Happy Tuesday afternoon to everyone on The Street. Here's a snapshot of where markets ended the trading session, plus tomorrow's trade idea delivered to you today.

• 🟥 | US stocks fell on Tuesday. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq experienced declines, with NVIDIA leading the downturn in the tech sector.

• 📈 | One Notable Gainer: Shares of Discover Financial jumped 13% after it agreed to be acquired by Capital One Financial in a $35.3 billion all-stock deal.

• 📉 | One Notable Decliner: NVIDIA’s drop weighed on other names in the space. Super Micro Computer shares fell almost 2%. Wall Street is wondering if some of these AI-related companies are overhyped ahead of NVIDIA’s earnings tomorrow.

• ⛈️ | Tomorrow's Trade: Weathering the Storm. Scroll down for more.

Plus, discover the world's best portfolios with today’s partner, Savvy Trader.

MARKET MOVERS

Walmart, Caterpillar, & Barclays

WMT (+3%) Walmart beats Wall Street’s holiday expectations as e-commerce sales soar (CNBC)

CAT (-2%) Caterpillar Stock Is Falling on a Downgrade. Wall Street Prefers Deere. (Barrons)

BCS (+12%) Barclays Stock Soars as Bank Shakes Up Organization, Plans Cost Cuts and Stock Buybacks (Investopedia)

LUV (+1%) Bernstein raises Southwest stock rating amid improved domestic market conditions, boosts price target to $32 (Investing)

HD (+1%) Home Depot beats earnings, sales estimates even as consumers take on smaller home improvement projects (CNBC)

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OVERHEARD ON THE STREET

Reuters: The U.S. Federal Reserve will cut the federal funds rate in June, according to a slim majority of economists polled by Reuters.

YF: Two strategists are boosting their projections for how far stocks can run in 2024. Last week, Goldman Sachs boosted its year-end target from 5,100 to 5,200. On Tuesday, UBS also boosted its target to 5,400 up from a prior call of 5,100.

Reuters: The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index no longer signals a coming recession for the U.S. economy for the first time since the summer of 2022 even as the index declined in January for the 23rd month in a row, the business research group said on Tuesday.

YF: Home Depot doesn't see a 'hockey stick recovery' for the housing market.

Fox Business: Texas and Florida led the nation between 2010 and 2019 in attracting businesses relocating from other parts of the country, according to a new report published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

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TOMORROW’S TRADE IDEA, TODAY

Weathering The Storm

Feeling Self-Conscious

On the heels of some worse-than-expected CPI data last week, the market hasn’t felt so sure of itself lately.

Suddenly the outlook for the year seems very different than it did in early January. Multiple rate cuts no longer seem like a sure thing, and the market is reacting with some unwelcomed volatility.

This is the type of unpredictable price action that makes stable, low-volatility stocks look attractive. That’s why CNBC came out with this list of stocks that it believes can weather a storm.

The Criteria

CNBC combed the market for stocks with prices that demonstrate consistent results and don’t carry much debt.

CNBC looked for stocks with a beta below 0.9 and 10% gains over the last 12 months. The stocks also have a minimum of 4% sales growth over the last 5 years and a debt-to-equity ratio of less than 40%.

Some of the names that made the list are Costco (COST), Berkshire Hathaway’s B shares (BRK.B), and Microsoft (MSFT).

Faith in These Few

Berkshire is up over 10% this year, and analysts think it can rise another 6.6%. It’s being thrown around as a replacement for Tesla (TSLA) in the Magnificent Seven.

Costco is projected to decrease by 1.5% from its current price. Yet three out of five analysts give it a “buy” rating. The wholesaler will be bringing in a new CEO in March. This will be its first external hire for the position. 

Microsoft shares have increased more than 8% in 2024. 95% of analysts currently give it a “buy” rating with an upside of almost 15%. 

These stocks could provide investors with a strong backbone for their portfolios regardless of how the overall market performs this year.

TOGETHER WITH SAVVY TRADER

See Details of the World's Best Portfolios

Savvy Trader is an investment site where you can see the details of various investor portfolios. Each time an investor makes a trade, you are sent a notification of the trade. The performance of portfolios on Savvy Trader is tracked by Savvy Trader using real-time pricing and can not be manipulated. Click here to check it out.

ON OUR RADAR

BBG: The US has told allies that Russia could deploy a nuclear weapon or a mock warhead into space as early as this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

Daily Mail: Elon Musk has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as a 'stout proponent for free speech', joining conservationists, journalists, religious leaders and political activists in an exclusive group of the world's foremost actors for change.

CNBC: American Airlines has raised the price to check a bag for the first time in more than five years and said it would limit which travel agency bookings are eligible to earn frequent flyer miles.

BBG: Princeton University plans to tap the $4 trillion municipal bond market to help finance capital projects on its New Jersey campus.

Fox Business: Starbucks is offering an unlikely new flavor in its coffee: pork.

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