Market Update Newsletter 1/5/23

Markets closed slightly lower Wednesday after Fed minutes were released in which Powell indicated he will not be done raising interest rates for a "while".

Private payrolls for December 2022 rose by 235,000, much hotter than the 135k Dow Jones estimated. Online Holiday sales for December were up 3.5% compared to the year before. Maybe Powell is onto something. The economy is not in the best condition but it's also not in the worst.

Stocks to Watch

Amazon (AMZN) is cutting 18,000 jobs to cut costs. The stock is up on the news. Could this be enough for a turnaround in the stock?

Salesforce (CRM) receives multiple price target decreases after announcing to cut 10% of their workforce. Are these layoffs the sign Powell needs to fire the economy back up?

Mastercard (MA) and Visa (V) both received price target raises while American Express (AXP) received a downgrade.

Mcdonald's (MCD) receives multiple price target raises. The stock has been holding much splendidly last year compared to the market.

Happy Investing,

The Punkrock Capitalist