UNFORTUNATELY....the markets did what I thought might happen today. they faded to red in the afternoon. With the big tech earnings bonanza and the FED next week....short terminvestors took profits and did not want to hold into the weekend. I was in the red today even though I had four of seven stocks UP for the day. I was pulled down by....MSFT, NVDA, and AAPl. I also got beat by the SP500 today by 0.03%. The good news....the loss today was very small and insignificant. I had a good week.
Mixed year to date for the big averages.....but a very good week. DOW year to date (-1.40%) DOW five days +2.39% SP500 year to date +2.54% SP500 five days +2.30% NASDAQ 100 year to date +3.48% NASDAQ 100 five days +0.61% NASDAQ year to date +2.96% NASDAQ five days +0.94% RUSSELL year to date (-2.40%) RUSSELL five days +2.84% Looking at these numbers the week was actually pretty good. I did well and increased my year to date gain for my entire portfolio to......+8.06%. Last week I was at.....+6.90%. Nice to move up for the year.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE. We certainly had a good week this week. Remember....ONWARD AND UPWARD.
I'll have a great weekend and hope you all will too. I was up 0.99% today versus -.07% for the S&P. I'm up 8.04% ytd versus 2.62% for the S&P. VLO and BA led the way. I lost a few $ on NVDA and VOO. FYI that when I give the S&P figures, it includes dividends. I thought that appropriate since my account balance also includes dividends. G
The magnificent five? Forget The Magnificent Seven. Focus On These Fab Five. https://www.investors.com/news/sp-500-forget-magnificent-seven-focus-on-fab-five/?src=A00220 (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "The Magnificent Seven stocks — S&P 500 giants Amazon.com (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) — have been grouped together since the start of the bull market in January 2023. But since mid-2023, and certainly in 2024, there is a clear distinction between these seven megacaps. By both timeframes, the Fab Five of Nvidia, Meta Platforms, Google, Microsoft and Amazon stock are all up, outpacing the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite. Apple stock is flat in both instances. Tesla stock is a huge laggard over these time frames. Magnificent Seven Stock Performance Company Ticker Stock chg since June 30 2024 chg Nvidia NVDA 44.27% 23.24% Meta Platforms META 37.34% 11.35% Google GOOGL 27.14% 8.94% Amazon AMZN 22.06% 4.73% Microsoft MSFT 18.61% 7.42% Apple AAPL -0.80% -0.06% Tesla TSLA -30% -26.25% S&P 500 9.90% 2.54% Nasdaq 12.09% 2.96% S&P 500 Megacap Earnings The fundamentals also show a separation between the Fab Five and their not-so-magnificent peers. Meta Platforms and especially Nvidia are seeing skyrocketing growth. Amazon earnings are roaring back while Google and Microsoft are delivering solid double-digit growth. Apple earnings are up modestly, but sales have fallen vs. a year earlier for four straight quarters. Tesla earnings are plunging with few growth drivers through 2025. Finally, Nvidia and Microsoft are leaders in artificial intelligence, the transformational theme driving the market rally. Meta, Google and Amazon are significant players as well. Amazon, Microsoft, Google also are cloud-computing giants, with Nvidia powering much of those efforts too. Of course, these S&P 500 titans could look different in a few days on technicals and fundamentals. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Apple all report this coming week. Meta stock and Nvidia are on IBD Leaderboard. Microsoft and Nvidia stock are on SwingTrader. MSFT stock is on IBD Long-Term Leaders. Google stock, Nvidia, Meta and Microsoft are all on the IBD 50. Meta, Google and Nvidia are on the IBD Big Cap 20. Nvidia Stock Nvidia stock has run 23.2% in 2024 and 44.3% since June 30. The S&P 500 index's best performer in 2023, NVDA stock is No. 1 in the new year aside from Juniper Networks (JNPR), which is being acquired. The AI chip leader spend most of the second half of 2023 moving sideways. NVDA stock finally cleared its range on Jan. 8, with a powerful breakout. Nvidia and rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announce new AI chips that day. That fueled a big rally in chips and the broader market, shrugging off a rough start to 2024. Nvidia earnings are exploding amid voracious demand for its high-powered chips for AI. Earnings per share skyrocketed 429% and 593% in the past two quarters, with revenue up 101% and 206%. Nvidia won't report fiscal Q4 results until late February. AMD does report on Tuesday. Also, earnings call comments from Microsoft, Meta, Google and Amazon this week will offer insight into Nvidia chip demand. Meta Stock Meta stock has rallied 11.35% in 2024, part of a 37.3% sprint from June 30. Meta earnings have ramped up from -52% to -3% to +31% and +168% in the past few quarters. Some of that reflect cost curbs from job cuts and reining in metaverse ambitions somewhat. But it also reflects revived online advertising. Revenue growth has improved from -4% to +23% over the same span. Meta reports fourth-quarter earnings late Thursday. Google Stock Google stock has gained 8.9% in 2024, with a 27.1% jump since mid-2023. Google earnings and revenue growth also have accelerated for the past three quarters. EPS growth has gone from -19% to +42%, while revenue gains have stepped up from 1% to 11%. Google releases Q4 results late Tuesday. AMAZON STOCK Amazon stock has advanced 4.7% this year but 22.1% since mid-2023. Shares decisively cleared a consolidation in mid-December and are now extended from that. AMZN stock arguably is still in range of a 10-week line bounce, though Thursday's earnings report would greatly add to the risk. Amazon earnings have improved dramatically on a quarter-to-quarter basis, from 3 cents in Q4 2022 to 31 cents in Q1 2023, 65 cents in Q2 and 94 cents in Q3, with the latter up 236% vs. a year earlier. Revenue growth has picked up for the past two quarters, to 13% in Q3. S&P 500 Stock: Microsoft Microsoft stock has rallied 7.4% in 2024 and 18.6% since June 30. The Dow Jones giant paused from mid-July to late October, but then ran up following fiscal Q1 earnings. MSFT stock then paused for two months in the buy zone, before rebounding from the 50-day line a few days into 2024. It's now just out of buy range. Microsoft stock now boasts a $3.002 trillion market cap, slightly exceeding Apple's valuation of $2.992 trillion. Microsoft earnings and sales growth have modestly accelerated for the past three quarters. EPS has gone from -6% to +27%, while sales gains ramped up from 2% to 13%. Microsoft releases fiscal Q2 results Tuesday evening. Apple Stock Apple stock is down less than 0.1% so far in 2024 and off 0.8% since mid-2023. Shares fell significantly to start 2024 amid a flurry of analyst downgrades. Some of that reflected growing concerns about Apple iPhone demand in China. But an upgrade on its upcoming Vision Pro mixed-reality headset and quiet AI efforts helped trigger a bounce back above the 200-day and 50-day lines, offering an aggressive entry within a new flat base. Investors could use the Jan. 24 high of 196.38 as a new early entry. Apple earnings growth has accelerated for the last three quarters, from -10% to 0%, to +5% and +13%. But sales growth has fallen slightly for four straight quarters. Apple earnings for fiscal Q1 are due Thursday night. Tesla Stock Tesla stock has plunged 26.25% so far in 2024 and 30% since mid-2023, skidding to their worst levels since last May. The RS line is at a one-year low. TSLA stock is the second-worst performer on the S&P 500 in 2024, behind only Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), which has crashed on accounting woes. But it's worse than Boeing (BA), which is reeling from 737 Max 9 woes, as well as Humana (HUM), which has issued two massive profit warnings already this year. Shares hit a 52-week high of 299.29 on July 19, just before Q2 earnings. Tesla has sold off hard after the last four earnings reports. Last week, Tesla reported a 40% dive in Q4 earnings vs. a year earlier while sales grew just 3.5%, both slightly missing views. Worse, the EV giant forecast "notably lower" delivery growth in 2024 but few specifics on volumes and profit margins. A next-generation EV could start production in late 2025, but Elon Musk said that might be "optimistic." As for moonshots, Musk said in-house Dojo chips are a "long shot," saying that Tesla will keep buying Nvidia chips for its AI efforts. Despite its recent tumble Tesla stock has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 57, by far the highest in the Magnificent Seven. (SOME content is not included above) MY COMMENT YES....I do see it as the MAGNIFICENT FIVE. BUT........my five are APPL, GOOGL, NVDA, MSFT and AMZN. TSLA is a no brainier to me.....not to own. They are caught up in a big undertow of lack of demand and falling prices for EV vehicles as well as political attacks over the views of Musk. They are by far the best EV company....but I believe they are in for a really difficult next one to two years. Perhaps even more as the EV space shakes out and as the media continues to attack Musk. META......no way for me. I dont think their founder and dictator....under their voting structure.....has a lick of common or business sense. The Metaverse disaster is proof of this. In addition I believe their AI.......PR releases.....are pure BS. In my view it is all simply TALK with no reality to back it up....which is accepted by the media because this company and ZUCK are media darlings. I see APPLE as a much better bet than either of the above. They go through these little product cycles every so often and have always come out the other side just fine. They need to get themselves disconnected from China....which they are starting to do.
A good little write up and synopsis above W....as usual. I guess I will take the easy/lazy way out on this one. I will simply defer to the broad index I hold which lists the top 5 as...AAPL, MSFT, AMZN, NVDA, and GOOGL. Works for me. I currently have no individual companies in my plan and have not for quite sometime. Now, that does not mean I am against doing so. I have always left the door open to add some at some point if I desire, but I really don't need to at this point. The chip investors have been rolling. I have enjoyed following their journey. It is always interesting to look back over the many years and see the top companies and changes over time.
As mentioned earlier, a big week ahead for earnings on some of the top companies. It will be interesting to see how they all do. Tuesday after the close...MSFT, GOOGL, AMD Thursday after the close....AAPL, AMZN, META Of course plenty of other companies throughout the week as well and will continue on as we move forward. Whether you own some of the above or others, it is always a good time to follow along and see how your companies are doing and get some insight on them over the coming weeks.
The upcoming market today and this week. Stock market today: US futures make muted start to earnings-packed week https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stoc...-start-to-earnings-packed-week-123253087.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "US stock futures were little changed on Monday, as investors braced for a busy week packed with big tech earnings updates, a Federal Reserve rate decision, and the crucial US jobs report. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) clung to the flatline, getting off to a muted start after the major stock gauges notched weekly wins. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) ticked higher, up 0.2%. With five of the "Magnificent Seven" tech companies set to report earnings, it looks like a crunch week for stocks. Big techs have driven the S&P 500's recent record-setting gains, and the focus will be on whether their AI efforts and layoffs are paying off. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) lead out the pack on Tuesday, with Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) among the 100-plus flood of corporates on the docket. At the same time, investors are preparing for the Fed's policy decision on Wednesday, after data last week showed inflation cooling and the economy robust. While policymakers are expected to hold interest rate steady at 5.25%, the market will listen closely to chair Jerome Powell's comments for clues to when cuts could begin amid a scaling-back on March bets. Also coming is Friday's US jobs report for December, which will factor into calculations of whether the Fed has managed a "soft landing." Meanwhile, concerns about China's economic health were stoked by the looming failure of property development giant Evergrande (3333.HK) (EGRNQ). A Hong Kong court has ordered the hugely indebted company to liquidate, seen as a milestone in the property crisis upending the world's second-biggest economy. Oil prices hovered below the flatline as concerns about an impact on Chinese demand vied with supply risks from a tightening in Middle East tensions after a drone attack on US forces. US benchmark WTI futures (CL=F) traded under $78 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent futures (BZ=F) changed hands at around $83 a barrel." MY COMMENT The last first......NO....I dont care about China. It is ridiculous how we obsess over this communist dictatorship and their PHONE economy. YEP......a big week in earnings.....for me and the markets. My personal focus is on the companies that I own....but lots going on in earnings this week and over the next 3-4 weeks. The FED....well.....another non-issue. they are not going to raise rates. As to cutting rates....who knows. I assume they will continue to play COY on this issue to try to keep the markets under control. they continue to think that trashing the markets is somehow controlling the economy. Fortunately their ability to trash anything is greatly reduced now.
If you are into China and their economy....here you go: Evergrande collapse: Hong Kong court orders liquidation of China property giant Judge says ‘enough is enough’ after developer, which has $300bn in debt, fails to provide convincing restructuring plan https://www.theguardian.com/busines...quidation-china-debt-developer-property-giant
As I mentioned last week....in my kids spouse account we bought some stocks at the open today. Same stocks as all the portfolios that I am associated with....AMZN, GOOGL, MSFT, AAPL, COST, HD, and NVDA. There was a nice little dip for many of the tech stocks at the open so we got a bit of a price break on a few of those stocks. Now the buy is done so......what matters now is the long term. This account is now about 22% in the stocks and 78% the SP500. Of course all those same stocks are big in the SP500 based on market cap. So they are all doubled up. This is the first time to add some individual stocks to this account. Up till now it was just not large enough to bother having some individual stocks. So now.......it is simply sit on them for the long term.
All in all not a bad open today. The big averages are green across the board. I know I am green to start the day without looking. I cant ask for more than that with the open being the random short term. Now for the hard part.....siting and waiting and doing nothing.
Pretty boring day so far. Seems like Chip stocks are burning time waiting of AMD earning call after hours tomorrow. More of that sitting and waiting W talks about. I have no plans to sell in the near future.
With the close near.....the trades that I made at the open.....are looking good. I hate to lose on the first day.......especially with someone else's money.
I had a good strong gain in my stocks today. ALL were UP except for....AAPL. I also managed to beat the SP500 today by 0.52%. We now move to our first BIG CAP TECH earnings report tomorrow. I have reports from MSFT and GOOGL tomorrow and AMZN and AAPL on Thursday. Meta...which I do not own....also reports on Thursday.
The market day today....now that it is over. S&P 500 rises to close at fresh record Monday as Big Tech earnings loom https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/28/sto...gs-and-fed-meeting-decision-live-updates.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "The S&P 500 rose Monday and closed at a fresh record high as Wall Street looked toward several mega-cap tech earnings reports and the Federal Reserve’s rate policy decision. The benchmark index climbed 0.76% to 4,927.93, topping its highest ever close of 4,894.16, reached Jan. 25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 224.02 points, or 0.59% to close at 38,333.45, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.12% and settled at 15,628.04. It was the sixth record close for the S&P 500 and the Dow. This week marks the busiest slate of the earnings season, with 19% of the S&P 500 reporting earnings. Mega-cap tech names Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet — part of the core group of big tech companies that have led this year’s rally — will be posting their results. Investors will also keep an eye on several Dow components reporting their quarterly earnings, including Boeing and Merck. Meanwhile, the Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. Investors are nearly certain the central bank will keep rates steady. Traders in the fed funds futures market assigned a roughly 97% probability the Fed will not cut rates at the upcoming meeting, according to the CME Group. “This week could be key,” said Chris Larkin, head of trading and investing at E-Trade. “If the market is going to sustain its latest breakout, it may need to avoid earnings disappointments from this week’s Big Tech lineup, get encouraging news from the Fed on interest rates, and see jobs numbers that are solid, but not too hot.” Shares of iRobot tumbled nearly 9% following news that Amazon would know longer pursue a deal to acquire the company." MY COMMENT A good day today. Absolutely ZERO bad news today. The markets continue in....ZOOM.....mode. Once we get past the BIG CAP TECH earnings this week there is nothing in the way of the markets till April or beyond. I LOVE IT when everything comes together.
I gained approx 0.80 % while the S&P, barely ahead of the index. Getting near my all time high and I'm up 8.87% ytd. G
Well it is the start to BIG CAP TECH earnings today. and....the markets are open.....slightly in the red......and basically flat so far.
I like this little article. Weekly Market Pulse: Surprises https://alhambrapartners.com/2024/01/28/weekly-market-pulse-surprises/ (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "We got the latest report on economic growth last week and it surprised most everyone. Real GDP expanded by an annualized 3.3% in the fourth quarter, well above the consensus estimate of 2%. Nominal GDP expanded an annualized 4.8% quarter to quarter and 5.8% year-over-year. The annualized quarter-to-quarter change is exactly the average annual change since 1990. Real GDP grew by 3.3% quarter to quarter and 3.1% year over year. That is slightly above the average since 1990 of 2.4%. Inflation fell. The price index for domestic purchases rose 1.9% versus 2.9% last quarter. The personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index rose 1.7% versus 2.6% last quarter. Core prices, excluding food and energy, rose 2%. Real disposable personal income (after tax, after inflation) rose 2.5% versus 0.3% last quarter Consumption rose 2.8% while investment rose 2.1%. Residential investment added to GDP for the second straight quarter. Exports rose 6.3% while imports rose 1.9% Government consumption and investment rose 3.3%. Federal was up 2.5% while state and local rose 3.7% The breakdown of the 3.3% growth: Consumption 1.91%, Private Investment 0.38% (and only 0.07% was due to inventory), net exports 0.43%, Government 0.56% That is a solid report on the state of the US economy. It isn’t perfect and never is but the improvement in the economy over the last year was substantial, especially in light of the negative consumer sentiment and widespread expectations for recession. Consumer sentiment has recently improved – likely a result of a better stock market – to 78.8, up from 63.8 in November and way above the all-time low of 50 set in June of 2022. It is still below the long-term average but what’s more interesting – to me at least – is that it is acting as it normally does coming out of recession. Is the manufacturing recession coming to an end? Maybe. Manufacturing has been a drag because inventories became bloated after supply chains eased up and delayed goods were delivered. But after over a year of working on inventories, it appears that a restocking cycle may be upon us. We haven’t seen much improvement in the regional Fed surveys yet but the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI improved at the mid-month read to 50.3, a significant improvement from last month’s 47.9 and well above consensus expectations of further deterioration. New durable goods orders were reported last week and while the headline was flat, the reading ex-transportation was up 0.6%, much better than the expected +0.2%. Transportation orders were down because of Boeing, which isn’t surprising in light of recent events. I won’t say that doesn’t matter because it does, but the rest of the report was surprisingly strong. The ex-defense reading was +0.5% and core capital goods orders were up 0.3%. Personal income and spending, reported on Friday were also solid, up 0.3% and 0.7% respectively. It is important to remember that all these reports are about the past and don’t say a lot about the future. It could be that the holiday season was a last hurrah before consumers hunker down, but with real incomes still rising, that seems unlikely. Americans are not known for their frugality (although I’m encouraged to see that as a new trend among young people) and if they have the means, they are generally willing to spend. Unfortunately, consumer spending isn’t a leading indicator, usually not falling until after the recession starts. Durable goods orders aren’t any more useful as an advance warning with plenty of monthly and quarterly declines in the past that weren’t associated with recession. The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators, which have proven very useful in the past in identifying oncoming recessions, are currently at levels associated with recession – and have been for over a year – but of course, it hasn’t happened. That isn’t surprising since the LEI is manufacturing centric which has certainly been in a slowdown. If you look at the individual indicators that make up the total index, the most negative over the last six months are survey-based: The inverted yield curve – currently improving (steepening) Consumer expectations for Business Conditions – bottomed in mid-2022 and “unexpectedly” rose last month to 85.6 from 77.4 in November The ISM index of new orders – bottomed a year ago in January of 2023 at 42.5 and is now rising at 47.1, something you usually see coming out of recession The most positive are about actual activity: Building permits – positive over the last six months Core capital goods orders – positive, see above New orders for consumer goods – +1.2% over the last six months Weekly unemployment claims – near lows last seen in the late 1960s The US economy is a big, diverse beast and I don’t think anyone can predict the quarter-to-quarter or even year-to-year changes. That doesn’t stop thousands of pundits from trying though and they usually get it wrong. You could probably place pretty high in the guru rankings by just assuming that if things are bad they are going to get better, that the economy will return to its long-term averages. Since 2008, it has been popular – and profitable for some people – to bash the US as past its prime, a has-been nation that doesn’t “make anything anymore”. But we always seem to find the next big thing and continue to invest, consume and grow, to the envy of much of the world. It is true that the US no longer commands the largest share of global manufacturing as it did for many years after WWII. China now holds that title at around 28% of total global manufacturing output. The US is however, second at around 16%, with only a quarter of the population of China. We’re a lot more productive, which is what matters for economic growth; have you seen China’s economy lately? The US share of global manufacturing is greater than Japan, Germany, and South Korea combined. We may not make many consumer goods anymore but we are still a manufacturing powerhouse. We are also an energy powerhouse. The US set a record for oil production last year. Not a record for the US but a record for any country. US production hit 13.2 million barrels per day in September. We are the largest producer in the world by a pretty good margin: US – 13 million bpd Saudi Arabia – 9 million bpd Russia – 9 million bpd (est) Canada – 4.9 million bpd Iraq – 4.3 million bpd I don’t mean to imply that the US economy is without its problems. There are serious questions about the future of our economy that will have to be answered at some point. Is this expansion driven by government spending and if so, is it sustainable? Well, it isn’t from direct government spending which, at around 17% of GDP is very low: The problem is more with deficits and debt which certainly seem to be out of control and unsustainable. How long before the world of bond buyers balks and forces us to address our fiscal situation? I don’t know the answer to that but a rapid adjustment forced by the market would probably not be pleasant. With so much of our federal spending non-discretionary, any fix is not going to be easy and will likely involve breaking a lot of past promises. For now, though, the market is absorbing the new debt issuance with demand concentrated in the front end of the curve; everyone wants to buy T-Bills these days. I heard a lot of people say that Yellen issued a lot of T-bills in the last quarterly refunding to somehow affect liquidity but I think she issued them because that’s where the demand is. The last thing she wants is to attempt to sell longer-term debt and have the market refuse to buy it. Recent auctions of longer-term debt have not gone all that well and she knows that. There will be another quarterly refunding announcement this week and I expect a lot of T-bill issuance again. With the economy doing well, the first Fed meeting of the year next week should prove boring. I see no justification in the current data whatsoever that would justify a cut in rates and with inflation continuing to fall, no reason to raise them either. And that assumes that moving short-term rates around has the impact on inflation everyone, including the Fed, thinks. There is now a robust debate among economists about whether the Fed’s rate hikes had anything to do with bringing down the inflation rate, something I brought up months ago. The evidence is thin, to say the least. That doesn’t mean I think they should have left rates at zero because I don’t. There are a lot of reasons interest rates needed to be higher and I think part of the reason the economy is functioning better now is because of it. It has certainly helped the frugal among us, the savers who have had no place to park safe money for over a decade. The annual rate of personal interest income is up 22% since September 2020, an annual raise of about $338 billion. Higher rates may not be good for a government deep in debt or first-time home buyers with 3,000-square-foot houses in their dreams, but it is darn good for the rest of us. One of the consequences of an economy performing better than expected is that the five rate cuts expected at the beginning of the year are rapidly being priced out of the market. The first rate cut was expected in March with the probability at 74% a month ago. Now the odds are down to less than 50%. Another cut was expected in May with a 72% probability a month ago which is now down to a coin flip. And if the economic data stays as good as it is right now, you’ll see the odds of further rate cuts continue to erode. What would that mean for your investments? If the Fed doesn’t cut rates, the impact on investors will be determined by why. Does the Fed keep rates at these levels because the economy is performing well with trend real growth or better and inflation near their target? Or do they not cut because inflation spikes again? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which one of those would be good for investors. I don’t think we need rate cuts to produce good returns in markets this year and five of them would only happen if we’re in or headed rapidly to recession. Why would anyone root for that scenario? After years of turmoil, I’m rooting for stability, for a Fed that doesn’t dominate the economic news. Bond market volatility peaked last March when it started to become clear the Fed was about done with its rate-hiking campaign. Will it continue? That depends on whether the Fed continues to feel compelled to respond to every twitch of the economy with a change in policy or rhetoric. It is ironic that the Fed introduced “forward guidance” as a way to reduce uncertainty about their future actions but instead produced the opposite, more uncertainty and more volatility. The economy is functioning as well as it is, not because of the Fed, but in spite of them. The Fed is the problem, not the solution. " MY COMMENT The last sentence is certainly true. The data summarized above is about as good as you can get. We are all set up for a good year in 2024. now....the only issue is what government, the FED, and others will do to screw it up.
The market today as we wait for the first of the BIG CAP TECH earnings after the bell today. EXCITING.....well not really....just a single quarter of earnings...that I expect to be good for MSFT and GOOGL. Stock market today: US stocks take a breather as earnings flood in https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stoc...-breather-as-earnings-flood-in-143507210.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "US stocks were moderately lower on Tuesday, but hovered near record highs as investors waited for Microsoft to lead out Big Tech results as earnings season roars into gear. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) traded flat after Monday's winning session lifted the benchmark to another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) inched 0.1% lower, while contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also fell about 0.1%. The "Magnificent Seven" tech megacaps — apart from Tesla (TSLA) — are expected to do much of the heavy lifting for the S&P 500 this earnings season after powering the recent stock rally. Investors will scour Microsoft's (MSFT) report for signs of more payoff from its vast investments in AI. Results from Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) are also due after the bell on Tuesday, while Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta (META) are on Thursday's docket. General Motors (GM) led out the flood of earnings Tuesday with results that handily beat expectations for sales and revenue in a fourth quarter marked by strikes. GM shares jumped more than 8% in early trading. Meanwhile, investors are counting down to the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday. The question of whether cuts will happen in March or May is currently the subject of intense debate on Wall Street as markets hang near records." MY COMMENT NICE that there is really no new news in the slightest. All is stable and good in the world of stocks and economics at this moment. We POWER ON.....as long term investors.
