Given all the doom and gloom that plagued the market last week, you’d think a war was imminent and that it might start this weekend. Well, it didn’t. We’re all still here, and the market can now look towards earnings season to hopefully get stocks back on the right track. It worked on Monday as the market started the week on a high note.
The S&P jumped 0.86% today to 2349, while the Dow increased 0.90% to 20,636.9 and the NASDAQ advanced 0.89% to 5856.8. Volume was still extremely low, so it will be interesting to see if stocks can build on today’s performance or if it was just a flash in the pan amid an otherwise pessimistic market.
The geopolitical concerns that ruined the market last week are by no means over, but there was no further escalation during the long Easter weekend. Even better, North Korea’s most recent missile test was a failure and the U.S. saw no need to respond to it. So for now, we can focus on earnings season and hope that tensions cool further.
With a busy week of reports coming up and the VIX calming down a bit, the portfolios were rather active on Monday. Zacks Counterstrike felt comfortable enough to sell the second half of a position that was bought earlier this month to protect the portfolio from further selling. It brought a double-digit return. Surprise Trader started the season with four new buys, while Black Box Trader swapped out three names in this week’s realignment. Learn more in the highlights section below:
Today's Portfolio Highlights:
Zacks Counterstrike: The position in ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures (UVXY) was always geared for only a short time in the portfolio. With the market calming over the weekend and rallying on Monday, Jeremy thought this was a good time to sell the remaining half as the VIX retreats a bit. It certainly did its job. Last Wednesday, the editor sold the first half of this fund for a nearly 26% return, and the sale of the second half today brings a 21.5% gain. This all comes from a position that was first bought less than 2 weeks ago.
Surprise Trader: The portfolio had its first buying binge of the earnings season today, as Eric picked up four names. He bought 12.5% allocations in Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Danaher (NYSE:DHR) and Texas Capital Bancshares (TCBI). These stocks are all in different spaces, but they have a lot in common. Each one has positive Earnings ESPs heading into quarterly reports scheduled for this week. They are also in solid industries with impressive histories at earnings season. Instead of going into each one here, read the complete commentary and learn the specifics on all these new buys.
Zacks Confidential: While the “Trump Trade” has slowed down a bit here in the U.S., the outlook for international stocks has improved considerably. It might be a good time to look overseas to find some of your next winners, so Steve has asked Neena Mishra to show you how in this week’s Zacks Confidential. Learn which markets have the best potential and get three ETFs that provide convenient exposure to those areas: Invest in International Growth.
Black Box Trader: This week’s realignment had three swaps, including the sells of MoneyGram Int’l (MGI, +6.4%), DRI and X. The new additions that replaced these names are Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT), Interpublic Group (IPG) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH). Read the Black Box Trader’s Guide to learn more about this computer-driven service designed to take the emotion out of investing.
Have a Great Evening,
Jim Giaquinto
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