It was a topsy-turvy week for Wall Street, saved by a big Friday rally. The market was looking at a weekly loss at Thursday’s close. But a day later, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell came through, hinting at possible interest rate cuts ahead. His speech on Friday at the central bank’s economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was just what investors had hoped to hear, and the stocks that can benefit the most led the market. The cyclical, more economically sensitive names were strong with DuPont and Home Depot among the winners Friday and for the week. Defensive groups lagged, which put Bristol Myers Squibb and Costco in the red for the session and the week. While lower rates lift all boats, some of our big tech stocks finished up only slightly Friday but down for the week. Why? Well, the number of rate cuts this year won’t impact names like Meta Platforms or a Microsoft quite as much. Instead, their fortunes are more tied to the boom in artificial intelligence rather than lower borrowing costs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a new all-time high Friday, closing at a record and exceeding its previous record close from early December. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rallied on Friday too, but it was not enough to eclipse last week’s milestones. While …
