I:RUT Oct 2024 Weekly 1150.000
| Previous Close | 0.2500 |
| Open | 0.1000 |
| Bid | 0.0000 |
| Ask | 0.2500 |
| Strike | 1,150.00 |
| Expire Date | 2024-10-31 |
| Day's Range | 0.1000 - 0.1000 |
| Contract Range | N/A |
| Volume | |
| Open Interest | 34 |
- Yahoo Finance Video
Port strike, AI hiring, easing inflation: Asking for a Trend
On today's episode of Asking for a Trend, Host Josh Lipton breaks down some of the top stories and key themes from the trading week. Tens of thousands of dock workers could strike next week at cargo ports along the East and Gulf Coasts. The strike could have major implications for the US economy as it also adds to the mounting uncertainty around the 2024 presidential election. Yahoo Finance Washington Correspondent Ben Werschkul breaks down how the Biden administration is handling the looming strike and how it could impact the election. Meanwhile, consumers may be wondering if holiday shopping could be impacted by the strike. Naveen Jaggi, JLL Americas president of retail, tells Yahoo Finance, “In terms of holiday product, [retailers] have their product in the States, they have their distribution centers or at the stores… Most of the items that are being sold, the toys, the electronics and the soft goods, clothings, that are pretty predominant when it comes to holiday sales, those come from Asia,” meaning they would not be affected by the port workers on the East and Gulf Coasts going on strike. Mercor CEO Brendan Foody joins the show to discuss how Mercor uses artificial intelligence to make the hiring process more efficient. Foody explains, “Mercor is able to automate all of those [HR] processes with [large language models (LLMs)] not only far more scalably but also far more effectively. We've processed over 300,000 candidates, conducted hundreds of thousands of verbal interviews asking nuanced questions about people's backgrounds, and matched thousands of people with jobs.” Mercor trains LLMs, predominantly OpenAI’s GPT series and Meta's (META) Llama models, on “all the proprietary data we have on candidates to best understand who's going to perform well at a given job, for what reasons,” Foody says. The Federal Reserve has officially kicked off its rate-cutting cycle as it eyes a 2% inflation target. But some economists are skeptical about whether a soft landing can actually be achieved. Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman analyzes whether the US economy has the right conditions for a soft landing. Yahoo Finance Markets Reporter Josh Schafer also breaks down his top takeaways from the trading day, from easing inflation to the small-cap (^RUT) rally. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
- Yahoo Finance Video
Inflation continues to ease, small caps rally: Trading takeaways
August's Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data showed inflation continuing to ease toward the Federal Reserve's 2% target. This positive indicator sent small caps (^RUT) rallying, performing better intraday than the S&P 500 (^GSPC). Heading into next week, all eyes will be September jobs report, as it will give investors key insight into the health of the labor market. Yahoo Finance Markets Reporter Josh Schafer joins Asking for a Trend to break down his top takeaways from the trading day. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Asking for a Trend. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
- Yahoo Finance Video
How to play small-cap stocks: Ollie’s and RXO
Josh Bennett, senior portfolio manager and director of research at Alger, joins Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton on Market Domination to discuss how to play small-cap stocks during the rate-cutting cycle. “We think the setup is pretty good for small caps now… The fact is, as the easing cycle begins, we should see that as favorable for small caps,” Bennett says, adding, “Historically, you've seen small caps trade at about a 10% premium to the large-cap index.” He highlights that “small caps just off 20-year lows in terms of relative valuation to large-cap stocks. So valuation setup is interesting.” The portfolio manager says that while it does look like the economy is on the way to a soft landing if we were to enter a recessionary period, there are small stocks that can weather a challenging macro. “Small is not weak. And I think that it's interesting. A lot of people think that small-cap companies don't have the strength, but when you look at where we operate in the small-cap segment, we're looking for the highest quality small-cap growth names that we can find.” Bennett names Ollies, a closeout retailer, as a buy in the small-cap space. “They're the largest player in the closeout industry. This is an enormous industry. $300 billion in closeout, and over $200 billion of that is non-apparel, which is where Ollie's plays. So they don't compete with TJX. They don't compete with Marshall's… Why is Ollie's a buy now? Because the consumer is looking for value more than they ever have before.” The portfolio manager also calls on RXO, a truck brokerage company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize its network, which connects trucks with companies that need to move things. “RXO should benefit as the industrial cycle begins to pick up. They'll see that benefit.” Bennett notes that if there are supply chain disruptions from the potential port strike, RXO could gain. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.
