Volatile trading in the US; Apple is at a peak, approaching a market value of D4 trillion

Trading Overview: Current reports, trends, indices, stock prices, bonds, foreign exchange and commodities and analyst recommendations

20:36

stock dark Today it touched a record of $260 per share and retreated a little. The stock is up more than 11% over the past month, and the company is approaching a $4 trillion market cap, $3.94 trillion now.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives raised his target price per share to $325, the highest on Wall Street, and noted that the company is entering a “golden age of growth” in 2025. “We believe Apple is entering an AI-based iPhone upgrade cycle that is still undervalued on by the hands of the market,” Ives wrote, adding: “Rome was not built in a day, nor will Apple’s AI strategy be built, but the seeds of this strategy, Apple Intelligence, are beginning to bear fruit.”

The stock was still on track to set a new closing high, having reached $258.20 on Christmas Eve.

Apple started climbing in early November, when it introduced its new MacBook Pro series, and in mid-December it added ChatGPT and other AI features called Apple Intelligence to its various devices.

While Apple stock rose 11% over the same time period, Meta rose 6.7%, Microsoft rose 4.4%, and Nvidia rose 1%.

However, macroeconomic uncertainty may be a hindrance for it. Trump’s planned tariffs on China could affect the costs of manufacturing Apple products assembled in the country. In addition, the Fed’s predictions that interest rates will fall less than expected in 2025 raise concerns about persistently high interest rates and persistent inflation, which could harm consumer confidence ahead of the new year.

20:08

After opening with declines, then moving to gains, now trading on Wall Street is calm and sparse with the indexes trading stably, the “Santa Rally” that started on Tuesday has stopped a bit.

In the debt market, another increase in yields – the 10-year government bond yield increases by 3 basis points to 4.63%, the two-year bond by 4.38%.

The debt market is trying to predict the next step of the Federal Reserve after US Governor Jerome Powell announced last week that interest rate cuts will slow down in 2025. Modi Shafferer, chief financial markets strategist at Bank Hapoalim, commented this week on the chances of “Ionic” surprises from the Fed and wrote: “In our estimation, it is enough for an index or two in the near term to be lower than expected and/or for the deterioration of the employment data, in order for the members of the Fed to change their approach again to more ‘ionic’. Therefore, we remain in our recommendation to take advantage of the sharp increase in yields in the US to hold A medium-long weapon in a bag”.

Oil traded slightly lower today – American oil at $69.8 per barrel and Brent oil at $73. Trade was moved by the fiscal stimulus in China and a US industrial report indicating a further decline in domestic inventories. In the US, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that commercial crude oil inventories fell by 3.2 million barrels last week.

19:21

After opening with declines, trading on Wall Street moved to slight gains and meanwhile, the “Rally Santa” that began on Tuesday continues today – Nasdaq rises by 0.2%, S&P 500 by 0.1% and Dow Jones by 0.1%.

Broadcom stands out today among chip stocks and continues its amazing momentum this month with a return of over 50% to another new record, since the beginning of the year the stock has risen by 125%.

18:31

Israeli women on Wall Street:

The Autotec company Inviz was forced to publish a report clarifying the tweet published this week by the company’s CEO and founder on X (Twitter). This week Inviz published a substantial report on revenue from engineering development services that it will receive in the coming years. CEO Omar Khilaf accompanied the report with tweets on Twitter – a preliminary tweet even boosted The stock is even before the official report.

In his tweets, Khilaf also referred to the company’s compliance with the minimum price per share required to continue trading on Nasdaq. The company stated today in the clarification report that it cannot guarantee that it will meet the minimum requirements without taking additional action, such as capital consolidation, and that it will continue to continuously examine the opportunity to access the capital markets for liquidity needs its.

Shortly after his term on the board was not extended, Yoav Stern also leaves his position as CEO nano dimension . The 3D printing company, which recently changed all the members of the board of directors, announced that Stern left immediately and until a new CEO is found, Julian Lederman, vice president of the company, will be appointed temporarily. Stern served as CEO for about 5 years, which were turbulent years In the company in which she raised huge sums, made several purchases and waged a control struggle against a prominent shareholder.

18:03

“Over time, it only takes a few winners to do wonders,” Warren Buffett once wrote. These are his winners in 2024.

Buffett enters the year 2025 with a record amount of his cash – the highest in 34 years. The cash volume of the 94-year-old legendary investor stands at $325 billion and is about 30% of the total assets of the investment company he owns, Berkshire Hathaway, the highest percentage recorded since 1990, according to Oppenheimer data.

According to estimates, Buffett holds so much cash in view of the fact that the market is very expensive and that he does not find attractive acquisitions to park his fortune. This is how Bill Stone, chief investment officer at Glenview Trust and a long-time shareholder in Berkshire, estimates. Berkshire’s cash mountain grew after Buffett aggressively sold his two largest holdings, Apple and Bank of America, worth $133 billion in the first three quarters of this year.

17:48

In the US, the number of new unemployed people in the US fell to219 thousand, compared to 220 thousand the previous week – according to today (Thursday) the American Ministry of Labor. The expectation was an increase in the number of claims to the level of 225 thousand. In addition, The number of ongoing jobless claims to 1.91 million, its highest level since November 2021, compared to 1.86 million the previous week.

17:05

The price of Bitcoin is now down about 4% to $95,300. Microstrategy those who are most identified with the currency decrease at a similar rate.

MicroStrategy, led by CEO and Chairman Michael Saylor, has transformed itself into a Bitcoin holding company—and a leveraged crypto investment for many traders—with roughly $37 billion worth of coin holdings. Bitcoin’s price has more than doubled this year, but MicroStrategy’s stock has soared more than 500%. U.S. retail traders are flocking: They bought a net $217 million in MicroStrategy shares in the week after the presidential election, the seventh-highest buying volume among U.S. stocks, according to JPMorgan Research.

● The simple traders who rode the crazy wave of microstrategy

Bitcoin skeptics say MicroStrategy and its investors are “playing with fire” and point to the leading cryptocurrency’s history of extraordinary booms followed by catastrophic failures. Even market bulls like Mike Novogratz, the billionaire CEO of crypto trading firm Galaxy Digital, said the amount of market leverage, or borrowed money, makes them wary.

16:30

For the first time this week after two consecutive days of gains and after the holiday break, declines on Wall Street. Nasdaq down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.2% and Dow Jones down 0.3%.

So far this week, the S&P 500 is up 1.8%, while the Dow is up about 1%. The strong rally in high-cap tech stocks has lifted the Nasdaq by 2.3% so far this week.

Investors are looking forward to the rally known as the “Santa Claus Rally”, which takes place on the last five trading days of the year and the first two days of January. Since 1950, the S&P 500 has averaged a return of 1.3% over that period, which is significantly higher than the seven-day average of 0.3%, according to a study by LPL Research. Today is the second day of the Santa Rally.

14:41

The Central Bank of Turkey lowered the interest rate a short time ago to 47.5% from 50%. The early forecast expected the interest rate to drop to 48.5%.

14:18

About a month after you joined canon controlled by Idan Ofer, reported that it may sell all shares Zim In her hands, today (Thursday) she reports on the realization. The company reported to the stock exchange that it sold the remaining ZIM shares it had, about 9.1 million, for $178 million; This is after a previous sale that was made recently, for 120 million dollars. Even before the sale, Canon benefited from a Metzim dividend of $47 million before tax. Canon is now jumping 5% following the report.

13:00

The futures contracts in the US are trading at this time with slight price decreases.

In the US debt market, government bond yields are trading slightly higher. The 10-year yield is at 4.61%. The two-year yield is trading around 4.34%.

In Asia, the World Bank raised China’s economic growth forecast for 2024 and 2025. However, the bank warned that the real estate crisis in China together with the expected increase in tariffs in the US on the import of goods from China are expected to harm its growth. “Addressing challenges in the real estate market, strengthening safety nets and the country’s stimulus program will be essential to the recovery of the Chinese economy,” said Mara Warwick, from the World Bank.

11:00

The trading day in Asia closed with a mixed trend. The Nikkei rose 1.4%, the Shanghai Stock Exchange rose 0.1%, and the Kospi fell 0.4%.

In Europe, there is no trading in most of the stock exchanges on the occasion of the day after Christmas.

In the US, futures are trading slightly lower.

08:51

This morning in Asia, the main indexes are trading by the hour in a mixed trend. The Nikkei rose 1.4% after it was reported that the Japanese government is expected to put together a record budget of $735 billion, due to higher social security costs. The Shanghai Stock Exchange is up 0.1%, and the Kospi index is down 0.4%.

In the US, futures are trading in a mixed trend this morning. Last night (Wed), trading was closed for Christmas.

● Don’t lean on the S&P 500: Zvi Stepak’s tips for 2025

In the US debt market, government bond yields are rising this morning (Thursday). The 10-year yield climbs to 4.62% and the two-year yield is trading around 4.34%.

In the commodity market, oil prices rose slightly this morning. The price of a barrel of Brent trades around 73 dollars and the price of a barrel of WTI stands at 70.2 dollars.

No significant macro data is expected to be published today. On the occasion of the day after Christmas, there will be no trading in some European, Canadian and Australian stock exchanges. In the US, trade will take place as usual.

In his weekly review, Alex Zebzinski, Chief Economist at Meitav Investment House, explained that private consumption in the US continues to be strong, but industry is sinking: “The figures for private consumption in the US continue to be quite good. The annual growth rate in real private consumption has improved in recent months. The purchasing managers’ index in the services sector rose to 58.5, the highest level in the last 3 years.

“On the industrial activity side, the situation is less good. The purchasing managers’ index in industry PMI was lower than forecast and stood at 48.3 in December, a level that indicates a contraction in activity. The industrial production index continues to fall.”

Warren Buffett enters the year 2025 with a record amount of his cash – the highest in 34 years. The cash volume of the 94-year-old legendary investor stands at $325 billion and is about 30% of the total assets of the investment company he owns, Berkshire Hathaway, the highest percentage recorded since 1990, according to Oppenheimer data.

According to estimates, Buffett holds so much cash in view of the fact that the market is very expensive and that he does not find attractive acquisitions to park his fortune. This is how Bill Stone, chief investment officer at Glenview Trust and a long-time shareholder in Berkshire, estimates. Berkshire’s mountain of cash grew after Buffett aggressively sold his two largest holdings, Apple and Bank of America, worth $133 billion in the first three quarters of this year.

Boffenheimer recommends shares of the fertilizer industry. In their review, they emphasize that after the Ukraine-Russia war broke out, fertilizer prices jumped sharply and then began a continuous retreat until the price levels we are witnessing today. We believe that the year 2025 may be characterized as the industry’s turning year after two years in which there was a continuous decline as a result of the “normalization” process that the industry is experiencing, which will lead to the fact that during the coming year the growth rate in sales volume will return to positive.

Research analyst Kristen Owen identifies three leading fertilizer companies: The first is notary which is rated by Oppenheimer with an excess yield recommendation and a target price of $60 per share. Boffenheimer explains that this is a company with the world’s largest production capacity of fertilizers globally and potash production in particular, with a ~20% share of the global production output of potash. It is also considered the world’s third largest supplier of nitrogen-based fertilizers.

In Oppenheimer Menyyat is also mentioned CF Industries Holding which is rated by the investment house as an excess yield and a target price of 114 dollars per share and it is noted that CF is a company that has the largest production capacity of ammonia in the world and is considered a leader in the supply of nitrogen-based fertilizers such as urea.

In addition, they indicate the share mosaic in an excess yield rating, which also holds an impressive market share of 35% of the potash market and 80% of the phosphate market in North America.