Markets hesitate to start shortened trading week

Dow retreated 128, but advancers over decliners 5-4 & NAZ slid back 14.  The MLP index added 1 to the 283s & the REIT index was flat at 378.  Junk bond funds were pretty much flat. & Treasuries had limited selling, taking yields slightly higher.  Oil rose 1+ to the 82s (more below) & gold jumped 19 to 2179.

AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)

Boeing (BA), a Dow stock, CEO Dave Calhoun is stepping down at the end of 2024 as the aerospace giant grapples with fallout stemming from the 737 Max crisis.  Calhoun, who was tapped to turn around the company in 2020, will "lead Boeing through the year to complete the critical work underway to stabilize and position the company for the future," the company said.  Aside from Calhoun's departure, BA announced an overhaul of its management team as it tries to turn around its reputation.  BA Commercial Airplanes (BCA) chief Stan Deal will also step down, effective immediately.  Deal is being replaced by Stephanie Pope, who has been serving as the chief operating officer.  Pope was in charge of overseeing the performance of BA's 3 business units – Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Defense, Space & Security & Boeing Global Services.  Independent Board Chair Larry Kellner also announced plans to resign.  He will be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a director since 2020 & will be in charge of leading the process of selecting BA's next chief exec.  BA already replaced the head of its 737 Max program at the company's Renton, Washington, facility, Ed Clark,  earlier this year.  Elizabeth Lund, senior VP & general manager of Airplane Programs, was also appointed to a newly created role that will focus on quality control initiatives.  The management change-up comes as regulators continue to press BA to make "pofound improvements" after quality issues were discovered in an audit of 737 Max manufacturing processes.  The stock rose 1.81. 

Boeing takes drastic step after string of safety scares puts company in hot seat

Crude oil futures rose as Ukraine drone strikes disrupt Russian oil refining capacity.  The West Texas Intermediate contract for Apr gained 38¢ (0.5%), to $81.01 a barrel & the Brent contract for May added 37¢ (0.4%) to $85.79 a barrel.  A Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire at the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the city of Samara over the weekend.  Industry sources that 1 of the major refining units at the facility was knocked out after the attack.  Kyiv has launched campaign of strikes against Russian energy infrastructure since the start of the year with Ukrainian intelligence claiming a dozen facilities have been successfully hit.  At least 10% of Russia's refining capacity has been disrupted by the attacks, according to British intelligence.  “Depending on the extend of the damage, major repairs could take considerable time and expense,” the British Ministry of Defense said in an update over the weekend.

Oil prices rise as Ukraine strikes Russian refineries

Treasury yields rose slightly as investors awaited fresh economic data slated for this week that could provide hints about the state of the economy.  The 10-year Treasury yield was up by 2 basis points at 4.24% & the yield on the 2-year Treasury yield was last 3 basis point higher at 4.63%.  Yields & prices move in opposite directions & 1 basis point equals 0.01%.  Investors looked to upcoming economic data releases after the Federal Reserve last week indicated that interest rates may be cut soon, but noted that this would depend on how the economy develops.  “We believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this tightening cycle. If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the central bank's latest meeting.  “But the economic outlook is uncertain, and ongoing progress toward our 2% inflation objective is not assured,” he added. 

Treasury yields inch higher as investors look to key data in week ahead

After the good start for stocks this year, analysts are raising forecasts for the year.  But there are a lot of problems out there starting with wars, high interest rates & company problems.  Already the EU is launching probes of high profile tech companies.  All is not well even though popular stock averages are at new records.  The stock market will close for the holiday on Fri.

Dow Jones Industrials