ADP’s tally of 120,000 small firm job losses in November, and a decline in September Core PCE inflation, both help the case for a rate cut at the Fed’s meeting this Wednesday. On the markets front, Wall Street strategists are forecasting an average of 9% return for the S&P 500 index next year. Two technical indicators suggest an even larger return is probable.
Meanwhile, it’s almost impossible to keep up with all that’s going on in the world of Artificial Intelligence, but what’s clear is the stock market favours AI adopters. Interestingly, the share prices of companies citing AI on Q3 conference calls have returned 14% on average year-to-date, vs. an average return of 6% for those that didn’t cite it.