The stock market closed lower on Tuesday to start the holiday-shortened week. Bond yields grew nearly 11 basis points to trade at 3.85%, after China eyed to loosen its Covid restrictions.
Overall, S&P 500 fell 0.4% to 3,829, while NASDAQ declined 1.4% to 10,353.
Tweet of the Day
While earnings are important, waiting for the bottom in earnings to return to the market could be tricky. Since the 1920s, the level of earnings has typically reached a floor after the recession has ended and 8-9 months after the S&P 500 has troughed. pic.twitter.com/MhH5qxTDVI
— Q-Cap (@qcapital2020) December 27, 2022
Chart of the Day
Our chart of the day is the ten-year chart of Merck (MRK) as of December 14, 2022, when the stock was at $112.
Merck is a global healthcare company that provides customers with patented prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products.
After the run-up in growth stocks that ended in November 2021, investors might be looking for something different to invest in. Perhaps stocks with low P/Es?
MRK could be a safe haven during this Bear Market. But notice in the ten-year chart that profit growth and stock growth was just 7-11% the past decade.
MRK is part of the Conservative Growth Portfolio.
