Weekly Portfolio Update, October 29 2023

Big Tech down, gold above $2,000, some miners (finally) looking cheap

Last week things got even uglier for equities, with the S&P 500 dropping into “correction” territory (i.e., down 10% from its recent high). The combination of high interest rates, a spreading Middle East war, stubborn inflation, and good old-fashioned overvalued stocks seems to have flipped market psychology from “FOMO” to “oh no”.

Sector news

Oil/gas merger activity continued, with Chevron agreeing to buy Hess Corp for $53 billion. This is generally good for the oil/gas stocks in our portfolio since in addition to being growth/dividend plays, they’re now takeover candidates.

Uranium was unphased by the turmoil in other markets. It just wants to go up. See Hedge Funds Pile Into Uranium Stocks Poised for 'Dramatic' Gains.

And gold went back to doing its “safe haven” thing. The related miners didn’t catch much of a bid, but they will if this keeps up: