Stocks To Watch – 2/3/2025

 Brief Overview

Welcome back to this week’s Stocks to Watch! We’re in the midst of earnings season with more big names scheduled to report this week. Be sure to check out the Earnings Calendar below. As always We’ll be studying the market to find sentiment and alert our members to the best setups we find! 

Let’s take a look at last week.

The week started off rough for tech stocks, with a major shakeup in the AI race. DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, launched a serious competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, sending shockwaves through the market. Nvidia got hit the hardest, losing nearly $600 billion in value—the biggest single-company drop in U.S. market history. Not exactly the best way to kick off the week.

January’s consumer confidence report wasn’t pretty. The Conference Board showed that people are feeling less optimistic about business conditions and job prospects. On top of that, expectations for the next six months dropped, hinting that consumers might start pulling back on spending.

The latest GDP numbers showed the economy grew 2.3% in Q4, down from 3.1% in the previous quarter. While consumer spending is still holding up, the slowdown suggests that the economy is hitting some headwinds as we move deeper into 2025.

No surprises here—the Fed decided to keep interest rates steady after making aggressive cuts late last year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell made it clear they’re in wait-and-see mode, keeping an eye on inflation and the potential economic impact of new trade policies before making any moves.

The White House announced that, starting Saturday, 25% tariffs will be imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. In response, Canada unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $155 billion worth of U.S. imports, targeting items such as household goods, lumber, and alcohol. Mexico also announced plans for countermeasures, though specific details were not provided. These developments have led to market caution, with major indexes slipping as investors assess the potential economic impacts.

It was a week packed with market drama—tech got rocked, consumer confidence slipped, and economic growth slowed. The Fed is keeping rates on pause for now, but new tariffs are adding fresh uncertainty to the mix. As we roll into February, all eyes will be on how these shifts play out in the markets and beyond. Stay tuned!