PUT IN WORK (2/5/2024)

The stock market has continued its positive streak, meaning we're off to a good start for the beginning of February. While the Nasdaq (QQQ) is up 1.3%, the S&P 500 (SPY) is up a similar 1.4%. Though both indices set new all-time highs, only the S&P 500 held that position come market close on Friday, with the Nasdaq having closed just 0.2% below its previous weekly high. Since there will be no Fed meeting this month, most investors are focusing on the remaining reports for the season.

We saw some severe downward movement on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. It was primarily due to the language used during the most recent Fed meeting, where they declared that a rate cut wasn't guaranteed for March. This, naturally, shook up some investors despite that information being, at least for the most part, commonly understood. Stocks then rebounded that following Thursday and especially Friday.

Earnings have also been a driving force for the market, and many notable companies reported last week. While companies such as Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) saw lackluster but not detrimental earnings, others such as Meta (META) and Amazon (AMZN) absolutely crushed it. While Amazon rose by an incredible 8% by the end of the week, Meta saw shocking gains of 20%.

In summary, where investors were previously certain of March rate cuts as of about a month ago, now they're leaning in the opposite direction, with odds of a March rate cut sitting at 20%. Earnings continue to be pivotal in the second half of this season, with several more big-hitters coming up: McDonald's (MCD), Paypal (PYPL), Pepsi (PEP), Palantir (PLTR), and CVS (CVS), to name a few. With earnings continuing to outperform on average thus far and the future of rate cuts a bit clearer now, things are looking up for the market. We're excited to see where this all takes us, and we're hopeful for a bright future.

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

PORTFOLIO UPDATE

Our stocks were a mixed bag yet again this week, with some pushing up alongside the market and others either sitting flat or heading further into the negative. We're curious to see how this year shapes some of our stocks, and we're hoping to see some sizeable gains as rate cuts start. As always, thank you for reading, and happy investing.