New Highs Today... Higher Highs Tomorrow

The S&P 500 Index just made a new 52-week high... It closed yesterday at 4707. That's a roughly 14% gain off its late-October low. [Chaikin PowerFeed]( New Highs Today... Higher Highs Tomorrow By Marc Chaikin, founder, Chaikin Analytics The S&P 500 Index just made a new 52-week high... It closed yesterday at 4,707. That's a roughly 14% gain off its late-October low. Notably, the S&P 500 hasn't been at this level since early 2022. And as regular readers know, it was on the way down at that point. The S&P 500 is up around 23% this year. And it's only about 2% from its all-time high at nearly 4,800. Technology and communications services have been the standout sectors in 2023. They're both up at least 45%. In fact, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) is now up a whopping 53% this year. That's significant... The tech sector has surged more than 40% in a single year seven times since 1990. And according to data from Bespoke Investment Group, tech stocks continued to rally the following year in six of those seven instances. They made an average gain of nearly 22%. That's a big reason why I expect the current rally to continue. And large-cap cash-flow machines like Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), and Microsoft (MSFT) will keep leading the way. Microsoft looks strong in the short term as well... The tech giant is entering into a strong seasonal period. Over the past 15 years, it has traded higher more than 75% of the time in the final two weeks of December. Now, with all that in mind, let's focus on two factors today... Recommended Links: [Severe Stock Warning: Sell your stocks by January 1, 2024?]( It doesn't matter if you have money in the markets right now, or you're waiting on the sidelines. The early days of 2024 could have the power to make – or destroy – fortunes. And what you do with your money before January 1 could determine your wealth for the next decade. [Here's what's happening and how to prepare](. [Must-See: Subscriber's Viral Holiday Video]( Have you seen this holiday message from a subscriber over at Stansberry Research? He retired early thanks to ONE investing idea that doesn't involve stocks... options... or cryptocurrencies. And he's kept on enjoying retirement – worry-free – right through all of the volatility of the past year. The secret? A simple strategy for seeing double-digit annual income... AND triple-digit capital gains... with legal protections (even in an economic crisis). [Click here for his new holiday message](. The first factor is the obvious one – interest rates. Financial stocks have rallied since late October. By that, I'm talking about major and regional banks, as well as insurance companies and brokerages. As rates and inflation keep falling, these financial stocks have extended their rallies. The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) is up 20% since late March. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond has now dropped sharply to around 4%. You'll likely recall that [it climbed as high as about 5%]( in mid-October. At the same time, 30-year mortgage rates have dropped from their recent highs at more than 8%. That change is helping homebuilding stocks make new highs as well. The Federal Reserve just wrapped up its final policy meeting of the year yesterday afternoon. And as expected, it didn't change the benchmark federal-funds rate again. The central bank's next move will likely be a rate cut. But the timing is still uncertain... Fed Chair Jerome Powell didn't commit to a time frame in his post-meeting comments. But we do know that the Fed's own projections suggest three rate cuts in 2024. And the market currently prices in three to four rate cuts of 75 to 100 basis points next year. Since Powell hasn't surprised anyone, we haven't seen a lot of market turbulence. The second, less-discussed factor has to do with market inflows. And more specifically, it deals with how that concept continues to push interest rates as well. Put simply, cash from bond sales is flooding back into stocks. We've now experienced eight straight weeks of inflows into U.S. equity funds. At a total of around $64 billion, these inflows have helped fuel the ongoing rally. At the same time, $62 billion went into money-market funds. The simultaneous inflows of cash into stocks and money-market funds came from folks selling U.S. Treasury bonds as interest rates continued their six-week decline. Now, I realize this stuff is a little in the weeds. But the long and the short of it is simple... The market is making higher highs today. And I expect higher highs in the coming weeks. Good investing, Marc Chaikin Market View Major Indexes and Notable Sectors # Hld: Bullish Neutral Bearish Dow 30 +1.460% 11 18 1 S&P 500 +1.370% 162 293 42 Nasdaq +1.270% 45 49 5 Small Caps +3.520% 686 967 271 Bonds +2.220% Utilities +3.780% 2 27 1 — According to the Chaikin Power Bar, Small Cap stocks and Large Cap stocks remain Bullish. Major indexes are mixed. * * * * Sector Tracker Sector movement over the last 5 days Information Technology +4.57% Financial +4.00% Real Estate +3.88% Materials +3.60% Utilities +3.60% Discretionary +3.20% Communication +3.17% Health Care +3.00% Industrials +2.97% Staples +2.84% Energy +0.51% * * * * Industry Focus Health Care Equipment Services 2 49 19 Over the past 6 months, the Health Care Equipment subsector (XHE) has underperformed the S&P 500 by -25.38%. Its Power Bar ratio, which measures future potential, is Very Weak, with more Bearish than Bullish stocks. It is currently ranked #20 of 21 subsectors. Indicative Stocks [rating] GKOS Glaukos Corporation [rating] NVCR NovoCure Limited [rating] ZBH Zimmer Biomet Holdin * * * * Top Movers Gainers [rating] VRTX +13.20% [rating] RVTY +10.31% [rating] ZION +9.68% [rating] ALB +9.47% [rating] BXP +8.51% Losers [rating] PFE -6.72% [rating] LIN -4.21% [rating] LUV -3.83% [rating] PGR -2.77% [rating] ACGL -2.37% * * * * Earnings Report Reporting Today Rating Before Open After Close COST, LEN JBL, TTC No earnings reporting today. Earnings Surprises [rating] ADBE Adobe Inc. Q4 $4.27 Beat by $0.13 [rating] MWA Mueller Water Products, Inc. Q4 $0.19 Beat by $0.05 [rating] ABM ABM Industries Incorporated Q4 $1.01 Beat by $0.09 * * * * You have received this e-mail as part of your subscription to PowerFeed. If you no longer want to receive e-mails from PowerFeed, [click here](. You’re receiving this e-mail at {EMAIL}. 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