MarketBeat Week in Review – 3/13 - 3/17

Key Points

• A roller coaster of a week appears to be ending on a bearish note. 
• Slightly lower readings of the CPI and PPI have not been enough to completely shake investors’ concerns over the banking crisis. 
• Next week will bring the latest announcement of interest rates from the Federal Reserve – a hike of 25 basis points is expected.  
• Here are some of the most popular articles from this week.  

 It was quite a week for investors, and ended on the first triple-witching day of 2023. The week started with investors trying to make sense of the actual risk to the global banking industry after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. But investors got a bit of good news from the CPI and PPI readings that showed inflation softening ever so slightly.

That, along with the government’s backstopping of depositors in the banking crisis, was enough to bring out the bulls. But for how long? Next week brings the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate announcement.

They are widely expected to increase the Fed funds rate by another 25 basis points. A different move one way or the other could have broad implications for the market. Enjoy the basketball tournament this weekend and keep up to date with some of our most popular stories from this week.  

Articles by Jea Yu 

Diversifying the income side of your portfolio is important. But Jea Yu reminds dividend investors that searching for higher yield can bring higher risk. Yu presents investors with two high-yield dividend ETFs with different strategies that, when owned together, can help investors mitigate the risk that comes with these stocks.

Continuing with the theme of risk mitigation, Yu gave investors two low-beta stocks in different sectors that offer the benefit of less volatility. And while it’s nice to see inflation beginning to ease, Yu explains why at least two stocks will be acutely affected as inflation deflation starts to work its way to corporate balance sheets.  

Articles by Thomas Hughes 

Continuing on the theme of high-yielding dividend stocks, Thomas Hughes writes about two high-yield dividend stocks that also have a low beta value. This means that investors are getting a nice combination of a healthy dividend yield with less risk. If you're looking for some growth to go along with appealing dividends, one area to consider is consumer staples stocks.

Hughes offers investors three consumer staples stocks that have double-digit upside. This week also gave investors a read on retail sales. The number shows that consumers are backing off discretionary spending on items like apparel. With that in mind, Hughes gave investors a list of one apparel stock to buy, one to watch and one to avoid.

Hughes also correctly called the earnings beat by FedEx Corp. NYSE: FDX. Hopefully, you took that as an opportunity to add to your position as FedEx reported strong earnings and strong guidance.  

Articles by Sam Quirke 

There are opportunities that come out of every crisis such as the one we’re seeing in the global banking system. Sam Quirke had his eye on two stories that could prove to be profitable for investors. For example, Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) stock was unfairly pulled down as a high-risk in the aftermath of the SVB bank collapse.

But as Quirke explains, even with a 30% recovery, SCHW stock still has some upside left for opportunistic investors. Quirke also observes that another opportunity may be presenting itself in the cryptocurrency sector. Shares of Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) have been climbing as part of a broad rally in cryptocurrency which is being seen as an alternative investment compared to U.S. banks.  

Articles by Chris Markoch 

If investors are looking for a sign that consumers are beginning to pull back on spending, Chris Markoch writes that they only need to look at the results of Five Below, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) and Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) who reported this week. While dollar store chains have been attracting inflation-weary shoppers, it’s clear that consumers are buying the staple items they need and not much else.

And in the case of Dollar General, Markoch notes that institutional investors don’t seem to be interested in pulling the rug out from under short sellers.

Markoch was also writing about Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and what its merger with Seagen Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) could do for the company’s oncology portfolio and its stock.  

Articles by Kate Stalter 

As you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Kate Stalter notes that you may want to take a closer look at the stocks of Irish companies. As Stalter notes, the Irish stock index is outperforming the S&P 500 year-to-date and she also gives you specific names to consider.

Speaking of opportunities amidst the current market volatility, Stalter points out that the utility sector is being overlooked. That means it may be time for opportunistic investors to flee to the safety of these dividend-paying stocks and pocket some gains as well.

And for growth-oriented investors, chip stocks were some to avoid in 2022 as inflation and supply chain issues bedeviled the industry. However, the sector is rallying in 2023 and Stalter writes about three chip stocks that look to be ready to bounce out of a bullish area of consolidation.  

Articles by Matthew North 

Artificial intelligence continues to be a sector that investors can’t get enough of. This means that many companies are racing to enhance their AI capabilities. As Matthew North writes, Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) is the latest example of this. The company has launched Einstein GPT as its own version of generative AI. But as North points out, it’s still too early to know what effect, if any this will have on the company’s stock price.

North also wrote about the $2 trillion heading into U.S. banks and advises investors on whether to play – or avoid – the sector.  

Articles by MarketBeat Staff 

The MarketBeat team had its finger on the pulse of the SVB collapse even as the end result was not clear. Our staff put together this think piece on what the bank’s failure mean for U.S. banks. The piece has held up well with the news of the week. The MarketBeat team was also looking at the retailer Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN). Analysts remain negative on the stock, but the staff writes that hedge fund managers are stocking up and that means the share price may be getting ready to rise as well.

And with March Madness upon us, the staff was looking at the growing market for sports betting and, in particular, the position of DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) which has about 20% of the U.S. iGaming market.