Stocks continued to recover on Thursday with each of the major indices again jumping by more than 1%. It marked the fifth straight day of gains since the Dow’s second 1000-point loss a week ago today.
The day started on positive ground but lost it all shortly before noon. However, these are volatile days, and the major indices started moving higher again and never looked back. When all was said and done, a couple of milestones that were lost in the selloff were regained.
The NASDAQ had the biggest advance on a strong day for technology. It jumped 1.58% to 7,256.4. The Dow reclaimed 25,000 with a rise of 1.23% to 25,200.4, while the S&P eclipsed 2700 again with a 1.21% increase to 2731.2.
In the portfolios, TAZR Trader really played this pullback well. Even at its deepest point, Kevin was preparing for the rebound. Today, he cashed in half a position for a double digit return in just a week. Meanwhile, insiders are finally getting back to buying, so Tracey had the opportunity to add two names to Insider Trader on Thursday. Read the highlights section below for more on these moves.
Today's Portfolio Highlights:
TAZR Trader: The portfolio really played the NASDAQ 100 (QQQ) pullback like a Stradivarius. Kevin constructed a strategy last week to buy the leading index of the “FAAMNNG” (Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL)) stocks at specific levels where he calculated the market would likely bottom and reverse higher. But he added some “rocket fuel” by using the 3X leveraged version of the QQQ. He bought a 5% position in NASDAQ 100 3X Bull ETF (TQQQ) last Thursday and then added another 5% on Friday near the market lows. Now given this “terrific bounce” over the past five sessions, Kevin decided to sell half of TQQQ and bank a return of 19% in just a week.
Insider Trader: Activity has picked up among the insiders...and so has the buying in the portfolio. Tracey added twice on Thursday. The CEO of AT&T (NYSE:T) was very optimistic in the company’s recent conference call. In fact, he was so optimistic that he bought $1 million worth of shares on Feb 9. A few days earlier, a director also picked up some shares. The company should benefit from tax cuts and consumer confidence, and is expected to grow earnings by 9.7% this year.
The other buy is much more obscure than a stalwart like AT&T. Nine Energy Services (NINE) is a small cap E&P services company that had its IPO in January. The post-IPO euphoria has calmed down now and shares look attractive, while analysts like the experienced management team. Already, the CEO and a director have picked up shares of their own company. Tracey also sold PayPal (PYPL, +5.4%) and Allergan (NYSE:AGN) today, and will use the cash to add these names with allocations of 8%-10% each. The portfolio will then be 100% invested. Read the full write-up for more.
All the Best,
Jim Giaquinto
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