Weekly Market Review: July 31 – August 4

We’re back to bad news being good news. A weaker than expected jobs report lifted the market. The contrarian logic is that weakening employment numbers will give the Federal Reserve room to pause its campaign of raising interest rates.

Adding more fuel to market bulls was an earnings report from Apple which was neither as good as the bulls hoped, nor as bad as the bears hoped. Which is a net bullish outcome for stocks.

Investors will get more information about the direction of inflation next week when the consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) are released. These reports could point to a continued downward trend. But investors should be cautious, because it’s likely that rising oil prices are not yet priced in.

Next week will start off with Palantir reporting earnings on Monday. That could get the markets off with a bang. Before you prepare for next week, here are some of our most popular stories from this week.

Articles by Jea Yu

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Articles by Gabriel Osorio-Mazilli

PayPal, Inc. has been a volatile stock and mostly to the downside for the last two years. As Gabriel Osorio-Mazilli wrote this week, PYPL stock continues to drop even after a strong earnings report. But the underlying strength in the report suggests this may be a good time to buy the dip.

Turning his attention to the hotel and hospitality industry, Osorio-Mazilli was writing about the strong earnings report from Marriott International, Inc.. Investors were expecting the hotel chain to show softening demand, but at least for now the earnings report shows that is not the case, particularly in areas outside the United States. MAR stock did not react much to the news, but Osorio-Mazilli explains why the stock’s technicals point to more gains.

When it comes to the rental car space, however, the results for Avis Budget Group Inc. were mixed. The rental car company missed on revenue but had a healthy beat on earnings that may allow CAR stock to continue its blistering summer rally.

Articles by MarketBeat Staff

By their very nature, contrarian investors trade against the trend. And so it is that many traders have had their focus on Carnival Corporation & plc. which has been one of the market’s star performers this year. However, the MarketBeat staff likes what they see in CCL’s fundamentals and point out four reasons why it may be smooth sailing for CCL stock.

Speaking of hot sectors, the pet sector continues to be on fire. But rather than looking at one of the many growth stocks, the MarketBeat staff was looking at Zoetis, Inc. for its dividend. Specifically, the company recently raised its dividend for the ninth consecutive year. But as you’ll read, that’s far from the only reason to own ZTS stock.

And for investors looking for a hot sector outside from AI, the MarketBeat staff points to the beauty industry. This has been fueled by a continued return to normalcy. And one segment that’s been seeing strong growth within this hot sector is perfumes and cosmetics. If you’re interested in a strong stock to look at, consider Inter Parfums, Inc. which is up more than 25% since it rang the bell to close the NASDAQ exchange in February.

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