Good Evening. The U.S. stock market rose on Tuesday as a result of another inflation report that was cooler than anticipated, despite the fact that fresh geopolitical tensions hampered the rally midday.
The S&P 500 gained 0.87% at the close, while the Dow Jones gained 0.17%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.45% to its highest closing level since September.
DEMO AND RENO
As the backlog of home renovation projects that accumulated during the pandemic continues to fuel growth, Home Depot Inc.’s (HD) sales and profit are above expectations.
- Earnings Per Share: $4.24 vs. $4.12 expected
- Revenue: $38.87 Billion vs. $37.95 Billion
Going Forward… Home Depot’s fortunes are intimately tied to the housing market. As a result of a rise in loan rates, home sales have stalled as policymakers attempt to combat the greatest inflation in decades. According to a November survey of consumer sentiment conducted by the University of Michigan, approximately four out of five consumers currently view home-buying circumstances as poor.
Did you know Home Depot earnings have now grown for 10 consecutive quarters?
GOOGLE LAWSUIT
Google has reached a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states to conclude an inquiry into how the business tracked user locations, according to an announcement by state attorneys general.
Where did this start? The probe was prompted by a 2018 Associated Press report that indicated Google continued to follow people’s location data even after they disabled a feature called “location history” to opt-out of such tracking.
The US Department of Justice expects to launch a lawsuit questioning Google’s search dominance later this year, while both Washington state and the District of Columbia sued Google in September over location monitoring.
What does this mean for Google? The settlement compels Google to display additional information when users turn on or off location services, to not conceal information regarding location monitoring, and to provide users with specific details about the location data being collected.