DC Lite #122

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1. Jobless claims. Initial claims moderated to 222k (vs. 220k est) from last week's 232k. Continuing claims rose by more than expected to a 1-month high.

2. Economic Surprise. Citi's Economic Surprise Index dropped to its lowest since September 2022.

3. Sentiment Composite. "Sentiment was a major headwind back in February. It took this type of market action to correct that. Now you can argue sentiment is a tailwind!"

4. AAII stock allocation. AAII stock allocation crossed above 68 in March for just the 14th time in the last 20 years. One-year returns have been historically weak from here.

5. Management focus. Earnings call transcript data shows a shift in focus on managing expenses over pushing pricing power.

See: The Transcript