The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged past 20,000 for the first time this week. The big news of the week was the November inflation report, which was in line with expectations. For domestic stock funds, there is one new “Buy” this week: Value Line Large Companies Focused Fund (VALLX), advises Brian Kelly, editor of MoneyLetter.
Odds for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week are now priced at 95%. While the November price report met expectations, it also served as another data point illustrating inflation’s stubborn nature.
The 12-month CPI rate of 2.7% is 3/10ths of a point higher than the reading two months ago. This creates concern about the pace of cuts by the Fed in 2025, which could lead to volatility in the new year.
Data by YCharts
Returns were mostly positive – albeit modestly -- for our global indices over the last week. For the Hotline reporting period (December 5 – December 11), the S&P 500 was practically flat; the Euro Stoxx 50 increased 0.8%; the Nikkei 225 was 0.2% higher; the Shanghai Composite was the week’s best performer, gaining 2% for the period.
As for VALLX, the fund seeks long-term growth of capital. Under normal circumstances, the adviser expects that the fund's portfolio will generally consist of positions in 25 to 50 companies. During the investment selection process, the adviser performs fundamental and quantitative analysis on each company and utilizes the rankings of companies by the Value Line Timeliness™ Ranking System to assist in selecting securities for purchase.
