Market Memo

Alright so this week the market was basically trying to keep it together while a bunch of global stuff kept messing with investor confidence. The biggest thing was energy because tensions in the Middle East disrupted shipping near the Strait of Hormuz and oil traders immediately freaked out. West Texas Intermediate crude oil absolutely went crazy and jumped about 36 percent in just one week, pushing past 90 dollars a barrel. That kind of move is huge because when oil spikes that fast people instantly start thinking about inflation again, which also means interest rates might stay higher for longer. Stocks reacted pretty much how you would expect. The S&P 500 slipped around 2 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 3 percent as investors started playing it a little safer. Some sectors like energy and healthcare held up better but overall the vibe in the market was kind of cautious because expensive oil has a way of slowing everything down. Then the economic data came out and honestly it just made things more confusing. The United States Department of Labor reported that the economy actually lost about 92,000 jobs in February which surprised a lot of economists, and unemployment ticked up slightly to 4.4 percent. At the same time wages still grew about 0.4 percent which is good for workers but also keeps inflation worries alive because higher pay can eventually lead to higher prices. And just when people thought the economy might be slowing, the service sector came in strong. The ISM Services Index landed at 56.1 which basically signals expansion and shows businesses are still pretty active. So now investors are stuck trying to figure out what the Federal Reserve might do next because the data is kind of mixed. Hiring slowed but the overall economy is still growing, and with oil prices jumping that much the idea of quick interest rate cuts suddenly looks less likely. Even with all that uncertainty the US market actually held up better than a lot of international markets this week because many other countries are more sensitive to energy price spikes, so while things were definitely shaky the US still looked relatively stable compared to the rest of the world.