5 Stocks To Consider For May 20245 Stocks To Consider For May 2024
Time flies, especially when things are running smoothly, and this year so far has been a period free of dramatic events across the capital markets.
Suddenly, we are almost halfway through 2024, and the forthcoming month takes us up to that point. During the first part of 2024, scepticism and trepidation gave way to hope and optimism as analysts cast their theories that central banks across the Western world may look toward reducing interest rates a few times. This turned out to have been an incorrect prediction, and rates remain unchanged, meaning companies still need that extra cash flow to grow or show greater revenues, which is currently being used to service monthly commitments at high interest rates.
It has not impeded progress, however. Some of the world's most prestigious indices have been performing outstandingly, giving rise to the notion that large corporations are, in many cases, in good fiscal order. Talk of recession has faded into the background as the FTSE 100 in London (UK 100 on FXOpen) ended April with a massive rally, and across the Atlantic, the S&P500 (US SPX 500 Mini on FXOpen) and NASDAQ (US Tech 100 mini on FXOpen) ended the month in a strong position.
Here are five stocks to consider for May 2024.
1) 3M
In today's world of high-tech internet stocks in which Silicon Valley giants dominate, it is easy to overlook North America's heavy industrial corporations, which remain at world-leading magnitude and have a long history of producing high-quality items used daily by private individuals and commercial enterprises.
One such company is 3M, which was founded over 122 years ago in New Harbor, Minnesota. 3M stands for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing and is a clever play on an acronym based on these three words. Most Americans, and no doubt many Europeans, will know the 3M brand and will have seen it printed on everyday items such as adhesives, films and tapes, whereas many employees of heavy industrial companies will see it on materials used in manufacturing processes.
3M stock has demonstrated an interesting dynamic over recent years, having made a steady decrease in value ever since the middle of 2021. Apart from a few minor corrections over the past three years, 3M stock has decreased in value from $203.86 on June 1, 2021, to $91.98 at the close of the US trading session yesterday, April 29, 2024, according to FXOpen pricing.
Despite this continued downtrend, 3M stock is among the most traded US stocks on FXOpen's TickTrader platform this morning. Just three weeks ago, news reports abounded stating that 3 M's stock losses had been a major factor in a 300-point fall in the Dow Jones index.
According to S&P Market Intelligence, 3M shares rocketed in value by 15.1% in March this year, bucking the overall trend of the past three years, but this was not sustained, and the longer-term view shows this to be a mere blip in an overall decline.
Given that it is being traded very actively, this is a big-cap stock to watch.
2) Deutsche Bank
At the top of FXOpen's' Top Fallers' list at the end of April is Deutsche Bank, whose shares have been demonstrating a degree of volatility over recent days.
Germany's largest bank, which is also one of the largest global investment banks and FX interbank dealers by market share, has ridden out its fair share of woes over the years, but has sustained its position well.
This month has been interesting for Deutsche Bank as it suddenly rallied to 16.69 Euros on April 26 according to FXOpen pricing, as reports of its highest quarterly profit in as much as 11 years were announced. This was short lived, however, and Deutsche Bank stock dropped significantly in value on April 29 as matters relating to the litigation surrounding the bank's acquisition of PostBank began to resurface.
The litigation alleges that Deutsche Bank underpaid when acquiring compatriot PostBank, and has thus far been a long, drawn out affair. It hit the news once again on April 29 as reports began to emerge estimating the potential cost to Deutsche Bank could be as much as 1.3 billion Euros should Deutsche Bank be ordered to settle.
The sudden upward direction in Deutsche Bank shares created by the positive quarterly earnings followed by a sudden drop a day later as the magnitude of the potential cost of settlement of the PostBank litigation has made Deutsche Bank stock a volatile giant.
3) Tesla
Tesla is one of the world's most traded stocks and is widely understood as a disruptive tour de force within the technology and automotive industries, which it straddles.
Often Tesla stock is considered among those to watch, but mainly due to the company's less orthodox method of operation compared to the established Silicon Valley giants that its stock is often compared to, such as Microsoft, Google or Apple.
This time, however, those with a penchant for Tesla stock have something genuine to look out for because the company's flamboyant and polarising CEO, Elon Musk, has been in China, the world's largest automobile market and home to the manufacturing base of a huge number of automotive industry participants.
Whilst in China, Elon Musk has been working closely with regulatory authorities to gain approval for the use of Full Self-Driving (FSD) autonomous software in every region of mainland China. Government officials in China have given 'watershed' approval to the use of autonomous driving, and as a result, Tesla stock has been rocketing in value.
Such is the Chinese government's trust in Tesla's autonomous driving system that Tesla will use Chinese tech company Baidu's street-level mapping data to power the autonomous 'FSD' system.
As the US trading session closed yesterday, Tesla stock reached $193 per share according to FXOpen pricing, a significant increase over the $144.53 closing price a few days earlier at the top of the candlestick on April 23.
4) PVH
Luxury and fashion conglomerates in Europe have been the centre of attention for many years now, especially given that LVMH, the French giant that owns a large number of European luxury goods manufacturers, is one of the largest corporations in the world, and its CEO Bernard Arnault is the officially recognized richest man in the world.
On the other side of the Atlantic, however, things are less buoyant and PVH, which is the owner of many North American clothing brands such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Warners and True & Co., has been experiencing a rapid fall in share price value.
At the beginning of April, the company's outlook for the rest of the year was written off as 'disappointing' by many media outlets, and shares dropped by as much as 20% at the time.
This has not recovered, and PVH shares have been in the doldrums throughout April, languishing at $112.67 per share at the close of the US session on April 29, according to FXOpen pricing.
It is currently one of the 'Top Fallers' across the stock markets on the FXOpen TickTrader platform.
5) Harley-Davidson
Volatility among long-established household names and world-famous brands is relatively rare, especially if the company concerned remains true to its roots with the products it produces.
For this reason, it is perhaps interesting to see Wisconsin's famous motorcycle manufacturer, Harley-Davidson, among the 'Most Volatile' stocks within FXOpen's TickTrader platform currently.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company was founded in 1903 and still operates from its original home town of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It manufactures premium motorcycles and has built a long-standing trust and following among its client base, who are often willing to pay a much higher price to own a Harley-Davidson than to accept a product from the competition, who are often seen as imitators.
Harley-Davidson has played a clever hand at keeping up with modern technology whilst retaining its image for a specific type of motorcycle, an example of which was the introduction of its fully electric 'LiveWire' model in 2020.
Harley-Davidson stock began the month at $43.58 per share, but arrived at a low point of $35.17 at the close of the US trading session on April 29 after an overall downtrend during April with some added volatility near the end of the month.
This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.
