Inflation Cools, Smart Money Moves: Micron Soars as Modular Medical Insiders Buy In -( $SPY $QQQ $DIA $MU $MODD )

Inflation finally gave consumers a reason to exhale in November, even if no one is quite ready to break out the party hats at the grocery store checkout. The broader market, however, is already eyeing the next act, where a blowout Micron (MU) quarter and determined insider buying at Modular Medical (NASDAQ: MODD) hint that risk appetite is very much alive.

Inflation Steps Off Center Stage

The November Consumer Price Index rose 2.7% from a year earlier, undershooting economist expectations for a 3.1% increase and marking a clear cooling from the 3% pace last seen in September. Core CPI, which politely ignores the unruly food and energy categories, advanced just 2.6% year-over-year, again well below the 3.1% economists had penciled in.

This was also the first CPI print since the government shutdown wiped October off the calendar, leaving traders to stitch together an inflation narrative with a missing chapter. With headline and core both decelerating versus September’s 3% annual gains, markets took the report as confirmation that the inflation fever has broken, even if the patient is still under observation.

The Fed’s New Favorite Waiting Game

For the Federal Reserve, the data landed in the Goldilocks zone: not cold enough to force a victory lap, but just warm enough to justify doing nothing for a bit longer. Futures now imply roughly a one-in-four chance of a rate cut at the January meeting, suggesting traders believe the central bank will opt for strategic patience rather than hasty generosity.

Economists note that tariffs are likely to keep goods inflation “persistent,” while services prices are expected to soften in part due to health-insurance effects, a reminder that not all prices get the memo at the same time. That push-and-pull may keep the Fed in a holding pattern, even as politicians celebrate a 2.7% inflation rate as though they personally negotiated it at the checkout line.

Consumers Get A Smaller Squeeze

For households, slower inflation is less about champagne and more about fewer unwelcome surprises. Price pressures are still above the Fed’s 2% target, but the latest reading marks one of the mildest annual increases since mid-year, offering a modest reprieve after a long stretch of sticker shock.

The November jobs report, released on a delayed schedule thanks to the shutdown, showed stronger-than-expected hiring even as the unemployment rate climbed to a four-year high, a combination that lets optimists talk about resilience while pessimists rehearse the word “stagflation” in the mirror. For now, cooling inflation paired with still-growing payrolls gives markets something rare: a macro backdrop that doesn’t obviously demand either panic or euphoria.

Wall Street Looks Past the Macro

Of course, Wall Street is happiest when it can stop fretting about the Fed and go back to its favorite pastime: rewarding companies that simply blow the doors off expectations. That is where Micron Technology enters, carrying the AI banner like it just discovered electricity.

Micron reported record revenue of about $13.6 billion in its latest quarter, up roughly 57% year-over-year, with adjusted earnings per share crushing consensus and operating cash flow soaring to more than $8 billion. Management credited surging AI data center demand, with high-bandwidth memory effectively sold out into 2026, a polite way of telling skeptics that rumors of an AI bubble may be at least somewhat exaggerated.

A Quiet Vote of Confidence in MODD

At the smaller-cap end of the tape, Modular Medical (NASDAQ: MODD), a company that is targeting a $3 Billion “Almost-Pumper” Market with the first simplified and removable/replaceable insulin patch pump, is currently not commanding AI headline multiples, but its insiders are speaking a language the market understands: open wallets. Over the past year, insiders have been net buyers of the stock, with transactions including a CEO purchase around $300,000 at roughly $1.92 per share and additional director buying in a recent underwritten offering.

In December, one filing showed a director acquiring 60,000 shares and warrants for an additional 30,000 shares at an offering price near $0.77 for each two shares and a warrant, while another disclosed a separate director adding 22,000 shares to bring direct holdings close to 100,000. Aggregate insider activity over the past two years remains positive, with an estimated $3.8 million in net purchases, sending a quiet but clear message that those closest to the business like the risk-reward profile at current levels more than the market headlines might suggest.

The Sum

As inflation gracefully edges off center stage, the script is shifting back to fundamentals: mega-cap enablers of AI like Micron printing record cash flows, and focused innovators like Modular Medical backed by insiders who are still buying their own story—literally.

Inflation Steps Off Center Stage

The Fed’s New Favorite Waiting Game

Consumers Get A Smaller Squeeze

Wall Street Looks Past the Macro

A Quiet Vote of Confidence in MODD

The Sum

The Sources

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