Stocks Up Again, Hitting New All-Time Highs

Plus New Zacks Strong Buys for Friday, November 29

Profit from the Pros By Kevin Matras Executive Vice President

Stocks Up Again, Hitting New All-Time Highs Stocks closed up on Wednesday, hitting new all-time highs ahead of Thanksgiving. Growing optimism over a U.S.-China trade deal continues to underpin the market. In the past two weeks, both the U.S. and China have talked up the progress being made with the phase one trade talks. Although, after the close on Wednesday, President Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law, which would require an annual review of Hong Kong to determine if China is interfering in their governance, and sanction officials who commit human rights violations. China has been a vocal opponent of this measure and has previously threatened to retaliate if it passed. But they also must realize that since it was passed in Congress with near unanimous support, it was essentially veto proof and the President had to sign it. Obviously, some worry that it could negatively impact the ongoing trade negotiations. But it seems pretty clear that both countries want a deal. And a Chinese Commerce Ministry official dismissed the idea that trade talks would suffer because of it. So optimism remains high that phase one is still on track. The markets also cheered reports that the House might bring the USMCA trade deal to the floor next week. With strong bipartisan support, it's expected to easily pass the House, and then sail through the Senate. The markets were also buoyed by Q3 GDP's upwardly revised second estimate of 2.1%, which was up from last month's initial estimate of 'just' 1.9%. Consumer spending was once again singled out as a strong contributor. And a strong consumer bodes well for the holiday shopping season. In fact, with a strong economy, 50-year low unemployment, near record high consumer confidence, and household income at the highest level in 20 years, this should be a strong holiday season for both shoppers and retailers. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. The markets will close early today (1:00 ET). It's been a great year so far. And we've still got one more month to go. Looking forward to a strong end of year rally. See you next week, Kevin Matras Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research Sponsor Massive Insider Opportunity About to End Suddenly, 2 key insiders bought over $700,000 in their company's stock. They already receive stock options as part of their compensation, but they're scooping up even more on the open market. This kind of activity can only mean one thing: Those "in-the-know" expect a major price jump. Don't miss your chance to make the most of this and a handful of other compelling opportunities. Check Zacks' insider portfolio before it closes to public entry Sunday, December 1. See insider trades now >> Most Popular Articles from Zacks.com 5 Top-Ranked Cheap Stocks Trading Under $20 to Buy for December Stocks trading at $20 or less are still highly attractive to investors as they present the chance to take a larger position in a company. Read More » Low Mortgage Rates Propel New Home Sales: 5 Top Picks Given positive developments across the housing industry and the low mortgage rates, the industry will grow more in the upcoming months. Read More » Why Gold is Headed to Zero -- And What You Should Buy Instead In 2026, NASA mission Psyche will explore an asteroid that could hold over $5,000 quadrillion in gold. Read More » Transportation Overcomes Headwinds to Shine in Q3: 4 Picks What is encouraging is that there are ample tailwinds to suggest that sector participants will continue to perform well in the current environment. Read More » How Do Stocks Trade Around Thanksgiving? The two-day trading period around Thanksgiving-the Wednesday before and the Friday after-has traditionally been strong for stocks. Read More » Sponsor Increase Investment Returns with Free Zacks' Portfolio Tracker Follow your investments easily in one place. Get free email updates that alert you to major events affecting your stocks and funds, including timely recommendation changes, earnings announcements and, most importantly, earnings estimate revisions. Click to Learn More>> Bull of the Day: WellCare (WCG) Political developments have been boosting this industry. Read More » New Zacks Strong Buys for November 29th Here are 5 stocks added to the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) List today. Read More »   Download our app for convenient on-the-go access to even more—daily and weekly newsletters published by Zacks experts, proprietary research and tools, and Portfolio Tracker on Zacks.com. 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