A better-than-expected Government Employment Situation report was a great way to end this busy week of economic data and earnings reports. The economy added 209,000 jobs last month, which topped expectations of 175,000 while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.3% from 4.4%. The prior month was revised higher as well.
The major indices had a choppy morning, but closed out the week with positive results. The Dow just keeps on moving. The index completed its ninth day of gains and its eighth straight all-time high. It moved higher by 0.30% on Friday to finish at 22,092.8. So the index crossed over 22,000 for the first time on Wednesday, and is already knocking on the door of 22,100. The other two major indices haven’t been as impressive of late, but did finish today with advances. The S&P increased 0.19% to 2476.8 and the NASDAQ was up 0.18% to 6351.6.
For the week, the Dow advanced 1.2% and the S&P increased 0.2%. The NASDAQ, though, dipped 0.4%.
Three portfolios added stocks on Friday. Income Investor picked up a position in the world’s leading chipmaker, while Healthcare Innovators added a company that’s focused on treating rare blood disorders. Both of these new additions are coming off strong quarterly reports. Meanwhile, Reitmeister Trading Alert added a name to take advantage of rising bond rates. Learn more below:
Today's Portfolio Highlights:
Income Investor: In all this talk about Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and the FANGs, it’s easy to overlook that the chipmaking giant Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) had a great quarterly report. It beat on both the top and bottom lines, while also raising its guidance for the year. Along with a Zacks VGM Score of A and a high industry rank in the top 6%, Neena was also impressed with its “juicy” dividend yield of 3% and its reasonable valuation. As announced yesterday, the editor added shares of INTC to the portfolio on Friday. The complete commentary has a lot more on this new addition.
Reitmeister Trading Alert: This morning’s Government Employment Situation report was just the latest in a long line of data showing a strong jobs picture in the U.S. Now that we are pretty much at “full employment”, Steve wants to get prepared for wage inflation. With bond rates poised to rise, the editor bought a 7% allocation in Treasury Bear 3X (TMV). You may remember that TMV was in the portfolio around the election, and that Steve sold it for a nearly 35% return in early January. Read the full write-up for more.
Insider Trader: June isn’t exactly “diet season”, so Tracey wasn’t expecting much from Weight Watchers (WTW). It was a very pleasant surprise to see subscribers jump by 20% and the company raise its full year guidance. Needless to say, the editor is sticking with WTW now that she can see this turnaround is for real. In fact, this isn’t a value stock any longer, but a growth stock with higher to climb. It was also the best performing stock of all the portfolios on Friday with a more than 25% advance, which was nearly double the runner up.
Healthcare Innovators: Kevin Cook has come full circle on Bioverativ (BIVV), a biotech focused on treatments of hemophilia and other rare blood disorders. He had it as a “Bear of the Day” back in June after some issues with its first full quarter as a stand-alone company (having been spun off from Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) in January). But now it is a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) following a much better quarterly showing that included a beat and strong revenue guidance. So today’s share price drop marked a great opportunity for the editor to pick up another innovative healthcare company for the portfolio. Read the full write-up for a lot more.
Have a Great Weekend,
Jim Giaquinto
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