We didn’t get another Monday-like rally in the market, but the major indices did finish on positive ground and the Dow reclaimed a milestone. The index rose for a fourth straight session and got back above 22,000 for the first time since last Wednesday.
The Dow increased 0.12% to 22,024.9, while the S&P advanced 0.14% to 2468.1 and the NASDAQ improved 0.19% to 6354.1. The indices were a bit higher earlier in the day, but President Trump’s cancellation of a couple business advisory councils took some air out of the sails for a while.
The only portfolio to make a move on Wednesday was Insider Trader… and it made three of them. Tracey sold two names today for double digit returns each; one of them soared more than 70%! She also bought a small-cap semiconductor name that recently had two insider purchases. Learn more about all these moves below, along with some analysis from other services.
Today's Portfolio Highlights:
Insider Trader: Weight Watchers (WTW) has been defying market gravity for a while now, but today it was sharply in the red. Tracey doesn’t think the good times are necessarily over for this stock, but nor does she want to be greedy after such an impressive runup. So she sold WTW for a big return of nearly 73%. Meanwhile, Home Depot (NYSE:HD) is one of the best retailers out there, but the market hasn’t been responding to its strong quarterly report from yesterday. The editor decided to sell this one as well for a 12.3% profit.
But that’s only half the story. The portfolio also picked up an approximately 8% position in Magnachip Semis (MX), a small cap maker of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor solutions. Shares are up 73% year to date and earnings are expected to soar 183% this year…yet the stock has slipped in the past month. Two directors bought shares in the past couple of weeks in a clear signal that they expect more upside. Tracey bought as well. Learn a lot more about all of today’s moves in the complete commentary.
Zacks Counterstrike: “As I mentioned on Friday, the line was held for the bulls. When nothing happened over the weekend sellers seemingly disappeared. What happened late last week can be explained by one word: HEDGE.
“If you run a billion dollar fund and there is serious fears about nuclear war you must hedge, especially going into the weekend when your money is locked up. What the fund managers will then do is short S&P futures and buy put options against their positions. The buying of options is what made the VIX spike in a ridiculous manner on Friday.
"So when nothing happened over the weekend and the rhetoric was fading, the hedge had to be unwound. So we saw a big day on Monday, some chop on Tuesday, and another nice up day today. Today S&P gained 0.14%, while the Nasdaq saw a 0.19% jump. It would have been better but a Trump headline hit the markets after the lunch hour and sellers knocked the indices into the red.” – Jeremy Mullin
Options Trader: "The fact remains that the economy, consumer sentiment, employment, GDP, corporate earnings, and the superior earnings yield of the stock market vs. the 10-year points to a bull market with lots more upside to go.
"Even the Fed joined in today when the Fed Minutes were released to say what we already knew and have been saying for quite some time (but never hurts to hear it again) -- and that's the market's gains are rooted in strong fundamentals and not speculation. The minutes also showed that 'favorable macroeconomic factors provided the backing for current equity valuations'.
"This is now the 2nd longest bull market in history. And I'm betting that it ultimately becomes the longest running bull market in history. And all we need is another 4 1/2 years to earn that title!" -- Kevin Matras
Have a Good Evening,
Jim Giaquinto
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