To The Moon

U.S. stocks fell Monday as investors faced another medley of earnings and evaluated the outlook for interest rates following January's blowout jobs report. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed down 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) edged a modest 40 points, or 0.1%, lower. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined 1%. Dell Technologies (DELL) said Monday it would eliminate about 6,650 jobs, or roughly 5% of its global workforce, making it the latest in a wave of technology companies to announce layoffs. Shares fell 3% on Monday. Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) shares spiked as much as 115%, rising above $6.50 as a recent rally in the meme stock gains momentum. U.S. dollar edged higher for a third consecutive day after surging 1% following Friday's jobs report. Oil prices rose, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude up 1.4% to $74.40 per barrel. The moves Monday come after stocks dropped in the previous trading session but closed higher for the week. Despite Friday's declines, equity markets have been on an uptrend this year. In 2023 to date, the S&P 500 is up 7.7% as of Friday's close, the Nasdaq 14.7% after rising for five straight weeks, and the Dow 2.4%. Whether this momentum can be sustained will be a big focus of the week ahead, especially after the government's monthly jobs report showed payrolls rose by 517,000 last month. For investors, this dampened prospects the Federal Reserve may pause raising interest rates this year, an expectation that has fueled this year's rally. Wall Street will have a docket of financials to parse through this week. Among names set to be most closely watched are Walt Disney (DIS), Uber Technologies (UBER), PayPal (PYPL), and PepsiCo (PEP). The share of S&P 500 companies reporting positive earnings surprises remained flat over the past week, but the magnitude of upside earnings surprises decreased, largely driven by disappointing results from megacap technology giants, according to FactSet Research. @Daily_Discussion