The major indices jumped out of the gate Monday and finished at fresh all-time highs as 2020 continues to pull every last trick from its hat before it fades into history.
This time, it was a game of "now you see it, now you don't" with federal stimulus funds.
After creating suspense that Washington's latest stimulus package might stall, President Donald Trump gave up his surprise protest and signed the $900 billion COVID rescue bill Sunday – mind you, after about 14 million Americans' unemployment benefits lapsed, forcing the Labor Department to scramble to keep those people from losing a week's worth of benefits to start the new year.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
But it was more than enough to keep Wall Street juiced, including many of its largest members: Apple (AAPL, +3.6%), Amazon.com (AMZN, +3.5%), Disney (DIS, +3.0%) and Facebook (FB, +3.6%) all put up robust gains Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.7% to 30,403), S&P 500 (+0.9% to 3,735) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.7% to 12,899) all advanced to record closes.
Other action in the stock market today:
- The small-cap Russell 2000 declined 0.4% to 1,996.
- U.S. crude oil futures dipped 1.3% to settle at $47.62 per barrel.
- Gold futures slipped 0.1% to $1,880.40 per ounce.
Tech: Still a Good Bet in 2021?
The technology sector, which has heated up of late, is on pace to finish 2020 as the year's best sector by far. At 42% gains year-to-date, it's 15.4 percentage points ahead of the second-place consumer discretionary sector.
While that has resulted in some truly paunchy valuations, and while many analysts are calling for a rotation into value and cyclical sectors in the year to come, many pros are still bullish on technology as we head into 2021.
LPL Financial, for instance, says in its 2021 outlook that "we view technology companies as big beneficiaries of a split Congress, as the regulatory environment was expected to be much tougher in a Democratic-sweep scenario."
If you believe technology still has room to run but want to hedge your bets a little, you can always focus on funds. These 15 technology-specific ETFs help spread out the risk, or you could take it a step further with funds invested in the Nasdaq-100 – a tech-heavy index that also has some exposure to other sectors such as communications and consumer stocks.
But if you want to generate serious outperformance in the high-growth tech sector and can shoulder the risk, individual stocks remain the way to go. We've recently picked the pros' brains for their top 2021 tech picks, and the result is this list of 15 of the highest-ranked technology plays on the market. Discover what makes each of them stand out, even after many have already rocketed higher in 2020.
Disclaimer
Kyle Woodley was long AMZN as of this writing.
-
What Not to Do if an Employee or Loved One Is KidnappedBusinesses need to have a crisis plan in place so that everyone knows what to do and how to do it. Sometimes, calling the authorities isn’t recommended.
-
Why You Shouldn’t Let High Interest Rates Seduce YouWhile increased interest rates are improving the returns on high-yield savings accounts, that may not be an effective place to park your money for the long term.
-
What Is Proxy Season and Should You Vote?Proxy season is upon us, allowing investors to weigh in on corporate leadership and policies. Here, we look at proxy season and whether you should vote.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Reverse Lower as Treasury Yields SpikeA good-news-is-bad-news retail sales report lowered rate-cut expectations and caused government bond yields to surge.
-
Amazon Eyes $2 Trillion Market Cap as CEO Talks AI, Cost CutsAmazon CEO Andy Jassy thinks there’s "a long way to go" in all of its businesses and that could be good for investors.
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Leads as Magnificent 7 Stocks RiseStrength in several mega-cap tech and communication services stocks kept the main indexes higher Thursday.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Tumble After a Hot Inflation PrintEquities retreated after inflation data called the Fed's rate-cut plans into question.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks End Mixed Ahead of Key Inflation ReadingEquities struggled before tomorrow's big Consumer Price Index report.
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Closed Mixed in Choppy TradingVolatility returned as market participants adjusted their expectations for rate cuts.
-
How To Invest Your Tax ReturnWhen thinking about how to invest your tax return, prioritize your financial health over aggressive – and risky – ideas like bitcoin.
