Rover's Weekly Market Brief - 04/24/2026

Understanding Screener Snapshots

The Screener Snapshot Facility lets you “freeze” screener results so you can see how they change over time. By comparing snapshots, you can identify new additions, removals, and consistent performers, helping you validate and refine your screening strategy. Read more in our blog post.

Economy

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that advance U.S. retail and food services sales totaled $752.1 billion in March 2026, rising (+1.7%) from the prior month after February was revised higher to a (+0.7%) gain. On a year-over-year basis, total retail and food services sales increased (+4.0%), while sales for the January 2026 through March 2026 period were up (+3.7%) versus the same period last year. Retail sales, which are primarily goods and are not adjusted for inflation, reflected generally solid monthly momentum, led by gains in gasoline stations (+15.5%), furniture & home furnishings stores (+2.2%), and general merchandise stores (+1.0%). Clothing & clothing accessories stores and sporting goods & hobby stores were unchanged (0.0%), while miscellaneous store retailers edged lower (-0.9%). Over the past year, the strongest category gains came from nonstore retailers (+10.1%), miscellaneous store retailers (+9.8%), and clothing & clothing accessories stores (+7.2%), supporting the broader advance in sales activity.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that for the week ending April 17, 2026, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories increased by 1.9 million barrels to 465.7 million barrels, about 3% above the five-year average, while total commercial petroleum inventories declined by 1.8 million barrels as gasoline inventories fell by 4.6 million barrels, leaving gasoline roughly 0.5% below the five-year average and distillate inventories (down 3.4 million barrels) about 8% below average. Refinery inputs averaged 16.0 million barrels per day (bpd) with utilization at 89.1%, resulting in higher production averages of 10.1 million bpd for gasoline and 5.0 million bpd for distillate fuel. Crude oil imports climbed to 6.1 million bpd, while prices declined broadly, with West Texas Intermediate crude dropping $12.43 to $85.91 per barrel, the national average for retail gasoline slipping $0.079 to $4.044 per gallon, and diesel fuel falling $0.205 to $5.403 per gallon.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that advance seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims totaled 214,000 for the week ending April 18, 2026 , an increase of 6,000 from the prior week’s level which was revised higher to 208,000. The four-week moving average rose to 210,750 (+750) , while the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the week ending April 11 held steady at 1.2%. On an unadjusted basis, actual initial claims fell (-4.5%) to 205,306 , staying below the 210,816 filings recorded in the same week in 2025. Advance state-level data showed 15 states and territories reported higher initial claims, while 38 recorded declines. Total seasonally adjusted insured unemployment increased by 12,000 to 1,821,000 following a downward revision to the prior week’s level of 1,809,000. For the week ending April 4, total continued claims across all programs fell by 37,945 to 1,916,361 , remaining below the 1,973,275 claims filed in the same week last year.

Upcoming Economic Reports:

Wednesday April 29 – Durable Goods Orders (MoM) (March)

Thursday April 30 – GDP (QoQ) (Q1)

Earnings Calendar:

 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Amkor Technology (AMKR)	Corning (GLW)	Alphabet (GOOGL)	Apple (AAPL)	Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B)
Verizon Communications (VZ)	Coca-Cola (KO)	Microsoft (MSFT)	Caterpillar (CAT)	Exxon Mobile (XOM)