U.S. stocks were up Wednesday morning ahead of the Club’s first Monthly Meeting of 2024, as investors parsed a slew of earnings and weighed the impact of the Federal Reserve’s likely next moves. January started with a tumble in Big Tech, led down by Apple . Shares of the consumer tech giant plunged nearly 4% on Jan. 2 — its biggest one-day decline in four months — after a rare sell call from Barclays analysts. Apple, which gained 48% in 2023, has since pared its early 2024 losses. The broader market has followed tech’s up-and-down ride. After a slow start, the S & P 500 and the blue-chip Dow notched two consecutive winning weeks. The Dow traded at its highest levels to date on Monday. Meanwhile, the S & P 500 notched it third consecutive record close on Tuesday. A soft landing for the U.S. economy is looking more and more likely. Here then are our top stocks since our last meeting, from the Dec. 19 market close through Tuesday’s trading session. Note: We’re not including one of the top performers, Bausch Health , given the company’s legal overhangs and our 4 rating on the stock. NVDA YTD mountain Nvidia (NVDA) year-to-date performance Coming in at No. 1 is Nvidia . The semiconductor stock surged 20.7% since the December Monthly Meeting. Shares received a nice boost when Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is spending billions on Nvidia’s AI chips. The chipmaker has continued to dominate the graphic processing unit (GPU) market used in the nascent AI tech, leaving us even more upbeat on the stock. Nvidia, of course, was a massive 2023 success story. The stock was the top performer in the S & P 500, skyrocketing 239% during the year. The Club made a small sale of the semi name , along with seven other 2023 tech winners, on Jan. 2. We’re still extremely bullish, but thought it made sense to pocket some gains, understanding mega-caps winners may take a breather as investors look for opportunities in other segments of the market. PANW YTD mountain…
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