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An afternoon turnaround off session lows saw market indices ramp up to close at or near highs for the day. Healthy economic prints this morning may not have done much for hopefuls of interest rate cuts from the Fed, but they do appear to be backstopping the economy in a meaningful way. The Dow and Nasdaq were up +201 and +200 points, respectively: +0.54% and +1.35%, respectively. The mega-cap growth stocks, especially in the Tech sector, are lifting markets higher. The S&P 500 gained +0.88% for the session, and even the small-cap Russell 2000 grew +0.55%.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic spoke at a sponsored event today with words pertaining to how the Fed is currently considering interest rate levels in the new year. While he said he would be open to reducing rates “sooner than expected” (read: prior to the June meeting), as long as the evidence for doing so is “convincing.” But, he said, it would be “unwise to lock in an emphatic approach to policy in this unpredictable environment.”

That’s not Alan Greenspan-level opacity, but perhaps benefits from further examination: in Bostic’s outlook, the Fed would do well to retain its flexibility regarding rate cuts (or rate hikes, which have not been entirely ruled out… although, come on) in 2024. What we may take from this is a voting Fed member excusing the monetary policy body from aggressively (or “emphatic”ally) moving rates lower at its March meeting.

If it doesn’t do that, we can all but kiss six rate cuts for 2024 goodbye. We may not see as many as four, with the latter part of the year consumed by the General Election; the Fed would likely not make a move believed to be politically partisan at that time.

Transportation major J.B. Hunt (JBHT) posted a miss on its Q4 bottom line this afternoon, earning $1.47 per share compared to the Zacks consensus $1.74 (and the prior-year quarter’s $1.92 per share). This makes five quarters of earnings misses in a row. (Before this, J.B. Hunt posted eight straight earnings beats.) However, top-line revenues of $3.3 billion beat the projected $3.24 billion, with Volumes up +6% but Pricing Pressure down -13%. Intermodal revenue slipped -7% on -28% operating income. Yet shares are +2% on the news in after-hours trading.

Tomorrow morning, Dow component Travelers Insurance (TRV) reports Q4 results, along with oilfield operations giant SLB (SLB) and a bevy of smaller financial institutions such as Fifth Third (FITB) and Ally Financial (ALLY). We’ll also hear from a few other Fed board members and an Existing Home Sales print for December. In short, we’ll finish a content-heavy week with more economic grist for the mill.

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