’t stop crying? You know that baby needs something…you just don’t know what it is! Also, you want to pull your hair out.
 
Asking, generally, for more feedback may create a similar experience for the person you’re asking. They need more direction. And they want to rip their hair out.
 
So how can you be more specific in your ask? How can you lead your boss or peer toward offering a piece of feedback that’s meaningful to you in the moment?
 
Instead of “can I have more feedback please?” try asking questions like:
  • Do you have any feedback on that presentation I gave in today’s team meeting? I’m focused on enhancing my presentation skills this year.
  • Is there anything I can be doing to better support our clients?
  • Is my communication feeling clear and effective? Is there anything I can or should be doing differently?
These are the types of questions that provide the would-be giver of feedback with more direction. And they bump up the likelihood of your receiving more feedback without your having to ask for the dreaded F-word by name. 

2. Probe for meaning

When you do receive feedback (because it is, after all, a gift) make sure you extract maximum clarity from it.
 
If your boss suggests you strive for greater clarity in your communication, ask if they can provide an example of both (a) when and why it wasn’t clear, and (b) what a clearer message would sound like. 
 
Without specificity, feedback often isn’t actionable. And if you can’t action it, is it really a gift?

3. Reflect back what you heard

Your boss suggests to you that you’d benefit from being more collaborative with the Marketing team.
 
You ask her to describe an instance in which you weren’t collaborative and to suggest how you might have shown up differently.
 
She says “Yesterday you presented your fully fleshed-out strategy to Marketing and then asked if they had any questions. A more collaborative approach would have been to present a draft of your strategy a few weeks earlier, invite their input and suggestions (instead of just questions), and bake their insights into a final product, creating something more inclusive and holistic.”
 
That is both specific and actionable.
 
Now state back what you heard. You might say “OK, so next time, share earlier and capture insights so the outcome includes all of our ideas.”
 
By restating what you heard in your own words, you achieve two things. 
  1. You test your own understanding to ensure you captured the right message
  2. You validate for the feedback giver that you heard and processed their suggestion, making them more likely to give you more feedback in the future.

4. Make space for emotions

Let’s be real. Feedback may be a gift. But it’s not always easy to receive. Sometimes—even when it’s well-intended—it can hurt!
 
We can debate all day whether it’s OK to cry at work. I say it’s OK…but also that you probably want to have some boundaries around it. A boss is unlikely to continue to give future feedback to a team member who really struggled to hear and absorb it.
 
The solution is not not to cry. The better answer is to give yourself some processing space.
 
It is absolutely professional to say something like “Wow—that was a lot to hear. I want to give this feedback the reflection it deserves. Would it be OK if I sit with this for a bit and then we come back together in a few days and discuss next steps?”
 
This approach wins you the space in which you can feel free to ugly-cry, and also demonstrates to the giver that you’re taking their message seriously. This is a win-win.

5. Find the insight

Not all feedback is created equal. Sometimes it hits you square in the jaw—you recognize yourself in it instantly and commit to improving.
 
Other times you hear a message and think “That doesn’t sound like me at all!”
 
Even when a piece of feedback feels off-base, there’s usually a nugget of insight in there somewhere. And your job is to hunt it down.
 
In my first job out of college, my boss suggested one day that I focus on staying more organized. That hit me as way off-base. Organizing has always been my superpower!
 
But I sat with her feedback for a bit, and I asked myself what might be leading her to experience me as disorganized? I ultimately determined that her need to know was simply higher than my need to communicate. So, I started sending her daily updates and that did the trick. While her feedback didn’t quite hit the right note, it did land us in a better place. Which ultimately is its job.

6. Be a role model

You get what you give, right? So be a giver. In all directions.  Start role modeling the type, quality, and frequency of feedback you’re hoping to receive. Do it well, and others will experience an uplift in their performance. And then, in turn, they’ll be more likely and motivated to reciprocate.
 
Feeling inspired to get out there and get some feedback? I hope you’ve found a pearl of wisdom here to inform your path forward!

Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Recovery Continues as Comms, Tech Rebound

Stocks delivered another solid day of gains ahead of Thursday’s pivotal January consumer price index (CPI) report.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced that New York would join a growing group of large states that are lifting some or all mask mandates. That – and a plunge in new COVID cases, to 250,000 new cases daily from an all-time peak of about 800,000 in January – have stoked optimism about the country’s omicron situation, driving up cyclical sectors including materials (+2.2%) and industrials (+1.4%).

  • SEE MORE 25 Top Stock Picks That Billionaires Love

Meanwhile, several beaten-up sectors received something of a reprieve, thanks to a small pullback in 10-year Treasury rates and potential dip-buying.

Troubled-of-late Facebook parent Meta Platforms (FB, +5.4%) and Twitter (TWTR, +5.1%) helped the communication services sector (+2.8%) finish on top; chipmakers including Nvidia (NVDA, +6.4%) and Micron (MU, +4.8%) lifted technology (+2.2%); and real estate, 2022’s worst sector so far, posted a solid 2.4% gain.

And for a second straight day, an afternoon hiccup failed to materialize into anything worse, leaving investors with pleasant results from the major indexes. The Nasdaq Composite led, up 2.1% to 14,490, followed by the S&P 500 (+1.5% to 4,587) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.9% to 35,768).

Looking ahead to the next two days, Tom Essaye, founder of the Sevens Report, outlines the importance of Thursday’s CPI report and Friday’s producer price index (PPI) announcement:

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“Bottom line, inflation remains the single biggest potential influence over Fed policy, and Fed policy will determine whether stocks continue to rally, or decline,” he says. “Tomorrow and Friday we get the next two inflation readings that could either make the Fed more hawkish (and hit stocks again) or make the Fed less hawkish (and spark a rally).

“But it’s not just CPI that needs to peak. Inflation expectations, which in many ways are more important from a Fed standpoint than the monthly inflation data, also need to peak. And they have not yet.”

Other news in the stock market today:

  • The small-cap Russell 2000 also enjoyed robust gains, closing 1.9% higher to 2,083.
  • U.S. crude futures gained 0.3% to end at $89.66 per barrel.
  • Gold futures rose 0.5% to settle at $1,836.60 an ounce.
  • Bitcoin improved by 1.2% to $44,744.13. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.) 
  • Enphase Energy (ENPH) jumped 12.0% after the solar power company reported earnings. In its fourth quarter, ENPH reported adjusted earnings of 73 cents per share on $412.7 million in revenue, easily beating analysts’ consensus estimates for earnings of 59 cents per share and revenue of $410.2 million. Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch reiterated his Outperform (Buy) rating on the stock. “We are encouraged ENPH is pushing through a 7% price increase in March on its energy storage product to offset its battery expense,” Rusch says. “We believe this points to the depth of demand and relative price inelasticity for the product, which we believe bodes well for top-line growth and margins.” ENPH’s positive earnings reaction helped lift other solar stocks, including First Solar (FSLR, +5.4%), Sunrun (RUN, +6.5%) and SunPower (SPWR, +6.6%).
  • A solid earnings report boosted Lyft (LYFT, +6.8%) shares today too. The ride-hailing firm reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 9 cents per share on $970 million in revenue – more than the 8 cents per share and $940.1 million analysts were expecting. And while LYFT had fewer active riders than the Street was anticipating in the three-month period (18.73 million actual vs. 20.2 million expected), revenue per active rider ($51.79) was higher than the $46.54 analysts projected. “We still expect a gradual recovery in commuting, higher airport volume and greater momentum in bikes/scooters supporting accelerating growth in 2022 vs. 2021,” says CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino (Buy). “Rides remain about 30% below pre-pandemic levels in the U.S., but LYFT’s profitability has drastically improved.”

The Biggest Wealth Destroyers of All Time

When you think about historic corporate failures, a few names probably come first to mind. Enron. Lehman. Perhaps Arthur Andersen.

  • SEE MORE 7 Crashing Stocks You Might Want to Collect

But it might surprise you to find that none of these three holds a candle to the 20 worst destroyers of shareholder wealth from the past three decades.

Hendrik Bessembinder, a finance professor at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, put together a study of stocks between 1990 and 2020 – from the worst stock collapses to the absolute best generators of wealth – meant to underscore the importance of diversification.

As Kiplinger’s Dan Burrows sums it up:

“Investors were highly unlikely to buy and hold a concentrated portfolio of the market’s vanishingly small handful of outsized wealth creators. At the same time, the market’s biggest wealth destroyers were out there helping to crush investors’ long-term plans and goals.”

So, which companies managed to out-implode the likes of Enron and Lehman Brothers? Here’s our quick look at these 20 wealth destroyers from around the globe – spanning disasters including the Great Financial Crisis, the tech-bubble burst, the Japanese banking crisis and more.

Kyle Woodley was long FB and NVDA as of this writing.

  • SEE MORE The 22 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2022

Stock Market Today: Fastest Inflation in 40 Years Flattens Stocks’ Rally

The much-awaited consumer price index (CPI) reading for January more than lived up to its billing, jumping by the fastest annual rate in four decades. Wall Street ultimately sold off on the news, but only after a few hours of waffling.

The Labor Department said Thursday that consumer prices rose by a whopping 7.5% annually in January, easily exceeding economists’ estimates of 7.2% – the sharpest such increase since February 1982.

  • SEE MORE The 22 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2022

The headline number was driven by steeply higher prices for food and energy, but even “core” CPI, which backs out groceries and gasoline, was up 6.0% annually.

That in turn heightened expectations of a more aggressive approach from the Federal Reserve to tamp down inflation.

“The odds of a 50-basis point hike jumped to around 50/50 and the yield on the 10-year Treasury is now trading around 2%,” says Brian Price, head of investment management for independent broker-dealer Commonwealth Financial Network. “Investors may want to buckle up. It could be a rough ride for risk assets until inflationary data starts to abate, and I expect that it will, as we move through the year.”

However, Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, notes that while price gains continued to overshoot the Fed’s target last month, fundamental drivers of inflation are beginning to improve.

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“Remember, a big part of the surge in prices was from shortages, and the economy is making big strides to reduce shortages,” he says. “Businesses made a huge inventory build in the fourth quarter of last year, and surveys (ISM, NFIB) show that businesses continued to grow inventories, worked through order backlogs, and see less supplier delivery delays in January. 

“Over time this will show up in inflation, but it wasn’t enough to help in January.”

  • SEE MORE The 12 Best Financial Stocks to Buy for 2022

A little more encouraging was the latest unemployment-benefits data, which showed 223,000 filings for the week ended Feb. 5, below 230,000 expected.

Stocks finished lower but hardly got there in a straight line; they opened well in the red, then flirted with gains an hour later before their legs gave out for the rest of the day. The Nasdaq Composite (-2.1% to 14,185) led the way lower, helped by sizable declines in its largest components, Apple (AAPL, -2.4%) and Microsoft (MSFT, -2.8%). The S&P 500 was off 1.8% to 4,504, and the Dow declined 1.5% to 35,241.

YCharts

Other news in the stock market today:

  • The small-cap Russell 2000 sank 1.6% to 2,051.
  • U.S. crude futures rose nearly 0.3% to end at $89.88 per barrel.
  • Gold futures posted a marginal gain to finish at $1,837.40 an ounce.
  • Bitcoin was off 1.4% to $44,119.77. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.) 
  • Affirm Holdings (AFRM) plunged sharply in mid-afternoon trading after the company accidentally posted a now-deleted tweet that included details of its fiscal second-quarter results, which were not due out until after tonight’s close. The buy now, pay later firm brought in revenue of $361 million for the three-month period – up 77% year-over-year and above the $328.8 consensus estimate – but reported a wider-than-expected per-share loss of 57 cents and gave lower-than-expected revenue guidance for the current quarter. After being down as much as 33% earlier, AFRM ended the day down a still-sizable 21.4%.
  • Walt Disney (DIS) was the best Dow stock today with its 3.4% gain. This honor came as a result of the entertainment firm’s solid fiscal first-quarter earnings report, which showed a higher-than-expected adjusted profit of $1.06 per share and revenue of $21.8 billion – also more than analysts were expecting. In addition, theme park revenue more than doubled year-over-year, while Disney+ net adds came in above estimates. “Fiscal first-quarter results were solid, highlighted by better financials (revenues 5%-10% ahead; operating income beat by 50%+ due to better parks) and stronger Disney+ sub growth,” writes UBS Global Research analyst John Hodulik (Buy). “We expect further upside as int’ parks get back up to speed and recent initiatives improve the long-term cost structure/sustain higher per cap spend.”

A Bad Day All Around, But…

It was hard to find much that “worked” today: Every equity sector was lower, bonds turned tail, and popular gold and oil funds even managed to close in the red.

  • SEE MORE Factoring Inflation Into Your Retirement Plan

So it’s natural, given 2022’s market moves, to be worried about inflation’s effect on your investments – and you’d hardly be alone.

Charles Schwab today released its latest Trader Sentiment Survey, based on answers collected from Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade traders in early to mid-January. And it showed that while overall, market optimism is prevailing, consumer prices are on nearly everyone’s mind.

“Bulls outnumber bears among active traders, with 46% reporting a bullish outlook for the U.S. stock market for the first three months of the year compared with 39% who are bearish,” Charles Schwab says. “But nearly nine out of 10 (88%) traders are concerned about inflation, and many are taking action to hedge against it.”

If there’s any good news, it’s that no matter how you prefer to invest, you have plenty of hedges against the two predominant worries of the day – inflation and resultant rising Fed rates – at your disposal.

These five mutual funds, for instance, are designed to protect against the market impact of climbing consumer prices. And these seven ETFs feature equities and bonds that can mitigate the effects of (or even benefit from) steadily rising interest rates.

We have stock investors covered, too. These five stocks represent five different sectors that traditionally have managed to weather inflation better than their peers, combining to form a protective mini-portfolio of sorts.

  • SEE MORE 11 Hot Upcoming IPOs to Watch For in 2022

How to Write a First Job Resume + A Downloadable Template for 2022

Selling yourself and your skills to an employer can be difficult, especially when you don’t have enough experience under your belt. Whether you’re writing a first job resume or struggling to find a job out of college, this guide will…

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