Quant Ratings Updated on 85 Stocks Dear Reader, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! As I expected, the stock market was relatively quiet as folks headed out early for the holiday. But although trading was light, stocks still marched higher. The Dow climbed 2%, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ both rose a little more than 1%. As a result, the S&P 500 and Dow ended the month at all-time highs. All of the major indices soared higher in the month of November, too. The Dow led the charge with a 7.5% gain. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ also posted impressive gains, rising 5.7% and 6.2%, respectively. Essentially, in November, much of the uncertainty that plagued the stock market in the first 10 months of the year diminished after the presidential election. So, the question is: Will December outshine November? The simple answer is no. But the good news is I expect this strength to continue and for the stock market to end 2024 on a high note. In today's Market 360, I'll explain why I think that's the case. I'll also show you how to best position yourself for gains in December and into the New Year. A December to Remember? Now, don't get me wrong when I say that December is unlikely to live up to November's stellar performance. The reality is that December is also a seasonally strong month for the stock market. In fact, the folks at Bespoke Investment Group recently pointed out that December is one of the four strongest months of the year. According to their research, the Dow has achieved average gains of more than 1% in these four months (December, April, July and November) in the past 100, 50 and 20 years.
Breaking it down… The chart below shows that the Dow posted an average gain of 1.46% in December in the past 100 years, an average 1.37% gain in the past 50 years and an average 1.01% gain in the past 20 years.  So, I still expect December to be a strong month for the overall stock market and our stocks – and I also anticipate a yearend rally to close out the year. But December isn't likely to be a blowout month like November. What we need to remember is that the S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ are all sitting at or near all-time highs after the November surge. In other words, stocks need to consolidate these gains. Plus, much of the November strength could also be attributed to the presidential election, as well as an early "January effect" and pension funding. On the other hand, December is often the month when folks try to sell some of their losing positions to offset their gains. So, December is usually characterized by tax selling. Given this, we can expect a return of the washing machine market in December. Money is going to slosh around a bit and slowly meander higher. So, overall, I remain incredibly bullish and expect December to cap off what has been a strong 2024. This Week's Ratings Changes Turning to this week, all eyes will be on the major retailers and labor market. Wall Street will be eager to hear clues from the major retailers on how their latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales performed, which will give us more insight into the strength of the consumer. The ADP employment numbers on Wednesday and jobless claims on Thursday, as well as the jobs report on Friday, will also provide a temperature check on the labor market. Remember, now that inflation is nearing the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target, it is focusing on unemployment. This means that by the end of this week, we should have more clarity on the Fed's thinking on a potential rate cut ahead of its December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
Since any of these reports could move the market, I want us to be prepared. So, I looked at the latest institutional buying pressure and each company's financial health. I decided to revise my Stock Grader recommendations for 85 big blue chips. (Subscription required.) Of these 85 stocks… - Eight stocks were upgraded from a Buy (B-rating) to a Strong Buy (A-rating).
- Eleven stocks were upgraded from a Hold (C-rating) to a Buy (B-rating).
- Nine stocks were upgraded from a Sell (D-rating) to a Hold.
- Two stocks were upgraded from a Strong Sell (F-rating) to a Sell.
- Twenty-eight were downgraded from a Buy to a Hold.
- Thirteen stocks were downgraded from a Hold to a Sell.
- And one stock was downgraded from a Sell to a Strong Sell.
I've listed the first 10 stocks rated as Buys below, but you can find a more comprehensive list – including all 85 stocks' Fundamental and Quantitative Grades – here . Chances are that you have at least one of these stocks in your portfolio, so you may want to give this list a skim and adjust accordingly. | AZN | AstraZeneca PLC Sponsored ADR | B | | BN | Brookfield Corporation | B | | CI | Cigna Group | B | | EXC | Exelon Corporation | B | | FER | Ferrovial SE | B | | HRL | Hormel Foods Corporation | B | | JD | JD.com, Inc. Sponsored ADR Class A | B | | KSPI | Kaspi.kz Joint Stock Company Sponsored ADR RegS | B | | SLF | Sun Life Financial Inc. | B | | SRPT | Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. | B | Ending the Year Strong Now, it has been a phenomenal year in the market so far. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ were both up more than 26% in the first 11 months of the year, and the Dow rose more than 19%. We were able to profit handsomely in this environment with our fundamentally superior Growth Investor stocks, and I hope you were, too. Regardless, if you're looking to end the year on a high note, you'll want to ensure you're invested in the crème de la crème of the market. For example, our Growth Investor stocks are characterized by 23.7% average annual sales growth and 506.3% average annual earnings growth. In other words, we remain "locked and loaded" for a strong yearend rally. So, if you are looking for fundamentally superior stocks, you should look no further than my Growth Investor service. Click here now to learn more about my latest research and how Growth Investor can steer you to profits in 2025 and beyond. (Already a Growth Investor subscriber? Click here to log in to the members-only website.) Sincerely, | .png)
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