With two trading days left for the year, the melt-up in stocks during the quiet week of trade leaves markets vulnerable.
Optimistic investors who expect no bad news to start 2024 may accumulate stocks. During the accumulation phase of this bull market, the “smart money” added to positions before everyone else did. The S&P 500 ETF (SPY) already gained 24.6% YTD. It needs an increase in public participation to continue the uptrend.
Passive investors who prefer interest income of around 5.1% may buy GICs. Find the rates here:
https://baystreet.ca/interest_rates/gic_rates.aspx
Beware of Stocks With the Most Sell Ratings
According to FactSet S&P Global Market Intelligence, and IBD, stocks with the most sell rating include T. Rowe Price (TROW), with 40% sell, Hormel Foods (HRL) at 33%, and Clorox (CLX) at 32%. The sell rating on T. Rowe makes little sense. The asset manager trades at a 15.5x P/E ratio on worries that investors will draw down their investments. The rising stock market should attract assets, lifting TROW stock.
Food supplier Hormel forecasts net sales growth of 1% to 3% in fiscal 2024. This is lagging inflation rates, so expect it to underperform.
Clorox lowered its fiscal 2024 outlook in its last quarterly report. It blamed weak FY 2024 Q1 results on costs related to a cyberattack.
Watch High Volume Stocks Today
Yesterday, Nio (NIO) and SoFI (SOFI) were among the most actively traded stocks. Fundamentals did not change for either firm. This could undo their recent uptrend.
