In April, the S&P 500 delivered its first monthly loss in 2024 (about 4.1%, before dividends). But if the historical track record holds, stocks could return to a positive performance in May. The stock market typically rises in May, on average 0.9% and with a 71% winning percentage. We note that market returns in May have exceeded 5% on six occasions since 1980, including a 9.2% gain in 2000. Last year was at least positive, with a 0.8% advance. So the bullish market trend since October 2022 could continue. Still, there have been some clunkers in May, including 2022 (a whopping -8.4%), 2010 (-8.2%), 2012 (-6.0%), and 1984 (-5.9%). May starts as a busy month on Wall Street, as companies report first-quarter earnings, the Federal Reserve meets, and the nonfarm payrolls report is released. But once the retailers wrap up their results, investors will be left to ponder inflation trends, future Federal Reserve activity, the risk of recession, and the long Memorial Day weekend. Looking ahead, we are bullish on stocks for 2024, as interest rates eventually head lower, the consumer sector of the economy remains in growth mode, and earnings continue to grow into the second half of the year. To be safe, we recommend a continued focus on the stocks of quality companies with strong earnings trends.

Alphabet, formerly called Google, maintains the largest online index of websites accessible through automated search technology. It generates revenue through online advertising, cloud services, and hardware. Google is now an operating segment of Alphabet. The company was founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page and went public in 2004. Google's AdWords is an auction-based program that lets businesses display ads along with particular search results. Google's AdSense program enables websites in the company's network to serve targeted ads, based on search terms or web content, from AdWords advertisers. Most of the revenue generated through AdSense is shared with network partners. In addition, Alphabet owns YouTube.com, the web-based video site. It has also expanded into mobile telephony with its Android smartphone operating system and into public cloud services. About 54% of Alphabet's revenue is generated outside the U.S. On April 3, 2014, Alphabet's new nonvoting class C shares began trading under the ticker GOOG. Alphabet's publicly held class A shares switched to the ticker GOOGL. The effect of the new class C share issuance was a non-economic 2-for-1 stock split. On July 15, 2022, Alphabet executed a 20-for-1 stock split on its Class A, Class B and Class C stock. The stock split had no impact on the economic value of GOOGL shares.

With earnings season in full swing, the volume of insider transactions has fallen to seasonal lows, with only 615 transactions meeting the criteria for inclusion in Vickers Weekly Insider Report. While that is down from the recent weekly high of 2,284 transactions, there is still noteworthy data to consider.

Alphabet is a holding company. Internet media giant Google is a wholly owned subsidiary. Google services account for nearly 90% of Alphabet's revenue, of which more than 85% is from online ads. Other Google services revenue is from sales of apps and content on Google Play and YouTube, as well as sales of hardware such as Chromebooks, the Pixel smartphone, and smart home products, which include Nest and Google Home. Google's cloud computing offerings account for a bit more than 10% of total Alphabet revenue. Alphabet’s moonshot investments are in its other bets segment, where it bets on technology to enhance health (Verily), provide faster internet access (Google Fiber), enable self-driving cars (Waymo), and more.