Market review — week 3

The market continues its slow decline. The main US indices lost about 1% last week.

Among big companies, Oracle (-7%) and Netflix (-5.5%) lost a lot. ASML Holding grew by 5%. On Friday, pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance soared 27% after the report, and Constellation Energy added 25% after news of its $16.4 billion purchase of Calpine.

Bitcoin was as high as $102,500 on Monday, but pulled back and is now trading around $90, 600.

Tuesday and Wednesday will see the release of important inflation data for December. After Friday's strong jobs report, analysts are forecasting just one rate cut in 2025. If inflation also comes in above expectations, this could act as a trigger for a market sell-off. 

This week a new earnings season starts – major banks (Citigroup, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo) will publish their results. The Taiwan Semiconductor report, which will be released on Thursday before the open, is very important for understanding the situation in the semiconductor sector.

Other than banks and the oil sector, there won't be many reports. Next week will be more interesting. 

Top 5 stocks to trade this week

H.B. Fuller (FUL). Report on Jan. 15 after the close. Global supplier of adhesives and sealants. The stock has been trying to consolidate above $73–$75 since December 2023, but gave up in the last month and has slipped 20% to $61. Support is around $60, there is “air” – could be a nice move either way.

Concentrix (CNXC). Report on Jan. 15 after the close. The company provides technology solutions to improve customer experience (CX) around the world. Year-to-date -55%, stock has fallen from $200 to $45 since 2022. Small capitalization, low average trading volume per day. If the report surprises investors (either way), it will be very volatile.

Fastenal (FAST). Report on Jan. 17 before the open. Large distributor of industrial products. Offered at $60 mid-term support in July – at that time the stock was sagging and there was a good entry point. FAST traditionally moves well intraday on the report, so it is quite good to add to Favorites.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM). Report on Jan. 16 before the open. Usually after this report the whole sector moves, which is very volatile itself. Therefore, you can put NVDA, ARM, AMD, AVGO, MU, QCOM in your watchlist.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH). Report on Jan. 16 before the open. A corporation in the health insurance and health care services industry. On Dec. 4, the company's CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York City. The stock has slipped from $620 to $480 in the 10 subsequent trading sessions and has been trying to recover for the past couple weeks. A gap-up, high volume and strong movement is likely after the report. For fans of expensive stocks.

Profitable trades!