This hasn’t been a very exciting week given the low trading volumes. In fact, most of the time the market was downright dull…but it was still positive nonetheless! Each of the major indices ended losing skids today. The S&P finished the week higher by 0.7% while the Dow increased 0.6%, breaking back-to-back losing weeks for these indices. The NASDAQ hadn’t seen a positive week in over a month, but today it finished with the best performance of the Big 3 by advancing 0.8%.
The eagerly-awaited Jackson Hole speech by Janet Yellen was a dud, as the Fed Chair decided not to speak about monetary policy. Ditto for ECB President Mario Draghi. Therefore, it was a non-event that failed to give the market a boost as some had hoped.
But the S&P still gained 0.17% on Friday to 2443.1 and the Dow advanced 0.14% to 21,813.7. The NASDAQ couldn’t keep pace and finished lower by 0.09% to 6265.6, though as mentioned earlier it had the best weekly performance. Moving forward, all eyes will be on Hurricane Harvey over the weekend as it bears down on Texas.
Insider Trader had an eventful Friday as Tracey made seven moves in all, selling three names (two of them for double-digit profits) and buying four more. The highlights section has a breakdown of the trades.
Today Portfolio Highlights:
Insider Trader: BIG day for the portfolio as Tracey bought four names amid heightened insider activity. But first, the editor had to make some room. She decided to “take the money and run” with Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR), which was sold for a more than 18% profit. Furthermore, shares of Teledyne (TDY) haven’t been doing much despite a good quarter, so this company was sold as well for a 12% return. The portfolio got out of YUMC too. And now the new buys, which are:
• Macy’s (M) – two directors bought
• Matson (MATX) – two directors and the CEO bought
• Milacron (MCRN) – the CEO bought
• First Data Corp. (FDC) – an executive VP bought 3 times
The first three stocks were all down when the insiders took action, but FDC was actually up. Either way, these are all positive moves. Tracey is splitting the cash from today’s sales and evenly distributing them into these four names. Needless to say, there’s too much info on these buys to mention here, so make sure to read the full commentary for all the specifics.
Healthcare Innovators: If you’re an investor in ReWalk Robotics (RWLK), then it wasn't such a dull week after all. This maker of wearable robotic exoskeletons was THE top performer among all the portfolios for the past two days. Today, it left all other contenders in the dust with a gain of 11.8%, which was more than double the nearest runner-up.
Surprise Trader: "Yellen’s speech earlier today was largely passed over by the market, as the Fed Chairwoman decided to focus on discussion of the financial system instead of policy today. This actually ended up having a negative impact on markets, as many were hoping for something dovish from her today.
"While the market might have been hoping for something a bit more dovish, it is hard to even expect a rate hike at this point. That is especially true with recent political issues and a total lack of inflation too. In fact, chances of a rate hike before the end of the year are around 40%, a modest decline from a month ago.
"We actually don’t get above a 50% chance for another hike, according to the CME FedWatch, until May 2018! Given that it almost a year before people think another hike is coming, how much more dovish can the Fed get? Expectations for the speech were likely too high, but regardless, things are relatively unchanged following today’s talk from the Fed Chair." -- Eric Dutram
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