Aniket PujariMy top 10 things to watch Friday, March 21
1. Wall Street was heading for a lower open, with the Nasdaq down for the week. The S&P 500 was on the bubble and the Dow was tracking higher for the week. Club name Microsoft is trying to avoid its longest weekly losing streak since 2008.
2. President Donald Trump wants the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. The Fed wants to wait and see Trump’s policies. Central bankers held rates steady Wednesday and stayed with projections for two cuts in 2025.
3. Nike reported a quarterly beat but dismal guidance. There’s too much inventory. Where is the creativity here? Like Tesla, portfolio managers can’t resist but it is expensive. New CEO Elliott Hill is still finding his way.
4. Elon Musk said employees should “hang on” to their Tesla stock. The backlash on Wall Street and among EV buyers feels like Armageddon, with vandalism at Tesla showrooms and charging stations over Musk’s politics.
5. Accenture shares were under slight pressure early Friday morning, one day after dropping more than 7%. The company said federal government spending cuts have negatively impacted business.
6. Lennar missed on quarterly deliveries and the homebuilder’s stock dropped 4%. Mortgage rates are still too high. That’s also a problem for Club name Home Depot. CEO Ed Decker told me last night that home prices are also too high.
7. FedEx shares sank 9% after the delivery giant’s quarter was hit hard by industrial weakness. Consumer online was strong. There are a lot of concerns about how tariffs will work. We don’t know yet.
8. Micron shares dropped more than 3%. High bandwidth was strong, but NAND inventories were too high. The first instinct last night to take the stock higher on the quarter should have held.
9. Morgan Stanley liked Darden‘s numbers and hiked its price target on the Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse owner. The analysts truly loved it. Darden’s thoughts on causal dining skewed bullish for Club name Texas Roadhouse.
10. Goldman Sachs upgraded Danaher to a buy-equivalent rating, saying the stock has been de-risked. I am not selling it but this has been a dog after years of good performance.
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