Editor’s Note: The stock market will be closed Wednesday, June 19, for the Juneteenth holiday. The InvestorPlace offices and customer service departments will also be closed on Wednesday.
Last week was all about the Federal Reserve; the central bank released its June Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement and latest “dot plot” survey.
As we discussed in Thursday’s Market 360, the Fed left key interest rates unchanged at 5.25% – 5.50%. The FOMC statement also acknowledged “modest further progress” on inflation. However, it noted that officials won’t lower their estimate for Personal Consumer Expenditures (PCE) index and raised its estimates for unemployment to 4.1%.
While I am very disappointed in the Fed, Wall Street took the news in stride. Both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ climbed higher on Wednesday and closed at new record highs.
Now this week, Wall Street’s attention shifted to this morning’s U.S. retail sales report.
Retail sales rose 0.1% in May, up from the 0.2% decline in April. This fell short of economists’ expectations for a 0.3% increase. Excluding autos and gas, retail sales still only rose 0.1%, which also missed estimates for a 0.4% rise. But that was also better than April’s 0.3% drop.
This is important because it shows most Americans continue to be weighed down by inflation and high interest rates. So, it will be interesting to see if second-quarter GDP estimates are revised lower. Prior to the report, the Atlanta Fed’s second-quarter GDP estimate called for a 3.1% annual pace.
This Week’s Ratings Changes
Following the Fed news and latest inflation and economic data, I went ahead and took a fresh look at the latest institutional buying pressure and each company’s financial health and revised my Portfolio Grader for 73 big blue chips. Of these 73 stocks…
- Nine stocks were upgraded from a Buy (B-rating) to a Strong Buy (A-rating).
- Nine stocks were upgraded from a Hold (C-rating) to a Buy (B-rating).
- Sixteen stocks were upgraded from a Sell (D-rating) to a Hold.
- Twenty-two stocks were downgraded from a Buy to a Hold.
- Twenty-six stocks were downgraded from a Hold to a Sell.
- And only one stock was downgraded from a Sell to a Strong Sell (F-rating).
I’ve listed the first 10 stocks rated as a Sell below, but you can find a more comprehensive list – including the stocks’ Fundamental and Quantitative Grades – here. Chances are that you have at least one of these stocks in your portfolio, so you may want to give this list a skim and adjust accordingly.
| Ticker | Company Name | Total Grade |
|---|---|---|
| A | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | D |
| ALLE | Allegion Public Limited Company | D |
| APD | Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. | D |
| BDX | Becton, Dickinson and Company | D |
| BHP | BHP Group Ltd Sponsored American Depositary Receipt Repr 2 Shares | D |
| CCL.U | Carnival Corporation | D |
| COO | Cooper Companies, Inc. | D |
| CTVA | Corteva Inc | D |
| DG | Dollar General Corporation | D |
| ELS | Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. | D |
How to Invest Confidently
It can be easy to get lost in all the economic and inflation data. And it is normal to not know where to invest in times of uncertainty.
So, how can you feel confident that you are investing in the right stocks?
Well, it’s simple: Focus on stocks with superior fundamentals.
That’s where my Growth Investor members have the advantage.
Right now, my Growth Investor stocks are characterized by 182.8% average forecasted earnings growth and 17.3% average forecasted sales growth. So, no matter how the market shakes out, my Growth Investor stocks should emerge as the market leaders.
To learn more about Growth Investor and how to become a member today, click here.
(Already a Growth Investor subscriber? Click here to log in to the members-only website now.)
Sincerely,
Louis Navellier
Editor, Market 360
