Market scorecard US markets rose slightly on Thursday, as positive earnings announcements continued to drive share prices higher. The S&P 500 briefly breached 5 000 for the first time (intraday) but finished slightly below that level. The index is now up 4.8% year-to-date. Chip-maker Arm Holdings was a standout performer, rising by 48%.

Medical device company Stryker demonstrated a robust performance in the fourth quarter, with reported net sales increasing by 11.8% to $5.8 billion thanks to rising demand for elective surgeries. Stryker has been a Vestact-recommended stock since January 2014, exactly a decade ago.

Market scorecard US markets continued their steady march higher yesterday. Too lovely! Notable gains came from Meta (+3.3%), Nvidia (+2.8%), and Microsoft (+2.1%). On the flip side, the losers included Amgen (-6.4%), Gilead Sciences (-4.3%), and Comcast (-3.5%).

During the recent Google results coverage, I mentioned how AI is helping advertisers improve their conversion rates. Two weeks ago, Google announced the expansion of Gemini (their most capable AI model) into Google Ads. Beta access is now available in the US and UK and will be rolled out to global English-language advertisers over the coming weeks.

Market scorecard US markets moved slightly higher yesterday, resuming their rally after Monday's brief pause. Stocks in the materials and real estate sectors advanced. Some of the biggest winners in the S&P 500 were UPS (+4.9%), Pfizer (+3.5%), Starbucks (+3.4%), and Nike (+2.9%). The biggest losers were Adobe (-3.7%), AMD (-3.65%), and Charter Communications (-4.4%).

It's been 20 years since Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in a Harvard dorm room. The holding company stock, now called Meta, also happened to rocket 20% higher after it posted stellar results last week. They were truly impressive numbers.

Market scorecard US markets cooled off yesterday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell appeared on 60 Minutes on Sunday evening, reiterating his comments that interest rates would not be cut next month. For the year, the S&P 500 is still up 3.6%. The best is yet to come.

Microsoft's financial success is increasingly tied to its cloud services unit, constituting 55% of total revenue, or $65.5 billion out of $118.5 billion generated between July and December 2023.

E-commerce giant Amazon had quarterly results last week, and they were excellent. The share price rose by 7% on the day.

Market scorecard US markets pushed even higher on Friday as megacap tech stocks continued to rise. All three major indices enjoyed a fourth straight week of gains and the S&P 500 closed at an all-time high. Your portfolio balance should be looking good.

On Thursday evening, Apple reported its earnings for the festive season quarter. The tech behemoth had revenue and profits that were higher than the street was expecting, posting sales of $120 billion for the quarter, a growth of 2.1% over a year earlier. The share price was little moved.

Ferrari reported a solid set of numbers on Thursday with optimistic projections of continued revenue and core earnings growth throughout the year, driven by a robust order book extending into 2025.

Market scorecard US markets rebounded nicely on Thursday from a sharp selloff the previous day. Both the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq posted gains of over 1%. Eight of the S&P 500's eleven sectors closed in the green.

On Tuesday night Google released Q4 earnings. Revenues were up by 13%, its fastest sales growth since early 2022. Earnings also came in ahead of consensus due to better margins, while shares in issue declined by 2.5% year over year thanks to share buybacks. This business is in fantastic financial shape. They have net cash of $100bn and quarterly free cash flow of around $18bn. Lovely.

I was asked by a client why we didn't buy him Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). My answer was, because you already own Nvidia.