Author: Cattolica Investment Club

Jan 8th, 2024 - Monday was characterized by a shift in investor sentiment brought upon the market by AMZN, MSFT, AAPL and, most notably, NVDA, which rose a staggering 6.61%. This positive shift in mega cap technology stocks contributed to a 2.2% increase in the NASDAQ index, which helped get the broader market out of last week’s slump.  As aforementioned, shares of portfolio holding Nvidia (NVDA) (Purchased 0.2773 units @ $471.73), had a field day on monday, rising more than 6%. This astonishing performance came after the announcement of three new consumer focused graphics cards. In recent years Nvidia was known in the gaming world for these specific chips, however in this next generation, they will also have Artificial Intelligence applications, ranging from producing videos all the way to canceling…

Jan 5th, 2024 - Today, Friday, January 5, 2024, marks a potential milestone for the approval of Bitcoin ETF, following an announcement by TechCrunch journalist Jacquelyn Melinek on Twitter/X. According to Melinek's tweet, sources close to the matter suggest that the SEC is poised to approve the bitcoin spot ETF for multiple firms, including major players like BlackRock, Invesco, and Grayscale. This development follows applications from a total of 13 companies seeking to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs. The ETF approval process involves two key steps: Firstly, companies seeking to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF undergo a 19b-4 filing, a form used to inform the SEC of the proposed rule changes necessary for introducing a new product. This step is needed because exchanges must outline rules governing trading and operations of…

Jan 4th, 2024 - The NASDAQ dipped 0.56% closing at 14,510.30, on the other hand the Dow Jones grew by 0.03% closing at 37,440.34. The S&P 500 also slipped by 0.34% finishing at 4,688.68. QuantumScape (QS) stock roared high Thursday morning’s, rising more than 40%. Volkswagen’s PowerCo subsidiary announced that it had completed a test of QuantumScape’s solid-state lithium battery for electric vehicles and the results were encouraging. The test revealed that the technology could power up over 500,000 kilometers of travel in electric vehicles with a small margin of loss in charge capacity and range. The results stated that after 100 charging cycles the capacity loss was below 1%. The stock grew by 43.08% yesterday.(A.Ramkumar) Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) started the day with a 6.5% loss, following…

Jan 2nd, 2024 - Surprisingly, portfolio holding Apple (AAPL) (0.6 units @183.96) performed poorly on Nasdaq today,  experiencing a decrease in price of around 3.6%, after Barclays analyst Tim Long classified it as  “Underweight”. The main reason behind such a negative rating assigned to the Cupertino based  company is represented by the Iphone 15 sales trend. In fact, it seems to be seriously negative worldwide,  with one of the most critical contexts represented by China, where government officials cannot use  Apple products anymore due to security reasons. In addition to this, analysts expect that the 16th model of the popular smartphone will experience the same issues, mainly because of the expected lack of innovative features and upgrades in it.   The decision taken by portfolio holding Boeing (BA) (0.15 units @251.28)…

Dec 29th, 2023 - After an important two-month rally, global stock markets are set to record their strongest performance since 2019, because investors are of the opinion that central banks have ceased their interest rate hikes and that they will start cutting rates in 2024. Demonstrative of this trend, the MSCI World Index has raised by 22% this year and 16% since late October.  Bond prices are also rising, as investors are attracted by the current returns and know there is a high chance that money borrowing costs will be cut in 2024.  In the US., key stock indices reflect the market's positive trajectory, with the S&P 500 boasting nearly a 25% increase, NASDAQ registering an impressive +44.74%, and the Dow Jones securing a solid 14% gain. The rally is…

Dec 28th, 2023 - The S&P 500 closed marginally higher Thursday, on a new all-time high in the penultimate day of trading, as it added 0,04% to finish at 4,783.35. Also the Dow Jones increased, ending the day at 37,710.10 with a +0.14%. On the other hand Nasdaq decreased by 0.03% closing at 15,05.14.  Shares of Boeing (BA) dropped more than 1% in afternoon trading  after the company began to urge inspections on 737 Max to look for a “possible loose bolt” in the rudder control system. This is the latest quality issue that affects the manufacturer’s bestselling jetliner and  was found when “an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance on a mechanism in the rudder-control linkage”. The inspection will take about two…

Dec 27th, 2023 - Today the Dow Jones rose .30%, the S&P 500 increased .14% and the NASDAQ progressed further, up .16%.  Portfolio holding Eli Lilly (LLY) (Purchased 0.2 units @ $582.99) spiked 1.9% after it finished the acquisition of POINT Biopharma Global. A company with a focus on therapies for the treatment of cancer. Our portfolio holding is looking to increase their production capacity in the coming years in order to keep up with the demand for their Zepbound drug, which hit markets a few weeks ago.  Today, portfolio holding Microsoft (MSFT) (Purchased 0.1 units @ $374.44) was sued by the New York Times. The media company decided to take legal action, following allegations that Microsoft used copyright-protected pieces of texts from the NYT to train their chatbot (Chat…

Nowadays, there is a growing tendency of younger people seeking financial advice on social media. Platforms such as TikTok have evolved into financial information hubs, with a significant number of users participating in debates using the hashtag #FinTok. However, while social media can provide useful insights, it also presents concerns due to the frequency of disinformation. Brian Walsh, a licensed financial advisor, emphasises the necessity of distinguishing between trustworthy advice and dangerous scams. He identifies three red indicators to look for before following the advice of a financial influencer: Unrealistic Promises: avoid schemes to get rich quick or advise that looks too good to be true. Walsh advocates caution when confronted with such claims, since they frequently contain higher risks than rewards. Extreme Views: Influencers advocating extreme financial positions or…