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Navigating the January Market Jitters · The SPY Trader

• 0:00
  Good morning everyone !
• 0:01
  It is a crisp 5 am here on the Pacific Coast on this Saturday , January 31st , 2026 .
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  You are listening to Spy Trader , your goto guide for navigating the financial waves with a smile .
• 0:14
  I am your host , Sunny Sideup , and I am so glad you could join me for our early morning checkin .
• 0:20
  We have just wrapped up the final week of January , and boy , was it a doozy .
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  We saw a bit of a mixed bag to close out the month .
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  Let us call it a case of the earningsseason jitters combined with a little bit of cautious optimism after the Federal Reserve's first meeting of the year .
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  While our main indices are still hanging out near alltime highs , these last few days from January 28th through the 30th brought some real volatility .
• 0:46
  By the time the closing bell rang on Friday , the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust , which we all know as SPY , finished the week down about point four percent .
• 0:58
  The techheavy Invesco QQQ Trust took a harder hit , dropping one point two percent as investors started rethinking those high tech valuations .
• 1:07
  The big news started on Wednesday , January 28th , with the Fed meeting .
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  Chairman Powell kept interest rates steady but warned that getting inflation down to two percent is proving a bit more stubborn than we hoped .
• 1:22
  This cooled off dreams of early rate cuts .
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  Then on Friday , the PCE inflation data came in a little higher than expected , which caused a selloff in longterm bonds .
• 1:34
  This hit the iShares 20 plus Year Treasury Bond ETF , or TLT , which fell point eight percent on Friday .
• 1:43
  In the world of individual companies , it was a busy week for the heavy hitters .
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  Microsoft reported record growth for its Azure cloud services , but the stock actually fell two percent because their spending plans for 2026 were higher than analysts wanted to see .
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  Apple saw steady iPhone sales , but they warned about slower growth in Europe due to new regulations , which weighed on the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF .
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  Even Tesla felt the heat this week as competition from Chinese electric vehicle makers intensified .
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  On a brighter note , we saw some great performance in the financial and healthcare sectors .
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  Banks got a boost as we look toward a healthier lending environment , and healthcare stocks like Eli Lilly and UnitedHealth acted as a safe haven for investors .
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  Even real estate started to show some life as yields cooled off slightly .
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  So , what does this mean for your portfolio ?
• 2:41
  My first recommendation is to move from growth at any price to quality growth .
• 2:46
  While those big tech companies in the QQQ are longterm winners , there is a shortterm risk of a valuation reset .
• 2:53
  Consider diversifying into the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF , ticker VTI .
• 2:59
  This keeps you in winners like Microsoft but adds a cushion with smaller companies that are currently undervalued .
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  Next , let us talk about banks .
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  With the yield curve fixing itself , the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund , or XLF , looks very attractive .
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  JPMorgan Chase is a standout here because of its strong balance sheet .
• 3:21
  For those looking for a bit more stability and income , it is a great time to look at the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund , or XLV .
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  Companies like Johnson and Johnson offer a nice dividend and are less sensitive to economic swings .
• 3:35
  If you are looking for safety in bonds , the iShares Core U.S.
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  Aggregate Bond ETF , or AGG , is a solid choice right now as interest rates likely have reached their peak .
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  Finally , do not be afraid to look overseas .
• 3:50
  While the US market is a bit pricey , international markets are cheaper .
• 3:55
  You might want to allocate a bit to the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF , ticker VEA , to capture value in Europe and Japan .
• 4:04
  To wrap things up , the market is in a show me phase .
• 4:08
  Even though high rates usually slow things down , companies like Microsoft are proving that AI productivity is a real gamechanger .
• 4:17
  Stay grounded with a broad fund like VTI for safety , but use healthcare and financials to navigate this choppy water .
• 4:25
  That is all for this morning's update on Spy Trader .
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  I am Sunny Sideup , wishing you a wonderful weekend and happy trading !