US stocks fell on Monday to halt a 13-day winning streak in the Nasdaq but the fall was hardly a retracement as the index declined by just 0.3% after a monster, 15% rally since the final day of March.
The trigger for the selling (as if one was needed) was the failure of Friday's announcement of the Strait of Hormuz opening up. Instead, it remains closed as Iran and the US get set for a Wednesday meeting. For now, it's not clear that Iran will even attend the meeting at this point, as they appear to be grandstanding about the US opening the Strait before they will commit to Wednesday's pow-wow.
Trump, though, appears to be trying to spin the war as won and a big victory, including 'regime change'. I'm not sure that spin will stick but I suppose it will depend on the terms. Many different ideas are floating around now and leaks but eventually it will all come out, or they'll go back to war.
Notably, the Russell 2000 was a solid outperformer today, hitting a fresh record high in the sixth day of gains. It was up 0.5% led by energy, industrials and real estate. Consumer cyclicals and communication services lagged.
Other changes:
S&P 500 -0.2%
Nasdaq Comp -0.3%
DJIA flat
Toronto TSX Comp -0.1%
Tomorrow we get US retail sales and that will be a valuable look at the US consumer. The US earnings calendar also rolls on after the close with Alaska Air and Steel Dynamics. Tomorrow we get GE Aerospace, RTX, United Airlines and Interactive Brokers. Here is the full earnings calendar for the week.
Tuesday also features the first appearance from Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh, who will appear at the Senate. His statement has already been leaked but he will be grilled by Senators for an hour or two as well.
