Dow sank 238, decliners over advancers 3-1 & NAZ was up 17.  The MLP index pulled back 1+ to the 222s after yesterday's rise & the REIT index was off 6+ to 361.  Junk bond funds were little changed  & Treasuries saw more selling which raised yields.  Oil slid below 71 & & gold retreated 16 to 2006.

AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)

  Yet he said the expected pullback has been compounded by rising mortgage rates & a shift toward spending on services.  “The state of the homeowner is that they’re very healthy,” he said. “They have healthy balance sheets. They have healthy incomes. But I do think — and our professional customers tell us they hear this from their customers — there is that shift, even if it’s temporary from larger projects into smaller ones.”  EPS was $3.82, down 8.5% from $4.09 a year earlier.  Revenue fell 4.2% to $37.2B from $38.9B.  Comparable sales for Q1 fell 4.5% & dropped 4.6% in the US.  McPhail said lumber deflation accounted for more than 2 percentage points of that decrease.  Sales trends were better among do-it-yourself customers than among home professionals, but sales fell year-over-year for both groups, CEO Ted Decker said.  “Once we’re through this period, we think the medium to long-term fundamentals of home improvement are strong,” he added.  The stock fell 4.01.
If you would like to learn more about HD, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/HD_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6aeoso5b6f7

Treasury Secretary Yellen reaffirms U.S. could run out of money to pay bills by early June

Americans picked up their spending at retail stores in Apr as inflation showed welcome signs of slowing down.  Retail sales, a measure of how much consumers spent on a number of everyday goods, including cars, food & gasoline, rose 0.4% in Apr, the Commerce Dept reported.  It marks the first increase in 2 months, although it is below the 0.8% increase projected.  Excluding the more volatile measurements of gasoline & autos, sales climbed 0.6% last month.  The figures are not adjusted for inflation.  Consumers spent less on big-ticket items like cars, electronics, appliances, furniture & clothing & more at bars & restaurants.  Gas sales slid 0.8% in Apr, even as the cost of fuel spiked.   "Americans spent at an overall steady-as-she-goes pace in April, with the mix continuing to fall away from items such as electronics and furniture to spending at bars and restaurants," said Robert Frick, corp economist with Navy Federal Credit Union.  "These trends make sense because of the spending binge on goods during the COVID-19 years had to slow sometime, while we’re still playing catch-up on socializing with family and friends."  Despite the rebound in spending last month, sales rose in just 7 of 13 retail categories last month, including motor vehicles & parts dealers, garden & home improvement stores, health & personal care stores & general merchandise stores.  A solid job market & big wage increases have helped to buoy consumer spending.  However, consumers are still spending more frugally as inflation remains abnormally high & rising interest rates begin to take a toll on borrowing costs.

Retail sales rise in April for first time in 2 months

Janet has put out numerous warnings about the debt ceiling crisis, but Biden can't be bothered.  That attitude is scary for the stock market.  HD's report is adding to the recession fears everybody is worrying about.  Meanwhile retail sales (2/3 of the economy) are sluggish.

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