Market Performance: April 10, 2024.

US stocks stumbled on Wednesday after a key inflation report showed an unexpected uptick in consumer prices last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell about 1.1%, or almost 425 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped nearly 1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost almost 0.9%.

Meanwhile, bond yields soared. The 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) gained as much as 20 basis points on Wednesday afternoon, hitting nearly 4.57%, its highest level since November.

The moves came after government data showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4% over the previous month and 3.5% over the prior year in March, an unexpected acceleration from February's 3.2% annual gain in prices.

Both measures came in ahead of economist forecasts of a 0.3% month-over-month increase and a 3.4% annual increase, according to a survey by Bloomberg.

Can money buy happiness? Income may boost emotional well-being more than we thought

New findings contradict widely reported study that happiness plateaus at $75,000 Money does indeed buy happiness, and it increases with a bigger paycheque more than economists previously believed, a recent analysis has found.

Widely reported findings by two Nobel Prize-winning economists (new window) in 2010 cemented the idea that money could buy happiness only to a certain point — and that point was said to be about $75,000 at the time.

The newer conclusions are based on a more continuous measure of happiness, Kushlev told Cost of Living (new window). The researchers would ping their subjects' phones randomly during the day to ask them, How do you feel right now? — rating their mood on a scale from very bad to very good. So when you use this measure, there seems to be a linear relationship between income and happiness that does not level off at $75,000, Kushlev said.

3 pillars of happiness Kushlev said when researchers talk about happiness, they tend to use a term called subjective well-being, which has three components. One component is how we look at our lives overall, and that's what we call life satisfaction. And generally speaking, when we talk about income and happiness, income does relate to greater life satisfaction.

But Kushlev said what's less clear from research is how money affects the other two pillars of emotional well-being: frequent positive feelings and relatively infrequent negative feelings.

Undervalued Stocks to Own if You Dream of Retiring Early

Navigating the complicated stock market landscape might be intimidating for people who want to retire early. But even amid all the upheaval and uncertainty, certain possibilities are possible sources of wealth generation. Here, three such prospects are highlighted and explored as good bets for early retirement.

Uncover how these equities offer unique avenues for early retirement planning.

M-Tron Industries (MPTI) 

Operating income for M-Tron Industries grew to $4.3 million in 2023 from $2.9 million the year before. M-Tron has succeeded in increasing operational efficiency and optimizing profitability, as seen in this rise in operating income, which resulted from greater sales and margin benefits from changes in the product mix. Additionally, M-Tron’s engineering, selling and administrative costs as a proportion of sales have decreased from 26.6% to 25.4% in 2023, except for one-time charges related to stock-based compensation.

Canadian Solar (CSIQ)

A Canadian Solar (CSIQ) display booth at a convention in Bangkok, Thailand. As of January 2024, Canadian Solar‘s e-Storage business has grown its pipeline to 63 gigawatt hours (GWh). It is along with a committed backlog of $2.6 billion. Recurrent Energy has a 55 GWh battery energy storage development pipeline and a worldwide solar development pipeline of 27 gigawatt peak (GWp).

Ituran Location & Control (ITRN)

Ituran Location & Control has a solid direction and an emphasis on rapid growth prospects. The company may deliver high valuations in the long run thanks to its clear outlook. For instance, the company aims to reach $100 million in 2025 and has projected EBITDA of $90-95 million for 2024. This shows its strategic vision and dedication to ongoing expansion.

In summary, this growth rate demonstrates the company’s capacity to speed up client acquisition, which is higher than the long-term historical pace seen in 2021 and prior years.

Alternative Investing