Smart Investor: Top-Performing Moat Stocks, Trump Tariff Impact, Newly Undervalued Stocks

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Not surprisingly, it was a quiet week with the Thanksgiving holiday. But in the absence of anything significant to trip the markets up, the path of least resistance seems to be higher. That left the Morningstar US Market Index hitting yet another new record high, with the benchmark now posting gains of roughly 27% for 2024.

This year’s rally has been led by high-quality companies, as can be seen from the performance of stocks that Morningstar analysts believe have strong competitive advantages, aka wide or narrow economic moats. Bella Albrecht dug into this year’s stats to highlight which moat stocks have been leading the market higher. It’s more than just Nvidia NVDA…

While the outlook for stocks seems rosy, expectations have been shifting in the background regarding Federal Reserve policy. As we reported last week, solid economic growth and inflation data have the markets pricing in significantly less Fed easing next year, and Consumption Expenditures Price Index – while coming in as expected – showed inflation stuck for now above the central bank’s 2% target.

While it was quiet in the markets, it certainly wasn’t in Washington. President-elect Trump continued his cabinet appointments, but it was with a policy tweet that he perhaps got the most attention in the markets and corporate America by announcing his intention to slap 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, our biggest trading partners.

As Sarah Hansen reports, even before Trump’s tweet, tariffs were a hot topic on third-quarter earnings calls. Here’s our story on what this move could mean for corporate profits, inflation, and potentially the markets.

One corner of the market that has been under pressure since the election has been clean energy. However, there is some overlap between those stocks and names poised to benefit from the growing need to improve this country’s power grid. Leslie Norton spoke with Calamos Investments portfolio manager Tony Tursich, who has three stocks that could be winners thanks to demand.

To close out the week, be sure to check out latest screens on stocks that have fallen into undervalued territory, as well as those you might want to now add to your sell list.

Be sure to visit our Markets page for our latest coverage and live stock market updates, along with our weekly calendar of key upcoming data and events.