Dow Industrials Flat-Lined Six Straight Sessions; Wamart Miss on EPS Sending Shockwaves Through Markets

While much attention has been paid to the recent swoon in tech stocks, with the NASDAQ down four of the past five sessions, losing sharply Tuesday and Wednesday, it would be easy to miss another market phenomenon occurring over the same period, that being the flat-lining of the Dow Industrials, which have closed fractionally higher and lower around a nexus at 44,922.27 for the past six sessions, actually closing at that exact price on both August 13 and August 19.

What has kept the Dow within a tight range could be any number of variables, though the most likely appears to be overhead resistance at the all-time high of 45,014.04. The index has exceeded that number on an intraday basis, but has consistently retreated from it, as if Adam Smith's "invisible hand" of market dynamics has exerted control over billions of shares of stocks represented by the index.

Perhaps the NASDAQ is a more telling manifestation of general market exhaustion, but the Dow Industrials failing to make new highs, even as the NASDAQ and S&P have crossed into fresh territory numerous times this year, is one that bears watching if only to dignify the claims of Dow Theorists that the rally off of April lows has been nothing short of a lengthy dead cat bounce into extreme valuations and that the Dow Industrials and Dow Transports continue to signal a primary bearish trend from which the market cannot escape.

The Dow's recent flat-line streak may be coming to an abrupt end as of Thursday, as futures are projecting a dismal open after Walmart (WMT) released second quarter earnings prior to the bell.

Being the world's largest retailer and a Dow Component, Walmart's miss on EPS in the second quarter is sending shock waves through global markets. Walmart reported EPS of 68 cents, short of the consensus estimate of 73 cents per share. Though the company has gained market share from other competitors with consistent lower prices on a wide range of goods and has raised guidance, investors are focusing on the results and the threat of margin pressure from tariff costs.

With the opening bell due to ring in just moments, Dow futures are indicating a negative open, with Dow futures off 165 points, NASDAQ futures lower by 100, and S&P futures sliding 25 points.

While it may not yet be time to panic, there is certainly a mood change on Wall Street, especially with Jerome Powell's keynote address at the Jackson Hole Economic Conference scheduled for Friday morning.

The next few sessions could go a long way toward determining the overall direction of markets in the near term.

At the Close, Wednesday, August 20, 2025:
Dow: 44,938.31, +16.04 (+0.04%)
NASDAQ: 21,172.86, -142.09 (-0.67%)
S&P 500: 6,395.78, -15.59 (-0.24%)
NYSE Composite: 20,865.55, +44.89 (+0.22%)