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The S&P and Dow took small steps back from yesterday’s all-time highs, but the NASDAQ managed to keep going. The index now has an impressive 10-session winning streak, which is something it hasn’t done since February 2015. It advanced by 0.08% on Thursday and reached its third-straight record close at 6390.
The S&P still appears poised to pass 2500 in short order, but the index took a break today after a couple sessions of new highs. It finished lower by a scant 0.02% to 2473.5. The Dow declined by 0.13% to 21611.8 as Home Depot (NYSE:HD) slipped more than 4%.
“The market pressed pause today as mixed earnings reports couldn’t give it a clear-cut direction,” said Dave in Momentum Trader. “There simply wasn’t enough left in the tank to push large caps higher, but the NASDAQ miraculously made its way to another higher close.”
The Large-Cap Trader followed through with its promise for some adjustments this week, as John swapped out one position to buy a major railroad company while also adding more shares to three existing positions. Meanwhile, Surprise Trader brought its weekly buy tally up to 8 with two new additions, and RTA added an ETF that will take advantage of rising small caps. Learn more about all this below:
Today's Portfolio Highlights:
Large-Cap Trader: As promised, John made a few adjustments to the portfolio on Thursday. First of all, the editor sold Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) (RDS.A) for a 7.6% return and used the cash to buy the Tier One railroad company Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC). This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock has great Zacks Style Scores and is part of a space in the top 5% of the Zacks Industry Rank. John feels much more comfortable holding NSC into its upcoming earnings report next week, rather than RDS.A with its status as a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) stock.
But that wasn’t all. John also decided to add more weight to three positions that have been performing well for the portfolio. He added approximately 2.33% more to Hitachi (HTHIY), SKF AG (SKFRY) and Wellcare Health (WCG) each, which basically means he equally distributed the portfolio’s remaining cash. Read the complete commentary for more on these moves.
Surprise Trader: The portfolio just keeps buying, adding two more today and making it 8 buys for the week. Both of these stocks are Zacks Rank #2s (Buys) with Zacks Style Scores of “A” for Momentum. The new buys are:
• Owens Corning (OC) has an average beat of nearly 30% over the past four quarters and has an Earnings ESP of more than 7.5%, so it looks to be all set for another outperformance when it reports again next Wednesday.
• JetBlue Airways (JBLU) is part of a space in the top 2% of the Zacks Industry Rank. It has an Earnings ESP of more than 5% for the quarter being reported next Tuesday.
As with all the other picks, the editor is adding each with a 12.5% allocation. Read the full commentary for more on these moves.
Reitmeister Trading Alert: Not only does Steve expect the S&P to reach 2500 before a pullback comes, but he also believes that small caps could do 2x or even 3x better. The editor plans to take advantage of this rise by picking up Smallcap Bull 3X (TNA) for the portfolio with a 10% allocation. This position could mean a gain of 6%-10% in a short period if the market successfully moves past 2500. The full write-up has more on today’s action.
Have a Great Evening,
Jim Giaquinto
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