Welcome to MarketBites! Here's all you need to know about yesterday's market news.

"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

 - Michelangelo

PORTFOLIO MANAGER COMMENTARY

Stocks jumped Wednesday, rising for a second straight day, after upbeat earnings reports from FedEx and Nike raised hopes that corporate earnings may be better than feared even with a potential recession. Nike rose 12% after beating revenue expectations and lifted other retail stocks as a result. Meanwhile, FedEx posted a more moderate 3.4% increase as they beat EPS estimates.

“We got sort of oversold and I think the market was looking for an excuse to rally, and the Nike and FedEx number provided that,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “I really question, however, if this is something that’s going to be long-lasting.”

Better-than-expected consumer confidence data for December, which jumped to the highest level since April, also boosted investor sentiment.

CHART OF THE DAY

The Labor Department on Tuesday reported that U.S. consumer prices rose an adjusted 0.1% last month from October—well short of the 0.3% economists had expected. That put overall prices 7.1% above their year-earlier level, marking the smallest gain since December of last year. Prices excluding food and energy items, the so-called core that economists and policy makers look to for a better understanding of inflation’s trend, rose a smaller-than-expected 0.2% from October and were up 6% versus a year earlier.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

• Zelensky Visits White House in First Trip Outside Ukraine - read here
• Home sales fell 7.7% in November - read here