This was supposed to be a rather boring week as we approach the Fourth of July weekend. But leave it to Washington to throw in a monkey wrench. The Senate has delayed its vote on healthcare legislation until after the holiday, which is a big concern to the market since many feel that repealing and replacing Obamacare needs to get done before tax reform. And technology got its own piece of bad news when EU regulators fined Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (Google’s parent) approximately $2.7 billion for antitrust violations.
As a result, the major indices plunged right into the close despite spending a good portion of the day around breakeven. The NASDAQ led the descent with a 1.61% drop to 6146.6. Meanwhile, the S&P slipped 0.81% to 2419.4 and the Dow was off 0.46% to 21310.7. The market has recovered from previous pullbacks quickly, but we’ll have to see if there’s enough ‘oomph’ to get it back this week.
In the portfolios, Options Trader did it again! It cashed in two triple-digit winners on Tuesday for the second straight session. Also, Zacks Short List swapped out one position and made a double-digit profit, while Momentum Trader picked up a new buy as well. Learn more below:
Today's Portfolio Highlights:
Options Trader: For the second consecutive day, Kevin has cashed in TWO triple-digit winners! First up, his bull call spreads in MasterCard (MA) are now at 87% of the maximum gain with about three weeks to go until expiration. He could still squeeze more profit out of these positions, but sees no need to risk it. Therefore, the portfolio sold to close the 2 July 115.00 Calls AND bought to close the 2 July 120.00 Calls. The result is a profit of about 150%.
Ditto for Allstate (ALL). With about three weeks to go until expiration, the spread has already made 97% of the max gain. Why risk it for 3% more? The editor sold to close the July 77.50 Call AND bought to close the July 82.50 Call. The portfolio made about 130% on this one. Read the complete commentary for more.
Zacks Short List: The portfolio had a big winner this week when it short-covered Qorvo Inc. (QRVO) for a solid profit of 16%. It replaced this name by adding National Oilwell (NOV). Learn more about this emotion-free portfolio that takes advantage of falling and volatile markets by reading the Short List Trader Guide.
Momentum Trader: H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) is a Zacks Rank #1 with a Zacks VGM Score of A. It also has the wind at its back and is breaking out to new 52-week highs. With Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) slow to recover from the “tech wreck”, Dave decided this was a great time to get out of that position and start a new one with this tax preparation giant. Read more in the complete commentary.
All the Best,
Jim Giaquinto
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