Whoever thought you could get solace from the OK earnings from J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), a trucking company? When I came in at the beginning of the week, I noted to myself that you had to be careful because J.B. Hunt could take down the whole transportation average and we would be back into a world of nonconfirmation.
Turns out that J.B. Hunt did well and that the best part came from intermodal. That shouldn't be a total shock, as even Norfolk Southern (NSC) said that intermodal is good and Union Pacific (UNP) said that it's been the standout. Still, because we are so skittish, just a reaffirmation of any positive rail traffic data points is going to be positive for the transports.
And boy do we need it. You have more than 35% of the S&P 500 being taken down by some bank reports that are disliked and a tech market that's taking its cue from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) not Workday (WDAY).
To me, it will be hard to take down this whole market with the transports in roar mode. The fact that a trucking company didn't slice numbers dramatically was enough to ignite a beaten-down group, and that bodes well for a market in which we are constantly trying to gauge expectations.
Maybe, just maybe, despite Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM), they are lower than you think?
