Stock Market Today: Stocks Finish Lower After Inflation Data, Fed Minutes
Today's loss extended lengthy losing streaks for the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.


Wednesday's choppy trading ended with a loss for stocks. Modest declines for the Nasdaq Composite (-0.1% at 10,417) and the S&P 500 Index (-0.3% at 3,577) had the two indexes extending their losing streaks to six days, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.1% to 29,210.
In focus today was September's producer price index (PPI), which showed wholesale inflation rose at a faster-than-expected pace last month. Meanwhile, core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, posted its largest month-over-month increase since May.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
The inflation data came ahead of this afternoon's release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) September meeting, when the central bank issued its third consecutive 75 basis-point rate hike (a basis point = 0.01%). The minutes showed red-hot inflation is still top of mind for the Fed, and confirmed that the central bank "needed to move to, and then maintain, a more restrictive policy stance" in order to ease price pressures.
Not All Dividend Stocks Are Created Equal
Today's PPI report makes tomorrow's release of the consumer price index (CPI) all that more critical, especially as the Federal Reserve continues to be concerned about stubbornly high inflation. "No doubt the Fed still has its work cut out for them, and if tomorrow's CPI read is hot, don’t be surprised to see some investors come to grips with how long the road to tamer inflation may be," says Mike Loewengart, head of portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley Global Investment Office.
We've talked in this space many times about how investors can protect their portfolios against potential volatility in the market, including with dividend stocks. But not all dividend payers are created equal. "Too often people are drawn to the allure of a high yield, not realizing the company doesn't have the financial strength to pay the same level of dividend into the future," says Austin Graff, co-chief investment officer and portfolio manager of the TrueShares Low Volatility Equity Income ETF (DIVZ). "Combine that with the fact that we have entered a new paradigm in the market, from extremely easy money policy to tighter monetary policy, the dividend yields of companies that rely on heavy debt loads become suspect."
As such, it's important for investors to focus on high-quality dividend stocks, which can often be found in companies consistently growing their payouts. The obvious place to start is with the Dividend Aristocrats, an elite group of S&P 500 stocks that have raised their dividends for 25 straight years. There are also the Dividend Kings – the crème de la crème of dividend growers that have hiked their payouts for at least 50 consecutive years. Check them out.
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
Over 50 and Still Paying Student Loans? Here's Some Help
It's the club no one wants to join. But if you are over 50 and still paying student loans, there are ways to tackle both debt and retirement savings.
-
Eight Estate Planning Steps to Protect Your Loved Ones (and Your Legacy)
Two-thirds of Americans don't have an estate plan. If you're one of them, these are the essential steps to take now to prevent problems for your family later.
-
Stock Market Today: Good Feelings and Solid Data Lift Stocks
Resilience and de-escalation defined another generally positive day for financial markets.
-
Stock Market Today: Tesla Drags on Stocks Amid Musk-Trump Feud
Sentiment has soured between President Trump and his once-loyal ally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Brush Off Weak Jobs Data
The yields on the 2-year and 10-year Treasury notes fell sharply after a pair of weak economic reports.
-
Stock Market Today: Rally Extends on Good-Enough Expectations
Fiscal policy still has markets' attention, but taxes rather than tariffs and deficits rather than inflation are participants' primary focus.
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Move With Fresh Trade War Winds
The new uncertainty is the same as the old uncertainty, which is fine with investors, traders and speculators.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Bounce as US-China Tensions Escalate
Stocks were volatile to end the week and the month amid concerns a trade truce between the U.S. and China is splintering.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Chop as Judges Block Then Reinstate Tariffs
The Trump administration has asked for and received a stay in a case that seems headed for the Supreme Court.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle Ahead of Nvidia Earnings
The three main indexes closed lower as Wall Street awaited the AI bellwether's quarterly results.