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Willdan Group (WLDN) Delivers Q3

The cannabis sector is taking a severe body blow because of election outcomes.

The big negative: Florida voters rejected Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational use. Voters in North Dakota and South Dakota also rejected cannabis legalization.

Gold’s strength has been one of the most overlooked stories in 2024, but a variety of factors have it poised to continue outperforming well into next year.

Ahead of a monster week of economic data and earnings releases the S&P 500 fell 0.85%, the Dow lost 2.6%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.4%

Ahead of a monster week of economic data and earnings releases the S&P 500 fell 0.85%, the Dow lost 2.6%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.4%

Ahead of a monster week of economic data and earnings releases the S&P 500 fell 0.85%, the Dow lost 2.6%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.4%

It has been a great market for most of the last two years. But the bull run will be severely tested over the next couple of weeks.

The S&P 500 is within a whisker of the all-time high after rallying 22% YTD and over 60% in the past two years. The recent investor perception is that the Fed has begun a rate-cutting cycle that will last for two years, and the economy is still solid. That view will be put to the test this week.

It has been a great market for most of the last two years. But the bull market chops will be severely tested over the next couple of weeks.

The S&P 500 is within a whisker of the all-time high after rallying 22% YTD and over 60% in the past two years. The recent investor perception is that the Fed has begun a rate-cutting cycle that will last for two years, and the economy is still solid. That view will be put to the test this week.

For much of the last four years, the “friendly skies” have been anything but for the airline industry and its customers. The restrictive measures of the Covid era put the entire $1.2 trillion air travel industry into a tailspin, causing massive financial losses and layoffs for the major carriers, not to mention major headaches for travelers.

The problems began in March 2020 and continued through that year, but by the start of 2021, industry-wide losses totaled over $35 billion, with no fewer than 64 airlines around the world ceasing operations. By the time Covid restrictions were lifted in 2023 (in the words of a contemporary CNN report), “A handful [of airlines] have revived after announcing bankruptcy, or changed names, but the vast majority are gone for good.”

We went into the TransMedics (TMDX) Q3 earnings report yesterday afternoon with a quarter of our original position and lingering questions about the underlying trends in the business.

Given that the majority of Americans on both the left and the right favor cannabis legalization, it’s no surprise that marijuana has emerged as a significant campaign issue.

Therefore, it makes sense to think about election outcome scenarios and what they mean for cannabis investors.

Big picture, no matter what happens in the presidential election, cannabis wins. That’s because both candidates support major cannabis reform in one way or another. But obviously, some outcomes are better than others. Here are the three main scenarios, from best to worst.

Five of the Magnificent Seven stocks—Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Apple—report earnings this week. Here’s what to watch for.

WHAT TO DO NOW: The market remains in good shape, though we have seen the indexes and many individual titles exhale a bit of late as many short-term uncertainties (earnings season and the election) and headwinds (rising interest rates) weigh. We’re bullish overall, but are being selective on the buy side—tonight, we’re standing pat, holding our 20%-ish cash position and collection of relatively strong performers.

Before we dive into this week’s covered call idea we need to move on from our Rocket (RKT) position following expiration last Friday as the call expired worthless, leaving us with our stock position.

It’s been a bit of a wobbly week, with most major indexes in the red and more than a few leading stocks easing lower after solid runs. Coming into today, the big-cap indexes are off less than 1%, growth measures are generally off 1% to 2% and some broader indexes (small caps, etc.) are off a bit more.