Take the Zacks Approach to Beat the Markets: NioCorp, AngloGold, Amgen in Focus

Economic Overview - The three major U.S. indexes, S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite, experienced declines of 1.36%, 0.90%, and 0.84% respectively last week, influenced by policy shifts and trade tariffs under the Trump administration [1] - Personal consumption expenditure (PCE) rose by 0.3% in January, exceeding the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target, with an annual rate of 2.5% [2] - Personal income increased by 0.9%, while personal spending unexpectedly declined by 0.2% in January, indicating consumer concerns about future economic conditions [2] - The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.1% from 4% the previous month, highlighting underlying economic weaknesses [3] Stock Performance - NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NB) shares increased by 38.5% since being upgraded to Zacks Rank 2 (Buy) on January 14, outperforming the S&P 500's 1% decrease [4] - TXO Partners, L.P. (TXO) saw a return of 9.8% since its upgrade to Zacks Rank 1 (Strong Buy) on January 14 [5] - The Zacks Model Portfolio, consisting of Zacks Rank 1 stocks, has outperformed the S&P 500 index by almost 13 percentage points since 1988, with an annualized average return of +23.9% compared to +11.3% for the S&P 500 [7] Focus List and Portfolios - Sea Limited (SE) gained 16.7% and Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER) returned 15.4% over the past 12 weeks, both part of the Zacks Focus List, while the S&P 500 decreased by 5.3% during the same period [11] - The Zacks Focus List portfolio returned +18.41% in 2024, compared to +25.04% for the S&P 500 [12] - The Earnings Certain Admiral Portfolio (ECAP) includes Amgen Inc. (AZO) and Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), which returned 19.2% and 9.2% respectively over the past 12 weeks [14] Dividend Portfolio Performance - The Earnings Certain Dividend Portfolio (ECDP) includes Coca-Cola Company (KO) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which returned 14.2% and 11.6% respectively over the past 12 weeks [17] - The ECDP returned +6.95% in 2024, compared to +24.89% for the S&P 500 [18]