Trading Competitions: Week 4 Recap

Nvidia earnings re-ignited the animal spirits in the market, causing the stock and major indexes to reach several new milestones. Let’s check’em out. 👇

Firstly, a 16% rise in the stock today caused its market cap to rise $277 billion, the largest one-day increase of any stock in history. Secondly, today’s move put it firmly ahead of Google and Amazon as the fourth-largest stock in the world (Saudi Aramco not pictured below). It also moved it a stone’s throw away from $2 trillion. 🤩

One of the key themes we discussed last year was the underperformance of Chinese stocks. While India and other emerging markets rallied sharply (along with the rest of the world), China’s stock market was stuck in the mud because of slowing growth, weak consumer spending, a property market crisis, and geopolitical tensions. ⚠️

Unfortunately for emerging market investors, none of those core issues have improved in 2024, leading its stock market to fall even further to start the year. 😬

While everyone is focused on technology stocks, another market sector has been performing quite well. That sector is industrials, which includes everything from aerospace & defense to machinery, ground transportation, and more. 🏭

The cyclical sector is also a widely-watched proxy for how investors feel about the economy. After all, if the economy is going to grow, these types of companies are needed to help produce, ship, and deliver the goods. And right now, investors are apparently bullish on their outlook because sector ETF $XLI broke out to new highs late last year and hasn’t looked back. 📈