These 20 stocks soared the most in 2023
(Updated with Friday’s closing prices.) The 2023 rally for stocks in the U.S. accelerated as more investors bought the idea that the Federal Reserve succeeded in its effort to bring inflation to heel. The S&P 500 ended Friday with a 24.2% gain for 2023, following a 19.4% decline in 2022. (All price changes in this […]
Here are the 20 worst-performing stocks among the S&P 500 in 2023
(Updated with Friday’s closing prices.) The U.S. stock market staged a remarkable rally in 2023, but 178 stocks in the S&P 500 were still down for the year. Here’s a roundup of how well the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 fared, with broad indexes below: Healthcare 2023 price change 2022 price change Price change […]
SpaceX rockets set new launch record in 2023
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Psyche spacecraft launches from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Oct. 13, 2023. Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images Elon Musk’s SpaceX smashed its previous annual record for orbital rocket launches, pulling off 96 successful missions in 2023 at a blistering average launch pace […]
Treasury yields end mostly higher but little changed on year after wild 2023
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the length of time between 10-year yields topping 5%. The article has been corrected. Treasury yields ended mostly higher Friday but finished 2023 not far from where they started, after a wild year that saw the 10-year rate hit a 16-year high above 5% before retreating into […]
Chicago business-activity index retreats in December
The Chicago Business Barometer, also known as the Chicago PMI, fell 8.9 index points to 46.9 in December. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast a 50 reading. The index had jumped to 55.8 in November, the highest level in 17 months, after the end of the United Auto Workers strike. Readings below […]
Companies losing pricing power after years of unbridled spending
A FedEx worker delivers packages in New York, May 9, 2022. Andrew Kelly | Reuters After years of unbridled consumer spending on everything from home improvement to dream vacations, some companies are now finding the limits of their pricing power. Shipping giant FedEx last week said customers have shied away from speedier, pricier shipping options. […]
Why Social Security had a disastrous 2023
The Social Security scandal got even worse this year. Social Security, the pension system on which nearly all of us will rely, hurtled closer to disaster this year after another twelve months of political inaction and disastrous returns on the fund’s investments. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Data from the Social Security […]
Google settles $5 billion consumer-privacy lawsuit: report
Alphabet Inc.’s Google has agreed to settle a consumer-privacy lawsuit that alleged the company secretly tracked millions of people who thought they were browsing the internet privately, according to a Reuters report Thursday. The lawsuit sought at least $5 billion. Settlement terms were not disclosed, but the lawyers said they expected to present a formal […]
November pending home sales unchanged, despite lower mortgage rates
Pending home sales in November were unchanged compared with October and 5.2% lower than November of last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The reading, which is based on signed contracts during the month, is a forward-looking indicator of closed sales as well as the most current look at what potential homebuyers are […]
These ETF strategies won big in 2023. How one analyst sees them doing next year.
Hello! This is MarketWatch reporter Isabel Wang bringing you this week’s ETF Wrap. In this week’s edition, we look at ETF strategies that have exploded in popularity in 2023, and whether they will continue to gain momentum in the year ahead. Please send tips or feedback to isabel.wang@marketwatch.com or to christine.idzelis@marketwatch.com. You can also follow […]
