All 11 sectors in the S&P 500 closed in the green for the week, with the consumer discretionary sector standing out as the top gainer. The Dow finished the holiday-shortened week up 2.8%, while the S&P 500 Index rose 3.6% and the Nasdaq shot up 4.2%.

• Despite recent fall, Energy stocks still outperform every other sector: Energy stocks fell last week as oil prices tumbled. But crude prices are still up almost 20% so far in 2022, making the sector one of the few bright spots in the market this year. Top energy sector exchange-traded funds, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) is up more than 45%. Occidental Petroleum (OXY), an energy company backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB), is up nearly 140% this year. That makes it far and away the best performing stock in the S&P 500.

• AMC Shares Decrease by 19.21%: Shares of AMC Entertainment plunged on Monday as a dividend in the form of one AMC Preferred Equity unit per AMC share arrived in holders' accounts. While the company vowed that it wasn't a dilution, and technically it wasn't a stock split, when taken as a whole, it seemed to weigh on investor holdings. At the close, core theater chain AMC tumbled 42% to $10.46, while APE fell to $5.86, down 12% from premarket quotes. That adds up to around $16 when combined, compared to the $18.02 Friday (19-August-2022) close for AMC alone.

News:

•  Tesla plans 3 to 1 stock split later this August: Electric vehicles manufacturer’s – Tesla’s – stock price increased from week’s low of 840 to over 900 on Friday on the news, that company is planning to pay a “dividend” of two new stocks to its shareholders as a part of 3 to 1 stock split action. The move will cause stock price to slash in value by factor of three while total shares outstanding to be tripled. This will bring share price from 900 to about 300 area making stock more accessible for retail investors.

Stocks finished mostly lower in volatile trading Friday after a surprisingly strong jobs report sparked concern from investors that the Federal Reserve would continue its aggressive interest rate hikes to cool the economy and dampen inflation. The U.S. economy added 528,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department reported, more than twice as high as expected, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5%, matching the lowest level since the late 1960s.

•  Big Tech Earnings: Big Tech earnings were off to a solid start on Tuesday when Microsoft and Google reported stable revenue growth and margins that are unchanged from recent macro conditions. 
  •  Google: While Google's advertising sales growth slowed (+12% YoY), the results for the second quarter were still quite impressive. Sales for the second quarter totaled $69.7 billion, representing a 13% YoY increase in a slow market. Sales in Google's largest business, search, surged 14% YoY, but no business grew as steadily as cloud.

News:

The prominent financial publication Euromoney named Galt & Taggart as the best investment bank in Georgia in 2022.

Banks from all over the world took part in the Euromoney Awards for Excellence, and among the winners were large organizations such as: Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and others.

A masterclass on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues will be held on July 21 at 5:00 PM as part of the Capital Markets Support Program educational series, sponsored by Galt & Taggart.