Market Insights

The S&P 500 is headed for another strong return as 2024 winds down. Here were some of the big stories along the way:

• Netflix Leads Market to New Highs Before Fed Meeting (January 29): While megacap AI stocks stole the show in 2024, an other growth name broke out in January and never looked back.
• Stocks Cross Historic Level on Strong Earnings, Economic Data (February 12): The S&P pushed above 5,000 for the first time, foreshadowing a strong year.
• 1995 All Over Again? How Today’s Market Compares With History (February 28): Market Insights explores some noteworthy parallels between the Internet boom and the rise of AI.
• Walmart Defies Falling Trendline (April 26): The Big Box retailer had the second-biggest gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2024. A key pattern may have foreshadowed its run.
• Do Stocks Face a Wall of Money — Even After Big Gains? (June 13): One key ingredient to 2024’s bull run was abundant cash on the sidelines.
• The Bond Market Could Be Looking Past a Hawkish Fed (June 14): Market Insights keeps readers ahead of key trends, months before policymakers reversed course.
• Palantir Sneaks Toward Old Highs (July 8): The software company rode the AI boom to membership in the S&P 500  and Nasdaq-100. Chart watchers may have seen evidence the move was coming.
• Oil Could Be Teetering Before OPEC+ Meeting Next Week (July 24): After a few strong years, 2024 saw bearish trends reemerge in the energy market. TradeStation marked the occasion by cutting margin rates on some popular futures contracts.
• Is Bitcoin Starting to Move Before the U.S. Election? (October 16): The digital asset broke out to new highs in November, and there were potential signals before the surge.
• ‘Trump Stocks’ Jump in Biggest Rally of the Year (December 2): The reelection of Donald Trump lifted cyclicals like small caps, banks and industrials.