Happy Wednesday, Zingernation! March inflation numbers came in hotter than expected, which sent stocks lower on the day. But you know where prices aren’t going up? At the Masters concession stands. When the tournament kicks off tomorrow, Augusta will offer its famous menu, featuring pimento cheese sandwiches for $1.50, Cokes for $2, chicken biscuits for $3 and more.

A Masters ticket may be expensive, but once you get there, it’s nice to know that your wallet won’t get beat up like I do on the golf course.

Today’s Price Action:

$SPY: -1.00%
$QQQ: -0.87%
$DIA: -1.11%

Also, don’t miss out on your opportunity to easily invest in vacation and rental homes through today’s partner.

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TODAY’S MOST VOLATILE STOCKS

TODAY’S TOP STORY

March Inflation Derails June Rate Cut Hopes

Briefly: Inflation surged again in March, disappointing investors anticipating imminent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Basically: The annual inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 3.5% last month, according to today’s report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This marked the second consecutive month of increase and exceeded expectations of a 3.4% surge.

Specifically: The surge was largely driven by rising gas prices. The index for gasoline spiked by 1.7% on a monthly basis. On an annual basis, gasoline costs were 1.3% higher, sharply rising from the 3.9% drop in February. Shelter was also a big driver, while prices for used cars hit the brakes.

Still: Excluding food and energy costs, the core CPI inflation rate came in at 3.7% year-on-year, slightly easing from the 3.8% rate in February, in line with expectations.

Click here to read the full breakdown.

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FIVE MOVERS

NVIDIA stock moved higher in today’s session as investors rushed to the semiconductor leader for safety after the hot inflation report.

Comcast shares moved slightly lower in today’s session, despite some high expectations from an analyst in the industry.

Boeing stock decreased for the eighth straight market day as the airplane manufacturer’s delivery numbers missed expectations.

Ally Financial stock closed lower by more than 3% in today’s session ahead of the bank’s earnings report due next week.

Real estate stocks looked real bad today as the hotter-than-expected inflation report means mortgage rates could stay higher for longer.

ONE TRADE IDEA FOR TOMORROW

Alphabet To Gain From Hardware Advances, Analyst Sees Rising Cloud Margins

Briefly: BofA Securities analyst Justin Post reiterated a Buy rating on Google-parent Alphabet, with a price forecast of $173.

So Basically: Google kicked off its annual Cloud Next event with a keynote announcing new custom AI chips through its partnership with Arm, platform-wide integration of its Gemini chatbot and more.

So Then: According to the analyst, Google’s hardware advances, Gemini progress, and AI-driven app demos should help sentiment on AI capabilities.

So What? Post writes that the Cloud AI cycle could be underappreciated for the industry and a positive driver for Google stock, given the growing scale and potential contributions to higher overall revenue growth.

Click here to read more.

PRESENTED BY ARRIVED

Easily Invest in Rental Homes and Vacation Rentals

Arrived's mission is to empower everyone to build wealth through modern real estate investing. We created an investor experience simplifying the complex decision-making traditionally associated with real estate — and lowered the barriers to entry — so anyone can do it.

With Arrived, investors can browse individual single-family residential homes and vacation rentals (pre-vetted based on their appreciation and income potential), choose how much to invest, and start building a highly-tailored portfolio of hand-selected investment properties in minutes. 

Click here to learn more and get started