It will come as no surprise that in a week when the price of a barrel of WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil jumped $20 to $115, investors were busy chasing up energy stocks.
The week's top S&P 500 performer was Occidental Petroleum, up 28.7% for a year-to-date gain of near enough 65%. APA was also a big winner with gains of 13% for the week.
Defence stocks were in vogue, not unreasonably, with L3Harris, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman all up close to 10% as the war in Ukraine entered its second week.
Investors were also sweet on the US consumer, despite the Fed sticking to its plan to hike interest rates this month. Kroger, Best Buy and Target all gained more than 10%.
Meme stock AMC was back in favour, briefly, after beating forecasts, and there were even buyers for unloved travel stocks Booking Holdings and Trip.com.
DEERE & COMPANY
Shares in the owner of agriculture equipment and technology specialist John Deere have advanced more than 11% over the past week as investors speculated it could be a beneficiary of tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
The two countries are big producers of wheat and corn and supplies are likely to be disrupted in the near-term. That has shifted the attention to other parts of the world and put pressure on farmers in places like the US to increase output to meet crop demand.
At the same time crop prices have soared including wheat hitting a new record high. For farmers able to harvest and sell their crops this means higher prices and more profit which can be reinvested into more farming equipment. That in turn raises the prospect for Deere to sell more products.
SNOWFLAKE
Shares in cloud platform provider Snowflake hit a 10-month low of $215.94 after the firm posted a lukewarm growth forecast with its fourth quarter results.
The stock lost nearly 17% over the week despite registering a smaller than expected loss in the three months to January and making a growth acquisition.
Well-known backers of the company include Warren Buffett, whose investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway bought shares when Snowflake joined the stock market in 2020.
Ben Rogoff, manager of Polar Capital Technology Trust, is also a fan and was adding to the fund's position towards the end of last year.
AMC ENTERTAINMENT
Cinemas were given a new lease of life in late 2021 when Spider-Man: No Way Home film became a monster hit at the box office. It helped to bring a lot of people back to the big screen and was certainly a key driver to help cinema chain AMC recover from the pandemic.
AMC's fourth quarter revenue grew to $1.17 billion versus $162 million a year earlier. But it wasn't enough to stop the company reporting a net loss for the quarter or full year.
In addition to launching a popcorn brand for home consumption available in grocery shops and via delivery platforms, AMC is also hoping to boost its income with variable cinema ticket pricing. Some new releases will come with a $1 premium on top of the normal ticket price.
