The stock market fell on Friday after February jobs data were released, indicating that the economy is still hot. The U.S. added 275,000 jobs last month, higher than the estimate of 198,000. In contrast, unemployment rate rose to 3.9% and wage growth cooled.
Overall, S&P 500 declined 0.7% to 5,124, while NASDAQ dropped 1.2% to 16,085.
Tweet of the Day
Getting close to a mid-late March seasonal bottoming time zone (based on the past 20 years' SPX index performances). SPX hit a low on March 13 in 2023; it hit a double bottom on March 8 &14 in 2022. Everyone should remember the Covid Crash low took place on March 23rd in 2020. pic.twitter.com/ZrJhfHz71A
— Master WU (@MasterPandaWu) March 5, 2024
Chart of the Day
Here is the one-year chart of Waste Management (WM) as of February 20, 2024, when the stock was at $202.
Waste Management has a noticeable profit growth due to its focus on improving operating costs. Last quarter, profit growth reached 34%, while revenue rose 6%. Note that profits were up just 3% in the year-ago period so comparisons were easy.
Profit growth for the next four quarters is now expected to be 15%, 15%, 13% and 3%. Management is proactively leveraging technology to manage labor, repair, and maintenance costs. This initiative by the management led to the improvement of lowering operating expenses. Last quarter, Waste Management had positive sales growth in all of its operating segments: commercial, landfill, industrial, residential, transfer, and recycling.
WM is part of the Conservative Growth Portfolio. It’s a buy-and-hold Blue Chip stock.
