Bulls stormed out of the second quarter on Friday with a bang as the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 surged to 15,179, a gain of 1.6%. The benchmark was up 2.4% for the week, and has now risen by 38.8% in 2023, the best start since 1983, states Jon Markman, editor of Strategic Advantage.
If you are old enough, you may recall that the broad market went on a 24-year, 1,000% tear after its 1983 kickstart.
This trend should continue, at least in the early part of the new quarter that starts on Monday. New investment typically follows themes that have worked well in the immediate past. Professional money managers have been chasing the shares of big capitalization technology firms. These firms are assumed winners in the race to capitalize on artificial intelligence.
Nvidia (NVDA), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA), and Microsoft (MSFT) have jumped in 2023 by 201%, 139%, 113%, and 42% respectively. All were sharply higher on Friday as pros propped up positions going into the end of the quarter.
The pervasive, resilient momentum puts bears in a bind. The narrative is bullish and soon pros will be flush with even more cash. A close for the Nasdaq 100 above overhead resistance at 15,255 will put 16,573 into play, the November 2021 record close.
On a side note, Oracle (ORCL) chief executive Larry Ellison said after the close on Friday that his firm planned to buy billions of dollars worth of new Nvidia A.I. hardware. And Tesla reported Sunday that production and delivery of its electric vehicles surged to record levels amid stronger-than-expected demand.
The hits for the Bulls keep on coming. There is support for the Nasdaq 100 at 14,760, the rising 20-day moving average.
The NDX Loop: Members bought ProShares Ultra QQQ (QLD)—a 2x leveraged ETF that tracks the Nasdaq 100—at $63.00 on June 28. The fund rose 3% on Friday, which was super cool. Set up to sell half the position at $70.59 lmt gtc, and half at $75.70 lmt gtc. Set stop at 59.34 stp
Stat Sheet: Advancing issues beat decliners by a five-two margin on Friday, and there were 595 new highs vs 104 new lows.
