Tech is up Friday, and that is continuing a trend for 2023. What’s old is new. It’s been a choppy week , with the S & P 500 down 2.5%. Despite that, the index is still up 1.6% for the year. The leadership this year looks like the inverse of 2022 and a lot like 2021. Growth leads, defensive sectors lag. Sectors in 2023 Semiconductors up 8.5% Communication services up 6.9% Consumer discretionary up 5.1% Technology up 2.8% Health care down 2.1% Consumer staples down 3.4% Let’s get the band back together It’s not just that the old growth stocks are back, the leadership of the old growth stocks are back. Microsoft is the lone holdout. Large-cap growth stocks in 2023 NVIDIA up 14.8% Meta up 13.2% Amazon up 11.6% Alphabet up 5.6% Apple up 4.2% Tesla up 3.3% Microsoft down 3.2% Tech is up Friday The mainstream press will focus on the 12,000 jobs cut at Alphabet (6% of the total workforce there), but is less likely to note that the company, like other big tech, went on a hiring spree during the pandemic. There is a much lower growth outlook ahead. Alphabet is up 4% in the pre-open because the job cuts will 1) will help prop up earnings, 2) will make Federal Reserve officials happy because they want tighter labor conditions.
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