U.S. rallies to close week, Canadian GDP up

This week, you missed Past Top Picks comments by Rick Stuchberry including Toronto Dominion (A Top Pick Sep 05/18, Down 6%) Get Premium to receive all past top picks opinions a few hours before market open.

Whether it’s FOMO, the U.S. Fed’s promise to keep interest rates rock-bottom low or pure greed in tech stocks, American markets continued to rally to end a record-breaking week. The Nasdaq closed up 0.6% or 48.86% year-to-date to make another record close while the S&P finished 0.67% or up 8.58% YTD and set a new high. The Dow is the laggard, though it closed 0.57% Friday. Investors continue to pour money into tech.

The XRT ETF, which collects American retail names, up us only 14.18% for the year so far compared to 34.5% for the XLK, which collects U.S. tech stocks. To compare, the price of gold has run up 27.79% YTD. Actually, Alphabet was one of the few mega tech names that rallied Friday, moving in line with the Nasdaq at 0.6%, while Ulta Beauty lifted the index after a Q2 earnings beat, bouncing 5.84%.

The TSX inched down, closing -0.15%, though energy and especially materials rallied. Fortuna Silver Mines was one of the biggest gainers among precious metals, jumping 8.28%. Canadian bank earnings continued to impress the market with Canadian Western Bank reporting a healthy Q3; the stock popped 7.59%. The TSX actually peaked in the morning on positive news that June GDP surged 6.5%, then the Toronto index slipped a little to the closing bell. The price of WTI was basically flat, but the Canadian dollar continues to show strength, up. 0.26% to to touch $76.37 while the US greenback continues to show weakness, down 0.25.

🏛 SPDR Retail ETF +14.18%
🏛 SPDR Technology ETF +34.5%
🧮 Alphabet Inc. / Google +0.6%
🥈 Fortuna Silver Mines +8.28%
🏛 Canadian Western Bank +7.59%