Summary
February was a tough month for the stock market and a horrible month for many high-P/E growth stocks that soared in 2023 and 2024. But if you bought these names in 2023 or even just a few months ago, you likely are still far ahead. If you are ever lucky enough to have a huge “multibagger” stock (100%+) — as coined by the famous mutual fund manager Peter Lynch — it’s always logical to peel off some shares on the way up. Selling is the hardest part of the investment business, so don’t get caught loaded to the gills with big winners when they top. Nothing goes up forever — and when stocks finally crack, things can get ugly. The indices did cut sharply into their monthly losses on Friday, as the S&P 500 (SPX), Nasdaq, and Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) all popped 1.6%, while the S&P 100 rose 1.8%. So perhaps in the short-term, the rubber band was stretched far enough. The SPX retraced 38.2% of its pullback on Friday, which was impressive. Still, most short-term technicals remain bearish, while quite a few intermediate-term indicators also are still bearish, creating a concern for 2025. For the month, the SPX fell 1.4%, the Nasdaq lost 4%, the QQQ fell 2.6%, the S&P 400 dropped 4.2%, and the S&P 600 declined almost 6%. The late-February los
