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Zacks.com featured highlights include Royal Caribbean Cruises, Amazon.com and Pinterest

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – February 15, 2024 – Stocks in this week’s article are Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL - Free Report) , Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) and Pinterest, Inc. (PINS - Free Report) .

Buy 3 Momentum Anomaly Stocks as High Inflation Spooks Markets

In one of the sharp plunges witnessed by the broader equity markets in recent times, the stocks took a sudden downtrend in the past few trading sessions, as fresh inflation data raised concerns about the Federal Reserve's pledge for a slew of rate cuts this year. The U.S. consumer price index for January was up 0.3% month-over-month and 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. This compared unfavorably with broad-based expectations of 0.2% and 2.95, respectively.

Earlier, the Fed had pledged to cut interest rates several times in 2024 owing to a decelerating inflation trend in the later stages of 2023. However, given the recent inflationary data, the markets appear vulnerable to sudden downtrends. This, in turn, signifies that the markets need to brace for intense volatility owing to tempered expectations despite a relatively healthy U.S. economy and GDP data.

Amid the uncertainty, investors often seek to employ time-tested winning strategies to fetch sustained profits. One of the most successful game plans to beat the blues is to bet on momentum stocks when value or growth investing fails to generate the desired profits.

This approach primarily tends to follow the adage, "the trend is your friend." At its core, momentum investing is "buying high and selling higher." It is based on the idea that once a stock establishes a trend, it is more likely to continue in that direction because of the momentum that is already behind it. But before we delve deep into it, let us try to fathom why does the momentum strategy at all work?

There are several behavioral biases that most investors exhibit in their decision-making. And these emotional responses, or rather mistakes, make the momentum strategy work.

For example, some investors are anxious about booking losses and hence hold on to losing stocks for too long, hopeful of a rebound in prices. On the other hand, a few investors sell their winners way too early. Momentum investing is one of the best strategies to avoid making such errors in judgment.

Furthermore, investors initially tend to underreact to news, events or data releases. However, once things become clear, they have a habit of going with the flow and overreacting, causing dramatic price reactions. These behavioral problems extend trends, thus opening up huge opportunities for momentum players.

To sum up, momentum investing is a way to profit from the general human tendency to extrapolate current trends into the future. It is based on that gap in time before the mean reversion occurs, i.e., before prices become rational again.

In this context, stocks like Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Amazon.com, Inc and Pinterest, Inc. are worth betting on.

Momentum strategies have been known to be alpha-generative over a long period and across market stages. So, this strategy is quite tricky to implement, as detecting these trends is no child's play.

Here, we have created a strategy to help investors get in on these fast movers and rake in handsome gains. Our screen will help you benefit from both long-term price momentum and a short-term pullback in price.

Here are three stocks out of the eight that made it through this screen:

Based in Miami, Royal Caribbean primarily serves the contemporary, premium and deluxe segments of the cruise vacation industry, which also includes the budget and luxury segments. It operates 64 ships on diverse itineraries worldwide that include roughly 1,000 destinations on all seven continents. The stock has gained 54.7% in the past year but declined 3.3% in the past week. Royal Caribbean has a Momentum Score of B.

Headquartered in Seattle, WA, Amazon is one of the largest e-commerce providers with sprawling operations across the globe. Its online retail business revolves around the Prime program, which is well-supported by the company's massive distribution network. Further, the Whole Foods Market acquisition has helped Amazon establish its footprint in the physical grocery supermarket space. The stock has gained 66.7% in the past year but declined 0.3% in the past week. Amazon has a Momentum Score of A.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Pinterest provides a platform to show its users (called Pinners) visual recommendations (called Pins) based on their personal tastes and interests. Users then save and organize these recommendations into collections (called Boards). The company is helping advertisers reach millennials and Gen Z audience who are more active on immersive mobile platforms. The stock has rallied 40.7% in the past year but declined 13% in the past week. Pinterest has a Momentum Score of A.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

Click here to sign up for a free trial to the Research Wizard today.

For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2225962/buy-3-momentum-anomaly-stocks-as-high-inflation-spooks-market

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

About Screen of the Week

Zacks.com created the first and best screening system on the web earning the distinction as the "#1 site for screening stocks" by Money Magazine.  But powerful screening tools is just the start. That is why Zacks created the Screen of the Week to highlight profitable stock picking strategies that investors can actively use.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has more than doubled the market from 1988 through 2016. Its average gain has been a stellar +25% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.

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Contact: Jim Giaquinto

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.


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Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) - free report >>

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) - free report >>

Pinterest, Inc. (PINS) - free report >>

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