Weekly Performance Summary

Commodities Prices are in Focus as outperformance trends pause to reassess the broadening conflict in the Middle East

COMMENTARY: The S&P500 was up 0.62% for the week, closing at a record high on Thursday marking its 42nd all-time high this year. China announced a wide range of stimulus measures and an uptick in consumer spending both helping push investor sentiment upward. Materials sector led the way this week, up 3.0%. Freeport-McMoRan (+15.3%) and

September nears its conclusion as a strong month for US equities which saw the S&P 500 confirm its uptrend with a new all-time high.  This achievement was spurred by Fed policy as the FOMC enacted a 50bp cute to the Fed Funds target rate and guided for a further 50bp reduction into year-end.  This has

Factor Performance in the past 3-months has shown a transition from Risk-off to Risk-on as the Fed ramps policies to support the Economy in the 2nd half of 2024

Our model recommends accumulating XLK and remaining skeptical of XLE and XLB until macro trends improve

Commentary:  The S&P500 jumped mid-week after the Fed announced its 50-basis point cut. The weekly gain was 1.4%, fueled by optimism of more potential rate cuts. Energy led the way this week, up 3.7%.  Baker Hughes Co. (+7.9%), which accounts for about 3% of the ETF, and Marathon Oil Co. (+6.9%) helped push the sector

We think XLY and XLU are the sectors to watch. Both are overbought in the near-term, hard to believe they both could continue higher from here. We start the month giving XLU the nod, but we are ready to pivot if min vol. sectors can’t sustain leadership.

Commentary: Technology rebounded this week, leading all other sectors up 8.1%. Microsoft (+7.2%), Broadcom (+22.4%), Nvidia (+15.8%) along with other big technology stocks helped it claw back almost all its losses from last week, which was its worst week in a year and a half.  These were some of the big technology stocks that struggled earlier