The Clear Winner in a Spectacular Quarter

Shah Gilani|April 5, 2024

An action-packed first quarter had markets buzzing with excitement… and handed committed investors gains worthy of their dyed-in-the-wool bullishness.

The quarter was nothing short of spectacular.

It was fueled by a concoction of economic optimism, rate cut hopes… and an all-out AI frenzy that’s got investors’ heads spinning with visions of brave new worlds.

The S&P 500 didn’t just climb… it soared. It notched a jaw-dropping 10.16% gain to kick off the year, marking its most significant first-quarter uptick since 2019.

The index set records left and right, hitting new highs over a dozen times without breaking a sweat.

And the Nasdaq composite, not to be outdone, strutted its stuff with its first record peak since the tail end of 2021.

Investors were riding high on the belief that the economy is set for a smooth landing… or maybe a “no-landing.”

Or, as pilots might call, it a “touch and go”… where they let the landing gear scrape the tarmac then pull back on the yoke to send their plane airborne again – a scenario where both inflation calms down and the economy doesn’t hit the panic button.

A dovish Federal Reserve, which, in a bit of calculated wisdom, hinted at not one, not two, but three rate cuts this year, all while giving the economy a brighter outlook. This bit of “central bank wizardry” gave stocks the green light to defy gravity… even as Treasury yields decided to play hardball.

And then there’s AI – the golden child of tech, turning the market into its playground.

The Clear Winner

Nvidia (NVDA) turned up the heat, surging a staggering 80%, thanks to its chips that are like catnip for AI applications. And investors rewarded Meta (META) for handing out its first-ever dividend. The stock soared more than 50% in the quarter.

However, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the tech titans. As we’ve discussed here and here… both Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) are facing headwinds.

Despite the mixed bag of fortunes for the Magnificent Seven, which is now the Fab Four (Amazon, Meta, Netflix and Nvidia) or the Fantastic Five (if you include Google), the broader market picked up the slack, signaling a rally that’s not just deep but wide.

Sectors from financials and industrials were all in on the action, spreading the wealth beyond Silicon Valley’s usual suspects.

In the race for quarterly returns… the S&P 500 won with its 10.2% gain. The Nasdaq came in second with a 9.1% gain. And third place goes to the Dow with a 5.6% gain.

But wait!

There was another runner that most folks didn’t see… because it lapped the field several times while the others were still at the starting line…

The crypto sector.

Trouncing Every Benchmark

Crypto handily beat out the competition… Bitcoin, the poster child for the sector, posted 64% gain in the first quarter.

Bitcoin was $44,172 on January 1. It ended the quarter at $71,255.

Wow.

That performance is 6 1/2 times better than what the benchmark indexes turned in.

But that spectacular return is nothing compared to performances turned in smaller altcoins in the first quarter.

According to data from crypto data provider CoinGeko, the average return of the top altcoins in the first quarter was 1,312.6%.

That’s not a misprint.

How’d we get to this sky-high “average”? Just look at the top performers…

The altcoin Brett (BRETT) generated a gain of 7,727%… and dogwifhat (WIF) gained 2,721% in the quarter.

Hard to believe? It shouldn’t be. Manward’s own crypto expert Robert Ross has been telling you for weeks that these kinds of gains are possible.

It’s all thanks to a critical event happening in the crypto sector in just days. That’s why Robert and I are going live with a special free crypto training event next Thursday, April 11.

We want to teach our readers how to profit from the huge crypto bull run that will last for the next 12 to 18 months.

You’ll learn why Robert believes bitcoin is heading to $165,000 within the next 18 months… what he believes that will do to the crypto market at large… and why a specific catalyst could soon spark a crypto trading frenzy.

Click here to reserve your spot.

What else can we expect in the second quarter?

With a backdrop of robust earnings, easing interest rates, and consumers still willing to open their wallets, the stage is set for continued market jubilation.

So stay tuned – and keep investing – because if the first act is any indication, we’re in for one heck of a show.