Small Gains Bring New All-Time Highs

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It’s about time for the Senate to release its tax plan. It should be coming out tomorrow, but it wouldn’t exactly be a shock if it was delayed like the House version was. Either way, it will be the next big step in getting some kind of tax reform done…though actually getting it passed may be the biggest hurdle of all.

Due to solid reports in technology, the NASDAQ was the best performer with a gain of 0.32% to 6,789.1. The S&P was up 0.14% to 2594.4 and the Dow advanced 0.03% to 23,563.4. The indices’ advances were nothing spectacular, but they were enough to log another round of all-time highs.

One of the big reports tomorrow will be NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), which is a favorite of TAZR Trader. To play it safe, Kevin decided to sell half of the position today ahead of the results and bank a double-digit gain. The only buy today came from Home Run Investor, which added a company that already reported a beat-and-raise quarter. The highlights section below has more on these moves, along with some analysis from Counterstrike.

Today's Portfolio Highlights:

TAZR Trader: Kevin is a BIG fan of NVIDIA (NVDA), so it was a tough decision to sell half of the GPU giant ahead of its report on Thursday. Basically, the editor is concerned that anything less than an outstanding report could send the stock down to $190. Therefore, he’ll play it safe and take a solid 19.3% return on half of the position, and hold the rest in case the stock soars. Kevin will be looking to buy the half back at an advantageous time. Read the full write-up for more on this move, including 6 analyst views on NVDA.

Home Run Investor: The market is unforgiving of stocks that miss or even meet quarterly earnings expectations. Therefore, Brian Bolan has decided to focus on companies that have already reported beat-and-raise quarters, such as Echo Global Logistics (ECHO). In addition to a strong report, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) expects revenues between $460 million and $500 million for next quarter, which is well above expectations of $438 million. ECHO is seeing a significant increase in business, and the editor believes the stock has a lot more upside. Read the complete commentary for more on this new addition.

Counterstrike: "Today it was announced that GOP senators will release the tax bill at 11:00ET tomorrow. So it was no surprise that we saw very low volumes ahead of the details that will be released. The main interest is what the corporate tax rate will be and if it will be phased in or not.

"If there are no surprises, we should see 2600 tomorrow. If there is a phase in period or the rate is higher than 20%, we could see a mild sell off. Today markets were very choppy, but finished in the green in anticipation that everything will go smooth.

"Let’s see what the tax man bring us tomorrow. The GOP sounds like it’s somewhat indecisive on certain parts of the bill. What will matter to markets is the corporate rate. 20-25% will be good, but anything over that will bring sellers into markets. In addition, any phase in period of the tax cuts would be bearish." -- Jeremy Mullin

Until Tomorrow,
Jim Giaquinto

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