The S&P 500 had a bullish week as it closed at a new record high of 6,791 on Friday. On Monday the S&P 500 gapped up at the open, and then lifted by a jump in Apple shares and optimism that the U.S. government shutdown could be nearing an end (spoiler alert, it didnt happen), the S&P 500 gained more than one percent. On Tuesday it was U.S./China news again as the proposed meeting was not finalized, and the S&P 500 finished the day flat within one point of Mondays close. Wednesday was the only down day of the week as the S&P 500 lost about 0.5% on disappointing corporate earnings from Texas Instruments and Netflix. On Thursday the S&P 500 clawed back all of Wednesdays losses driven by inflows into tech stocks. Before Fridays opening bell the September consumer price index rose 0.3% on the month, bringing the annual inflation rate to 3%, with both below the expected 0.4% and 3.1%. As such the S&P 500 matched Mondays gap up at the open and crossed above the 6,800 level for a new intraday record high by noon. Although the S&P 500 fell below that level in the last 30 minutes of trading, it did set that new record closing high. From a technical perspective, last week we mentioned that the S&P 500 has been range bound between 6,550 and 6,764. And with Fridays close of 6,664, were pretty much at the mid-point of this consolidation period. And with consolidation you have a glass half full or half empty scenario, dependent upon which way it breaks out. While no one can predict the future, the half full scenario seems more likely. Well, that glass is definitely more than half full now, and could be overflowing with five of the with the Magnificent Seven companies reporting earnings next week. Expectations are year-over-year earnings growth of 14.9%, compared with 6.7% for the indexs remaining 493 companies. And then comes 29 October when we have the next Fed interest rate decision with expectations of a rate cut. And shifting gears and going back to our mid-year update, we stated that On Monday, 30 June the S&P 500 closed at 6,204.95. An 8.75% gain over the next six months would put it at 6,747.88 at Year End. I think we need a bigger glass!!. For TSP TIPS it was a bullish week also as all three equity funds made new record highs on Friday and improved their Composite Scores to 100. The Performance Rankings have them tightly grouped, but the S fund is now at the top of the Leaderboard and projected to remain in that position over the next two weeks if current prices hold. As such we are recommending the following new investment mixes. Finally, in MFW TIPS we increased our ProFunds Ultra NASDAQ 100 (UOPIX) allocation from 50% to 100% on Tuesday 21 October.
The S&P 500 had a bullish week as it closed at a new record high of 6,791 on Friday. On Monday the S&P 500 gapped up at the open, and then lifted by a jump in Apple shares and optimism that the U.S. government shutdown could be nearing an end (spoiler alert, it didnt happen), the S&P 500 gained more than one percent. On Tuesday it was U.S./China news again as the proposed meeting was not finalized, and the S&P 500 finished the day flat within one point of Mondays close. Wednesday was the only down day of the week as the S&P 500 lost about 0.5% on disappointing corporate earnings from Texas Instruments and Netflix. On Thursday the S&P 500 clawed back all of Wednesdays losses driven by inflows into tech stocks. Before Fridays opening bell the September consumer price index rose 0.3% on the month, bringing the annual inflation rate to 3%, with both below the expected 0.4% and 3.1%. As such the S&P 500 matched Mondays gap up at the open and crossed above the 6,800 level for a new intraday record high by noon. Although the S&P 500 fell below that level in the last 30 minutes of trading, it did set that new record closing high. From a technical perspective, last week we mentioned that the S&P 500 has been range bound between 6,550 and 6,764. And with Fridays close of 6,664, were pretty much at the mid-point of this consolidation period. And with consolidation you have a glass half full or half empty scenario, dependent upon which way it breaks out. While no one can predict the future, the half full scenario seems more likely. Well, that glass is definitely more than half full now, and could be overflowing with five of the with the Magnificent Seven companies reporting earnings next week. Expectations are year-over-year earnings growth of 14.9%, compared with 6.7% for the indexs remaining 493 companies. And then comes 29 October when we have the next Fed interest rate decision with expectations of a rate cut. And shifting gears and going back to our mid-year update, we stated that On Monday, 30 June the S&P 500 closed at 6,204.95. An 8.75% gain over the next six months would put it at 6,747.88 at Year End. I think we need a bigger glass!!. For TSP TIPS it was a bullish week also as all three equity funds made new record highs on Friday and improved their Composite Scores to 100. The Performance Rankings have them tightly grouped, but the S fund is now at the top of the Leaderboard and projected to remain in that position over the next two weeks if current prices hold. As such we are recommending the following new investment mixes. Finally, in MFW TIPS we increased our ProFunds Ultra NASDAQ 100 (UOPIX) allocation from 50% to 100% on Tuesday 21 October.