What’s moving markets today: April 5, 2019

Booming energy stocks drove Wall Street steadily higher on Friday, leaving US markets on the cusp of all-time highs.

For the week, all three major indexes rose sharply, led by a 2.7% surge by the Nasdaq. And US markets are now within striking distance of record highs for the first time since last year.

US oil prices also rallied, climbing 1.6% on Friday to settle at $63.08 a barrel. That’s the highest close since early November. Oil companies including Hess (HES), Apache (APA) and EOG Resources (EOG) soared.

Dow Inc., (DOW) the newest member of the 30-stock Dow, fell 4% following a bearish research report. JPMorgan initiated coverage of Dow with an “underweight” rating and warned the stock could plunge 18% due to concerns about global trade and slower economic growth.

Lyft (LYFT), on the other hand, rose 3% and closed back above its $72 IPO price.

The Dow, which blasted open 100 points higher as investors cheered a solid US jobs report, is struggling to keep those gains. Here’s a check of the markets:

Boston Beer Company (SAM), the owner of Sam Adams, is now down 7% after Goldman Sachs downgraded its stock because the cider rosé craze is slowing.

The freshly entered Dow Inc. (DOW) stock is down 4%.

Lyft (LYFT) shares are popping more than 4.5%, rising above its IPO price.

Duluth Holdings (DLTH) plummeted 24% after reporting earnings that missed analysts’ expectations.

Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel

Snap Inc. (SNAP) shares are rallying 5% after it announced a slew of products announcements Thursday, including a gaming platform:

The stock’s value since the beginning of the year keeps growing: It’s now up 115% — more than 30% higher since we last checked in on it exactly three weeks ago.

President Donald Trump on Friday blasted the Federal Reserve for undermining the US economy.

“They really slowed us,” Trump told reporters. “I personally think the Fed should drop rates.” 

Trump hasn’t been shy about criticizing the Fed, once calling them “crazy” and “loco” for raising rates four times last year.

The fresh comment come as the President has floated the possibility of naming Stephen Moore, a former campaign adviser and distinguished fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and Herman Cain, a former pizza executive who dropped his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential amid sexual harassment allegations.

Since the start of his presidency, Trump has moved to reshape the world’s most powerful central bank, already appointing four people to the seven-member Fed Board so far. That includes Chairman Jerome Powell, a former investment banker, who the President has repeatedly accused of trying to undercut him politically by raising interest rates, which Trump believes will slow down the economy.

Those criticisms have continued despite the Fed doing two things Trump has asked for: pumping the breaks on further rate hikes and halting plans to shrink the balance sheet. 

The US economy added 196,000 jobs in March and now the new 12-month average of jobs created is 211,000:

Wall Street is pleased with America’s rebounding jobs growth.

The Dow climbed as much as 100 points on Friday morning as investors cheered a solid US jobs report. The index was recently up about 60 points.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.2%, while the Nasdaq climbed 0.4%.

Markets extended their gains after the release of the nonfarm payrolls report, which showed the United States added 196,000 jobs in March. Wage growth decelerated, easing concerns about inflation. 

Boston Beer Company (SAM), the owner of Sam Adams, dropped 5% after Goldman Sachs urged clients to sell the stock due to competition facing its Angry Orchard and Twisted Tea brands.

Snap (SNAP) jumped 3% a day after the company announced the launch of a new gaming platform.

Shares of Boston Beer (SAM) slid 5% in early trading following a Goldman Sachs analyst report warning that some of the products it makes, including Samuel Adams beer and Angry Orchard ciders, are falling out of favor.

Goldman downgraded the brewer’s stock to a sell because drinkers now prefer trendier beverages, like spiked seltzer and canned pre-made cocktails, instead of beer and rosé cider.

Here’s the worrying statement from the report about rosé cider:

The US economy added 196,000 jobs in March. Here’s what analysts are saying:

Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group:

Joel Kan, associate vice president of Economic and Industry at Mortgage Bankers Association:

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at National Association of Realtors:

Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute:

JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said both Stephen Moore and Herman Cain don’t seem “to be the right people to put on the Fed.” 

Speaking at the Council of Foreign Relations on Thursday, Dimon admitted that he doesn’t know Moore and Cain very well. “I know them from seeing them on TV,” said Dimon. “I never sat down and had a long conversation.”

When asked who should be nominated to the Fed, Dimon said that they should put professional people there.

“I think those jobs all have to go through confirmation. Let the Senators do their homework” Dimon said. (Read Mellody Hobson and Jamie Dimon in CNN Business Perspectives: “Black Americans are still worse off financially. Businesses can help.”)

Cain is a former pizza executive who dropped his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination amid sexual harassment allegations. From 1992 to 1996, he served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Moore has echoed President Donald Trump and his advisers, calling for an emergency rate cut. Most economists believe that would spell disaster. The US economy is in full swing, and a boost of unnecessary stimulus could panic the markets.

Dimon’s statement against Trump’s Fed picks contrasts with his praise for the Trump administration’s economic stimulus policy. Dimon on Thursday said the recent tax cuts added $3.7 billion to JPMorgan’s bottom line last year.