• September 9, 2024

US economy is in 'middling' phase as Fed fights inflation

US market averages (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) closed Monday's session higher after last week's sell-off. NorthEnd Private Wealth CIO Alex McGrath joins Market Domination Overtime to discuss the state of the market ahead of the Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut. "We're coming off the back end of a pretty long inflation battle here with rates being at historic peaks. And, you know, you look at the underlying macro data that we're staring at every day, and it's not exceptional, but it's not bad either. It's just kind of in this middling phase. And certainly a much better start to this week than we had last week," McGrath explains. He argues that the Fed's cuts will not immediately come to the rescue as its cuts will likely "take time to work through." He adds, "I don't think you have to look much further than a lot of the numbers we've seen from the consumer discretionary companies, where they're slashing forecast because the demand just isn't there like it has been. And that's not entirely surprising." While inflation is down, he argues, "the problem is there's 20 to 30% built up in there that's still increasing on a month-over-month basis. And it's just the consumer's got to get tapped out at some point. And I'm not saying that's like a death and destruction phase coming, but you are starting to see inklings of that." However, easing rates should help counter that issue. Moving forward, McGrath believes the equities market "could be a bit rocky," so investors should take more of a defensive approach and take a position in sectors like industrials (XLI), utilities (XLU), healthcare (XLV), real estate (XLRE), and consumer staples (XLP). He also recommends semiconductors, calling them "the new industrial." On the fixed-income side, he argues that "it's probably time to start taking some duration there" as the Fed kicks off its rate easing cycle. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination Overtime. This post was written by Melanie Riehl

  • September 6, 2024

Investors shouldn't 'reach too far for risk': Strategist

While contending with September's seasonal volatility, stocks (^DJI, ^IXIC, ^GSPC) slide further in Friday's session in response to the August jobs data released this morning. While nonfarm payroll jobs growth came below economist expectations, the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2%. All of these factors are colliding with losses seen in the AI chip trade as semiconductor manufacturers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) failed to wow Wall Street with their earnings beats. John Hancock Investment Management co-chief investment strategist Emily Roland sits down with the Market Domination team to discuss which sectors investors can find more quality trades in while avoiding risk. "The poster child for quality is mega-cap tech. We like that, but we do have a valuation issue there with the tech sector bumping up towards 30-times forward earnings," Roland explains. "So we want to look at other areas of the market quality at a reasonable price, if you will. So looking at sectors like healthcare, which are trading at a 10% discount to the broad market..." Roland weighs in on Big Tech stocks, the AI trade, and the bond market (^TYX, ^TNX, ^FVX) ahead of the Federal Reserve's plans to cut interest rates. For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Market Domination. This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.

  • September 6, 2024

Semiconductor ETFs Take A Beating, Dragged Lower By Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom Stocks

Semiconductor, hardware, and artificial intelligence-linked stocks led by Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) are down as the sector continues to pull back. AI stocks led by Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (NASDAQ:AMD), and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (NYSE:TSM) selloff continue their downward price trajectory as the Nvidia and Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ:AVGO) quarterly prints failed to impress the Street. Broadcom released its third-quarter earnings on Thursday. The topline grew 42% to $13.07 bil