Tesla is a vertically integrated battery electric vehicle automaker and developer of autonomous driving software. The company has multiple vehicles in its fleet, which include luxury and midsize sedans, crossover SUVs, a light truck, and a semi-truck. Tesla also plans to begin selling more affordable vehicles, and a sports car. Global deliveries in 2023 were a little over 1.8 million vehicles. The company also sells batteries for stationary storage for residential and commercial properties including utilities and solar panels and solar roofs for energy generation. Tesla also owns a fast-charging network.

When global economic conditions become unpredictable, investors often flock to gold. Currently, the yellow metal is trading around $2,400 per ounce, up 17% for the year and at the highest level in the past 25 years. During the first phase of the pandemic, as uncertainty abounded, the spot price for an ounce of gold jumped 33% in six months and broke through the $2,000 level. Gold spot prices also spiked above $2,000 in early March 2022 due to the war in Ukraine, and are now at even higher levels as tension simmers in the Middle East and East Asia, and the U.S. presidential election approaches. The current price of gold reflects the perceived safety of hard assets amid the global conflicts, as well as expectations for lower U.S. interest rates (which tend to weaken the dollar, which is the currency in which gold is priced). The outlook for Federal Reserve rate cuts also helps gold, as lower rates reduce the risk for a global economic recession and thus a potential decline in gold purchased for jewelry. Looking ahead, our forecast trading range for gold in 2024 is now $2,500-$1,800, and our average forecast for the year is now $2,200. This compares to average gold prices of $1,960 in 2023; $1,873 in 2022; $1,806 in 2021; $1781 in 2020; $1,400 in 2019; $1,265 in 2018; $1,277 in 2017; $1,258 in 2016; and $1,155 in 2015. As long as geopolitics and global economic uncertainty are part of the market conversation, gold is likely to remain at levels well above the historical averages of $1,150 since 2000 and $1,514 since 2010.

Nvidia is a leading developer of graphics processing units. Traditionally, GPUs were used to enhance the experience on computing platforms, most notably in gaming applications on PCs. GPU use cases have since emerged as important semiconductors used in artificial intelligence. Nvidia not only offers AI GPUs, but also a software platform, Cuda, used for AI model development and training. Nvidia is also expanding its data center networking solutions, helping to tie GPUs together to handle complex workloads.

Disney operates in three global business segments: entertainment, sports, and experiences. Entertainment and experiences both benefit from franchises and characters the firm has created over the course of a century. Entertainment includes the ABC broadcast network, several cable television networks, and the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services. Within the segment, Disney also engages in movie and television production and distribution, with content licensed to movie theaters, other content providers, or, increasingly, kept in-house for use on Disney’s own streaming platform and television networks. The sports segment houses ESPN and the ESPN+ streaming service. Experiences contains Disney’s theme parks and vacation destinations, and also benefits from merchandise licensing.