Stocks just did something they havent done in nearly three decades CNN Business

GM reported strong fourth quarter and full-year 2024 sales results in the US, capping off a strong year for the Big Three automaker. GM’s results come as crosstown rival Ford also saw sales gain in Q4 and for the year. Khajuria believes that over the next two years, Chewy’s year-over-year net sales growth can reach the mid-to-high single-digits. The firm upgraded the online pet products retailer to an outperform rating from peer perform. Simultaneously, Wolfe analyst Shweta Khajuria set a price target of $42 for the stock.

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The average 2025 year-end price target for the S&P 500 this year is 6,539, implying potential gains of around 11% from current levels after a 23% gain last year. “While a four-day losing streak into year-end has jeopardized the Santa Claus Rally, longer-term momentum remains strong,” LPL Financial’s Adam Turnquist said in a Thursday note. Corporate borrowing surged to a record in 2024, up over a third from a year earlier as companies like AbbVie and Cisco looked to fund acquisitions. It also created a lot of wealth for everyday traders who have stuck with its ups and downs. Wall Street is keenly focused on January’s initial trading sessions as the first month of a new year can signal market performance for the rest of the year.

Wednesday’s rate hike – the largest in 28 years – signaled to investors that the Fed is committed to lowering inflation rates. Fed chair Jerome Powell indicated that a similar hike could come in July if the economic data doesn’t improve. The major stock market averages opened higher on Friday as Wall Street looked to end a sluggish holiday week on a positive note. “My baseline outlook is positive,” said Barkin, who is not a voting member this year of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. “How economic policy uncertainty resolves will matter. But, with what we know today, I expect more upside than downside in terms of growth.”

Indeed, it’s rare to see three straight years of 20% gains in the stock market, according to Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management. “History says, but does not guarantee, that if the market starts out on the right foot, it rarely trips and falls for the full year,” CFRA Research’s chief investment strategist Sam Stovall said in a note last month. Wall Street strategists see further gains for the S&P 500 in 2025 as a broadening of earnings growth and a resilient US economy continue to drive the bull market rally. Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab chief investment strategist, joins ‘Closing Bell’ to discuss the odds of further market broadening and the road ahead for stocks. Next week’s labor market data will be crucial in determining wage growth, unemployment trends, and the direction of the 10-year Treasury rate.

Big Tech companies, in particular, have been hit hard along with the broader market. But there are parts of the tech sector that may have been unfairly punished. That’s why some experts think investors need to look for pockets of the market that should hold up well even if the Fed steps up the size and speed of rate increases. Stocks gave up a chunk of their gains following the announcement. The Dow slipped briefly into negative territory before bouncing back.

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So don’t be surprised to see the dots show a median forecast for rates somewhere in the 3.5% to 4% range. After all, the Fed is now expected to embark on a series of much larger than usual rate hikes. “As long as the employment picture remains strong, Powell will not care about the stock market,” said Michael Vogelzang, managing director and chief investment officer with CAPTRUST, a retirement plan advisory firm. Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices, and broader price pressures.

He converted those warrants in 2017, making Berkshire the largest shareholder in BofA. The “Oracle of Omaha” then added 300 million more shares to his bet around 2018 and 2019. Shares of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company have fallen about 3% month to date. Once the stake dips below 10%, Berkshire will no longer be required to disclose any transactions within two business days.

• Jefferies chief US economist Thomas Simons joins Brad Smith on Wealth to analyze the implications of this data.
• The European Central Bank is holding an unscheduled meeting Wednesday to discuss a sharp bond market sell-off that has revived memories of the region’s debt crisis more than a decade ago.
• Research suggests that stocks, and especially small-caps, outperform bonds when uncertainty falls.
• Adam Crisafulli, Vital Knowledge president, and Kevin Mahn, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management president & CIO, joins ‘Closing Bell Overtime’ to talk the first investing day of 2025.
• Strategas head of technical strategy Chris Verrone said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” that he sees further upside for the yellow metal but cautioned that there could be a near-term dip.

“It was quite eye-catching and and we noticed that,” Powell said, noting that it changed the Fed’s plan to again raise rates by a half-point this month. But George has recently hinted that she might be amenable to slower rate hikes. Gold futures settled at another record high on Tuesday, extending a rally that started long before the Federal Reserve’s rate cut became assured.

And that he would prefer to keep interest rates lower for a longer time to boost the economy? Now the market is of the mindset that Powell will be very hawkish about inflation during Wednesday’s press conference. It’s the largest rate hike since 1994, and will affect millions of American businesses and households, pushing up the cost of borrowing for homes, cars and other loans in order to force a slowdown in the economy. Overall economic activity appears to have picked up after edging down in the first quarter. Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low.

The mild recession, which is anticipated but not assured, would likely resemble what the US economy saw in 1990 to 1991, economist Jay Bryson wrote in a note. That contraction lasted two quarters and saw a peak-to-trough decline in real GDP of 1.4%, Bryson wrote. In terms of where he sees opportunities, Jackson said he likes Tesla especially, believing it could be a beneficiary of China’s new economic stimulus measures. The stock has soared more than 14% over the past month and more than 38% over the past three months. On Buffett’s sales, BofA CEO Brian Moynihan said he does not think the stock is overvalued, and the market likes to analyze the Oracle of Omaha’s every move. Buffett famously bought $5 billion worth of BofA’s preferred stock and warrants in 2011 in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

But 2025 could potentially bring new all-time highs and substantially more upside for high-quality stocks in growth-oriented sectors. The benchmark S&P 500 index (SP500) ended lower for the holiday-shortened week as Wall Street’s bull run lost some steam. After hefty yearly gains, investors took stocksnewsfeed.com some money off the table.

Vistra Corporation, which was a top performer in 2024, led the way on Friday with a jump of 7.2%. All 11 sectors that comprise the S&P 500 rose, pushing the benchmark index up about 1%. With that move, the S&P 500 is poised to snap a five-day negative streak.