Key insights
- The S&P 500 experienced its fourth consecutive losing week, breaking its 200-day moving average. Weakness in consumer staples (Pepsi, Walmart, McDonald's, Home Depot, P&G) suggests concerns about the low-income consumer and housing market. Energy stocks (Exxon, Chevron) initially rose with oil prices but face potential inventory and refinery issues. Only 11 stocks in the S&P 500 were up, signaling a less constructive market environment overall.
Barron's Investor Circle newsletter editor Josh Schafer sits down with Yahoo Finance Head of News Myles Udland to go over the top winners and losers in the markets (^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC) last week, highlighting two sectors in particular.
But I look at five of the top 10 biggest losers on a weekly basis in the S&P and I see Pepsi, I see Walmart, I see McDonald's, Home Depot, Proctor and Gamble. So I see five names that one have been a bright spot in the market this year.
Right. A couple of those stocks actually have very, you know, Pepsi has a very interesting, like Pepsi specific story happening. We're going to lower prices to get market share. Like, so that's been that's why that stock's up 5% this year in a in a tape where the S&P's down 3%. And that kind of divergence between Pepsi and the S&P is not really, like that's stocks, that beta's is going to be pretty tight, right? Um, so at any rate, you have that.
And then McDonald's, low-income consumer, Home Depot, rates higher, housing market all of a sudden, the rental market, that's looking a little sketch. Um, Proctor and Gamble, household staples. Like, are people going to be trading out of the name brand sort of, you know, products that they're that they're selling?
And so I look at these sign posts of areas that investors had gone to, felt more comfortable with. These stocks pay a dividend, all kinds of reasons why they had been winners. And for those stocks to be losers last week, when you saw the S&P do its fourth straight losing week, when you saw the S&P 500 break its 200 day, it's just a a less constructive environment overall.
Only 11 stocks in the S&P were up.
And are they all energy?
Uh, so Exxon and Chevron were among the winners, they were both up 2%, which is another interesting facet of it where you have this, the initial, the knee jerk was like, oh, oil prices that are higher good.
Oh, actually now it's bad because they're going to have an inventory problem and a refinery problem. and now we're back to like, actually it's going to be it's going to be good. If you're one of the majors, right? If you're Exxon on Chevron's good. Um, Lam Research, best performing stock. GE Vernova. So, AI trade, a little bit of comfort there. But then a group really stood out. Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America. All those stocks were higher last week in a very select group of stocks within the S&P that were higher.