Microchip Technology produces semiconductors used in a wide variety of embedded control applications. Products include 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers; a broad range of linear, mixed-signal, power management, thermal management, radio frequency (RF), timing, safety, security, and wired and wireless connectivity devices; and memory devices including EEPROM, serial flash, parallel, and static random access memories (SRAM). Microchip has more than 2,800 microcontrollers in its product catalog, which are used in end products in the automotive, communications, computing, consumer, and industrial control markets.

The stock market continues to march higher, as bullish headlines are coming fast and furious. In just 24 trade days, the S&P 500 (SPX) has tacked on 18%, the Nasdaq has spiked 24.5%, and the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) has surged 24%. Those are the best 24-day returns for the indices since (you guessed it) the pandemic. Before that was when the indices were emerging from the 2008/2009 financial crisis. So if you consider a 20% move a bull market, two of the three listed above met the standard definition. We think a 24-day move is not enough to determine if an index is in a bull or bear market, but we can hold forth about that another day. (And, no, we don't have our own definition.) Maybe just as impressive, the 16-day move since the April 21 closing low has the SPX up 14%, the Nasdaq up 20%, and the QQQ up 19%. For the SPX and the Nasdaq, that's the best 16-day move since COVID-19, and before that, since April 2009. For the QQQ, it is the greatest move since April 2020 and, before that, since October 2002, which was the first rally of the new bull market that ran until 2007. The current rally has been so fast that we are seeing improvement in our weekly charts. Both the 21- and 50-week exponential moving averages (EMAs) have turned higher; the four-week has crossed above the 40-week EMA (after losing it in mid-March); the SPX has overtaken its 20-week or middle Bollinger Band (BB), adding more confidence to the initial buy signal when the index fell below and then recaptured the lower BB; the 14-week relative strength index (RSI) has jumped above 50% after cycling into oversold territory; and the RSI is close to breaking its downtrend going back to its March 2024 peak.

Microchip Technology became an independent company in 1989 when it was spun off from General Instrument. More than half of revenue comes from MCUs, which are used in a wide array of electronic devices from remote controls to garage door openers to power windows in autos. The company's strength lies in lower-end 8-bit MCUs that are suitable for a wider range of less technologically advanced devices, but the firm has expanded its presence in higher-end MCUs and analog chips as well.

In this edition, Private-market European asset managers face intensified challenges; we see attractive opportunities in apparel despite uneven demand; bioprocessing division drives Sartorious AG's wide moat rating; and Microchip, Puma, and Light & Wonder. .