PUT IN WORK (9/23/2024)

After last week's Fed meeting, the stock market has reached another level, with several indices hitting all-time highs yet again. Stocks were soaring last week, a fact that's been reflected in the S&P 500's (SPY) stellar performance, climbing 1% higher by Friday and reaching a new milestone. The Nasdaq (QQQ) also had quite a lovely week, though it failed to hit a new peak. Regardless, it climbed 1.5% by Friday's close. Both of these indices were higher on Thursday, the day after the Fed meeting, but once Friday came around, investors had some time to think about the outcome of the meeting, resulting in a slight single-day decline.

It's no surprise that the Fed decided to cut interest rates this past Wednesday—it's a sentiment that's been shared hundreds of times by hundreds of different investors. Some may even say that the interest rate cuts were inevitable. The only question on investors' minds was just how heavy a cut it would be. Some speculated that the cut would be a quarter percent, and others speculated that it would be a half percent, and last week, we got our answer. The Fed cut rates by half a percent, choosing a more aggressive course of action. This sat well with some; as we mentioned in a previous issue, it spelled trouble for others.

The market at large, at least in the short-term, favored this decision, and the Russell 2000 (RUT) especially liked the sound of an aggressive cut and, at one point, was up nearly 4%. It now pushes against a level it's struggled to go beyond since early 2022, but depending on the decisions made by the Fed, in the future, it may find the drive and incentive it needs to move higher. As everything stands, many investors are still hopeful for a soft landing, while others are weary and cautious of things to come. We believe it's best to be somewhere in the middle. No matter what happens, we're sure to see some volatility heading into the end of the year.

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

PORTFOLIO UPDATE

Our stocks rose alongside the rest of the market, with some outliers moving even higher than anticipated. In other news, some stocks we own that aren't currently in our site portfolio are also going strong: stocks such as Spotify (SPOT), AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), The Trade Desk (TTD), AppLovin (APP), and Ubiquiti (UI). We hope to see all of these larger stocks continue to rise into and out of the end of the year, especially as we factor in upcoming rate cuts and the economy's future. We plan to hold all currently owned stocks for the foreseeable future. As always, thank you for reading, and happy investing.