Markets gain for a second day on easing inflation hopes

Dow went up 119, advancers over decliners 3-1 & NAZ jumped 192.  The MLP index hardly budged in the 291s & the REIT index was flat in the 387s.  Junk bond funds inched higher & Treasuries were essentially steady.  Oil slid lower in the 78s (more below) & gold was off 1 to 2157.

AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)

The pace of job cuts by US employers accelerated in Feb, a sign the labor market is starting to deteriorate in the face of ongoing inflation & high interest rates.  A new report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, found that companies planned 84K job cuts in Feb, a 3% increase from the previous month & a 9% jump from the same time last year.  It marked the highest layoff total for the month of Feb in data going back to 2009.  "As we navigate the start of 2024, we're witnessing a persistent wave of layoffs. Businesses are aggressively slashing costs and embracing technological innovations, actions that are significantly reshaping staffing needs," said Andy Challenger, senior VP of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.  Technology companies bore the brunt of the job losses, with the industry shedding 12K employees.  In total, the tech sector has lost 28K jobs since the start of the year.  Financial firms followed with 27K layoffs since the start of the new year, a 54% increase from the same period last year.  Industrial goods manufacturing companies have also seen a sharp jump in layoffs so far this year, slashing 7806 positions, a stunning 1,754% increase from last year.  Energy companies have also announced 1,059% more cuts, than during the same period in 2023.  Another source of layoffs in was education, which trimmed 6336 positions last month, a significant increase from the 607 layoffs announced in Jan & Feb 2023.  The top reason cited for job cuts last month was restructuring.  Companies blamed stores closing & economic and market conditions for the layoffs, as well.  Only 383 job cuts were attributed to artificial intelligence so far this year; instead, companies are blaming layoffs on updating or incorporating new technology, which has accounted for 15K layoffs.  The labor market has remained historically tight over the past year, defying expectations for a slowdown.  Although economists say it is beginning to normalize after last year's blistering pace, it is nowhere near breaking.

Layoffs surged in February to highest level in fifteen years

Salesforce (CRM), a Dow stock, announced new data & artificial intelligence solutions for health-care workers that could help lessen their burdensome administrative workloads.  The first tool is called Einstein Copilot: Health Actions which allows doctors to book appointments, summarize patient information & send referrals by prompting AI with conversational language.  CRM also announced Assessment Generation, which will allow organizations to digitize health assessments like surveys without having to manually type or code them.  Both features are built on the company's Einstein 1 Platform, which health organizations can use to bring medical data from disparate sources like insurance claims systems & electronic health records into 1 place.  Labor-intensive administrative tasks like filing paperwork are a big problem for health-care workers.  It's one of the leading drivers of burnout among physicians, according to a recent survey from Athenahealth.  More than 90% of physicians report feeling burned out on a “regular basis” & 64% of doctors said they feel overwhelmed by administrative requirements.  The clerical workload is often compounded because health-care data is stored across many different databases and formats, making it difficult & time-consuming for clinicians to track down the needed information.  As a result, unifying data across health-care systems is a growing opportunity for tech companies like Google (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN) Web Services & CRM, which offer cloud-based customer relationship management tools.  CRM stock fell 77¢.

Salesforce announces new AI tools for doctors

Oil prices edged lower, giving up some of the previous session's gains.  The West Texas Intermediate contract for Apr lost 33¢ (0.4%) to $78.80 a barrel & May Brent futures shed 32¢ (0.4%) to $82.64 a barrel.  US crude & the global benchmark gained more than 1% yesterday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress that interest rates have likely peaked & are expected to come down this year, although the central bank is taking a cautious approach given an uncertain economic outlook.  Powell will give testimony before the Senate Banking Committee later today.  Energy prices also found support from a smaller-than-expected US crude oil inventory increase & a drop in gasoline stockpiles, potentially indicating that demand is picking up.  Crude prices have been grinding higher this year, booking monthly gains in Jan & Feb.

Oil prices fall as market weighs U.S. inventory data, interest rate outlook

The bulls are back & want to take stock averages to new records.  First they wait to hear what Powell has to say.

Dow Jones Industrials