Investors' Playbook

📖Today’s Agenda

• Stock Market : 'FOMO' creeps into Markets as Stocks post best month in a year

• Entrepreneurship : TOP 3 AI TOOLS OF THE WEEK

• Personal Finance : How I Plan to Save More Than $20,000 in 2024

📈Stock Market

'FOMO' creeps into Markets as Stocks post best month in a year

The S&P regional bank index (KRE) rose more than 16% during the month, including a more than 2% gain on Wednesday. Cathie Wood's flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) gained more than 34%. Meme stocks are soaring too, with the broad Roundhill Meme ETF (MEME) rising more than 20% in November and meme stock favorite GameStop moving up over 20% on Wednesday alone.

The small cap Russell 2000 Index (^RUT), which had been largely avoided due to fears that high interest rates would sink small companies, gained more than 9% in the month.

"Traders have decided that even though it’s still earning nearly 5%, cash is trash compared to quick profits in a wide variety of risk assets," Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick wrote in a research note on Wednesday.

Sosnick adds that the root of what he described as a fear of missing out, or "FOMO" rally, is the "expectation that rates will be coming down, and that is indeed a solid reason for a rise in risk assets."

When the S&P 500 (^GSPC) bottomed in late October, institutional investors were caught "flat-footed," eToro US investment analyst Callie Cox told Yahoo Finance. According to a measure by the National Association of Active Investment Managers, investors were their least exposed to equities in more than a year.

So as signs of cooling inflation built a case for investors to believe the Fed may not only be done hiking but could even cut rates soon, they piled into interest rate-sensitive sectors throughout last month in an effort to "performance chase," Cox said. Real Estate (XLRE) and Technology (XLK) gained more than 12% in November while Financials (XLF) and Consumer Discretionary (XLY) rose more than 10%.

Now with that active managers index at its highest level since the top of the AI-driven rally in the summer, the key question for investors will be if markets have too aggressively priced in rate cuts and if investors are overall too bullish on stocks despite myriad headwinds headed into 2024.

🎯Entrepreneurship

TOP 3 AI TOOLS OF THE WEEK

1. SantaCoder

TEXT TO CODE

The SantaCoder models are an AI-powered tool for analysing, writing and understanding code. With 1.1 billion parameters trained on the Python, Java and JavaScript subsets of The Stack (v1.1), this tool is an incredibly powerful tool for coding.

2.Writer

TEXT ANALYZER / CONTENT PRODUCTION

his insrtument trained on 1 trillion tokens of formal and business writing containing no copyrighted content. It built for advanced skills, not breadth of knowledge, which keeps models smaller, faster, and cost-effective. Your data stays private and is never shared, or used for model training. Completely auditable, with the ability to inspect code, data, and model weights. Fine-tuned for specific industries like healthcare. Can be Writer-managed or customer-managed.

3. Scribe

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE GENERATOR

Discover the ultimate tool, Scribe, for automatically creating step-by-step guides for all your processes and turning any process into an easily understandable guide complete with text, links and annotated screenshots. With Scribe's powerful AI-powered capabilities, you can have your team access guides or share them directly in the work process faster than ever.

💸Personal Finance

How I Plan to Save More Than $20,000 in 2024

Article By Natasha Etzel

As someone who likes to be financially prepared, saving continues to be an important goal of mine. Before each year ends, I set a savings goal for the upcoming year and figure out how to make it happen.

Whether you're looking to boost your emergency fund or are saving up for a big purchase, there are ways to set yourself up for success if you have a savings goal you're trying to meet next year. Here's how I plan to save more than $20,000 in 2024.

I determined a savings goal that works for me

First, I sat down and determined exactly how much I wanted to save next year. My savings goals for 2024 include boosting my existing emergency fund, saving for future travel costs, and preparing for several expected costs like vehicle registration fees, car insurance premiums, and prescription glasses and contacts purchases I plan to make later in the year.

I calculated each individual goal, then added everything up to determine a grand savings total. Once I know how much I want to save throughout the year, I can easily calculate how much I plan to contribute each month. Breaking bigger goals into more manageable ones works well for me, making the big goal feel less daunting.

My savings goal doesn't include the money I plan to set aside for tax payments. I'll do that math in the coming weeks. As a self-employed freelance writer, I make quarterly estimated tax payments, and I save up throughout the year for these payments.

I'll put everything on autopilot

The next step is probably the No. 1 reason why I have been able to meet my savings goals each year. I automate the savings process, so there's no extra work involved for me. It also ensures I don't forget to save. In the coming weeks, I will set up automated savings contributions so money is automatically transferred from my checking account on a regular basis.

You can easily do this through your bank's mobile app or website. You can decide how much and how often you make contributions. If you frequently forget to transfer extra cash to your savings account, this strategy may help you stay on track with your personal finance goals.

I prefer to spread out my contributions so it doesn't feel as if all my money disappears at once. For me, a bi-weekly system works nicely. But for others, a weekly or once-a-month schedule may be more ideal. You have complete control over how you automate your savings.

I'll stick to the plan and avoid making excuses

Since everything is set on autopilot, I don't fall behind and can meet my goals by year's end. But, of course, life happens. If I need to dip into my emergency fund to pay an unexpected bill, I will. That's what the money is there for and that security provides great relief.

But I hold myself accountable when I feel like giving up. I don't pause my automated contributions or pull from my emergency fund because I feel like going on a shopping spree. Staying determined and focusing on the end goal helps me stay on track as I save.

I'll earn interest as I save

Saving more than $20,000 next year will be a big accomplishment. But in addition to the money I set aside, I'll also earn interest. That means I'll have even more money in the bank by year's end. This is possible because I keep my savings in a bank account that earns interest. In 2023, I earned over $1,200 in savings account interest. Those interest payments add up fast!

If you plan to save money in 2024, that's excellent news. I believe in you! Before you start saving, consider what bank account to use. Since most checking accounts don't accrue interest, you'll want to keep your savings elsewhere. A high-yield savings account is a great option, and annual percentage yields (APYs) on them are higher than usual thanks to Federal Reserve rate hikes in 2022 and 2023.