UPDATE

🌤️ Happy Friday

Good morning. We hope the last two weeks were productive for you. For those who are just now beginning your holiday breaks, we hope that you use this time to rest up and enjoy time with loved ones.

With the start of the holiday season, MARK IT. will start its brief hiatus until after the new year. While there is bound to be market movement throughout the end of the year, we think it’s good to also take a break and focus on other hobbies. Take care and happy holidays 🎁

Read time: 3 minutes

WEEK IN REVIEW

📈 Market Performance

S&P 500 (1-month), via Google Finance

In our previous issue To Infinity and Beyond, we spoke in detail about where the S&P 500 was headed and why all eyes were on the index for the remainder of the year. Fast forward a couple of weeks and we’re looking at the results of a substantial upward trend.

For some context: the S&P 500’s all time record closing level is 4,796 points, which it hit in January of 2022 (via Barron’s). There are a few things in common between the recent increases today and early 2022. Firstly, the December-January period (dubbed the “Santa-Claus” rally) always sees higher returns likely because of the seasonal spirits. 

• What’s more, both instances of index growth also occurred after periods of economic unease once the future forecasts began to look better. In the case of 1/22, it was after the COVID decline of 2020. The increases we’re seeing now are correlated with the good news of easing inflation and potential rate cuts in 2024.

Seeing as the index recently hit a high of around 4,768 earlier this week, we might see a new record being set in early 2024. If rate cuts (or the promise of no more hikes) are announced, the S&P could see substantial gains that put it on track to hit 5,000 points.

⌚️Apple Watch Woes

Apple Watch Ultra, via Trusted Reviews

It’s bad news for Apple during this holiday season, as the company is set to remove two of its latest watch models from stores, right in the middle of Christmas shopping. This comes as Apple is under investigation for violating the intellectual property of Masimo, a company that makes medical technology for hospitals.

Apple’s latest watch models, the Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2, both have new blood oxygen sensors which potentially took features from a patent that Masimo had on blood O₂ sensors.

Now in the US only, Apple is set to remove these watch models from shelves and its online store until the investigation is over or the Biden Administration steps in to veto the ruling (something which rarely happens).

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via Surfshark media

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🤝 Keep in Touch

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Thanks again for reading!

Nothing MARK IT. publishes constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information published by MARK IT. constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed.