PUT IN WORK (11/4/2024)

After nearly two consecutive months of impressive gains, the stock market has finally taken a noticeable breather, but not to worry! The Nasdaq (QQQ) fell 1.6%, while the S&P 500 (SPY) fell 1.4%. Stocks started the week positively, with Monday’s open revealing that stocks were higher than at Friday’s close. By close, stocks were mixed, with the following days of the week practically being determined by various earnings reports.

Even so, investors didn’t see much movement Monday through Wednesday. Thursday, however, things took a turn for the worse. The subpar earnings in conjunction with investors’ concerns for reports that would take place after hours—Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), and Intel (INTC), to name a few—resulted in a massively negative day. Nearly all of the week’s losses can be attributed to Thursday’s market movement, with Friday’s attempted rally seemingly failing. Ultimately, stocks were just a bit overbought in the short term. The S&P 500 was still coming off a new high that it had reached just a couple of weeks prior, and the Nasdaq was similarly on the verge of reaching a new peak.

This week will focus on earnings and, more importantly, the upcoming Fed meeting. The Fed meeting is taking place this Wednesday and Thursday, and investors are eager to see what’s in store. Most believe that we’ll see a quarter-point cut, but others are concerned that the uncertainty of our upcoming election might encourage a half-point cut instead. Others are already looking out to December, concerning themselves with the potential of any cut at all. Naturally, no one knows exactly what will come of the meeting, but we’re eager and ready for whatever it brings.

(Nasdaq ETF (QQQ) price from November 2023 - 2024 — each candle is 1 week. Chart provided by tradingview.com.)

PORTFOLIO UPDATE

Our portfolio fell alongside the market, with the majority of our stocks sliding several percentage points. Some stocks, such as Snap (SNAP), surprised us with fantastic earnings, but the majority moved with the market. We plan to hold all currently owned stocks for the foreseeable future. As always, thank you for reading, and happy investing.