🚀 PCE index up 2.4% annually

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Market Overview
Read time 1.4 minutes

Year To Date Performances:

1. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, rose 0.1% in November, marking a 2.4% annual increase—both below expectations and still above the Fed's 2% target. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy, also rose 0.1% monthly and 2.8% annually, reflecting steady core inflation from October. Personal income and expenditures grew 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively, both slightly missing forecasts, while the savings rate dipped to 4.4%. Goods prices fell annually by 0.4%, but services, housing, and food costs continued to rise. Following this, stock futures dropped, and Treasury yields fell as markets digested the data amid the Fed's recent rate cut and a cautious outlook for 2025, signalling slower progress toward the inflation target.

2. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway spent over $560 million on stocks during December's market sell-off, adding 8.9 million shares of Occidental Petroleum for $405 million, increasing its stake to over 28%. Smaller investments included 5 million shares of Sirius XM for $113 million and 234,000 shares of VeriSign for $45 million, likely made by Buffett's deputies. Occidental, Berkshire's sixth-largest holding, has faced a 24% decline in 2024, while Sirius XM has plunged 62% amid subscriber losses. VeriSign, a long-term holding, has fallen 6% this year, underperforming the broader tech sector. Buffett leveraged the pullback to expand Berkshire’s portfolio.

3. Shares of Novo Nordisk dropped over 20% after trial results for its experimental weight-loss drug CagriSema missed expectations, showing 22.7% weight reduction versus the forecasted 25%. Despite outperforming its existing drug, Wegovy, the findings raised doubts about CagriSema's potential as a next-generation treatment. Novo plans further studies to optimize dosing. Rival Eli Lilly saw a stock boost, as its Zepbound recently demonstrated superior results against Wegovy in a head-to-head trial. Analysts noted growing segmentation in the obesity drug market, with amylin analog treatments like Zealand Pharma's Petrilintide gaining interest as competition intensifies.

4. Headlines

   1. Joe Biden announced on Friday that the US Department of Education has forgiven another $4.28B in debt for 54,900 borrowers.

   2. 89.3% of American workers 21-35 years old have less than $100k in their 401(k)s.

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Onwards and Upwards,

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