Whenever the stock market is troubled, the growth sectors provide comfort and lead the charge back. 

All the debates on how expensive the “Mag Seven” stocks are and how crooked the market has become are moot when investors fear the entire market is slipping off the continental shelf. 

It's like the movie “Ghostbusters.” 

When things get scary, and we need to chase away the demons of doubt, we call Nvidia & (NVDA) Co.

If you want to go deeper, you will find the entire growth section of the S&P 500:

• (XLK) Information Technology
• (XLC) Communication Services
• (XLY) Consumer Discretionary

Yesterday, Industrials (XLI) and Real Estate (XLRE) also finished higher. But make no mistake. There are still bets on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the American consumer, which has been driving growth since The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair.

The top ten advancers remind us to hold volatile names, but there was also a smattering of bottom fishing. Nike (NKE) and Apple (AAPL) are stocks that will likely trade back to all-time highs in the future. The question is how long it will take and what the opportunity costs will be.

Speaking of which, Amazon (AMZN) is back to an all-time high after being written off for two years. This morning, big bank stocks kick off earnings season.

Today’s Session

Major banks kicked off earnings season with the following companies reporting:

Citibank (C)

-EPS $1.58; consensus $1.23

-Revenue $21.1B; consensus $20.4B

-Total loans $674.6B; consensus $688.4B

-US Personal Banking +10%y/y

-Net Charge-Offs $2.30B; consensus $2.18B

-FICC Sales & Trading Revenue $4.15B; consensus $4.12B

Guidance

-Revenues $80B to $81B (consensus $73.7B)

-Expects NII Ex-Markets down modestly y/y

-Expenses $53.5B to $53.8B Ex-FDIC Special Assessment

Wells Fargo (WFC)

-EPS $1.20; consensus $1.09

-Revenue $20.8B; consensus $20.2B

-Net Interest Income $12.23B; consensus $12.32B

-Total Average Loans $928.1B; consensus $933.5B

-Total Average Deposits $1.34T; consensus $1.35T

-Commercial Banking Revenue $3.15B; consensus $3.35B

-Didn't update the FY'24 NII guidance of 7% to 9% lower than Y'23

Wells Fargo CFO: "It's certainly challenging to forecast NII given the volatility of inflation data."

JP Morgan (JPM) 

-EPS $4.44; consensus $4.17

-Revenue $42.55B; consensus $41.64B

-Loans $1.31T; consensus $1.33T

-Total Deposits $2.43T; consensus $2.4T

-Provision for Credit Losses $1.88B; consensus $2.78B

-Asset Under Management +19%y/y $3.6T

Outlook FY24

-NII ex Markets adjusted to $89B from prior $88B

-Firm wide NII $90B, market dependent

On the economic front, import prices increased year-over-year for the first time since January 2023.

The Parade of Fed Speakers continues.

Futures were weak before the data was released but have picked up speed to the downside. Let's see what the Fed speak does, if anything.

Comments

Gold went ballistic for days but today amidst of reports of war between Israel and Iran, it reversed and fell in a massive way. I thought gold is a safe haven trade. I think it is more than buy on rumors, sell on the news. Going by the senseless and irrational movement of the metal, it seems like massive manipulation! It is obvious to me the market makers or counter-parties are able to move prices in any way they want to. Steve on 4/12/2024 1:29:14 PM

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