Stocks Make Small Gains but Still Reach New Highs

SPECIAL ALERT: The latest episode of the Zacks Ultimate Strategy Session will be available for viewing no later than this Wednesday, November 10. Kevin Matras, Tracey Ryniec, Daniel Laboe and David Bartosiak will cover the investment landscape from several angles in this informative event.

Don’t miss your chance to hear:

▪ Tracey and David Agree to Disagree on whether investors should still buy Bitcoin after hitting new highs
▪ Kevin answers your questions in Zacks Mailbag
▪ David and Daniel choose one portfolio to give feedback for improvement
▪ And much more

So be sure to mark your calendar then log on to Zacks.com and bookmark this page.


The S&P and NASDAQ winning streaks just entered a third week as the indices managed small gains on Monday, which, nevertheless, accounted for another round of new highs. Meanwhile, investors are gearing up for new updates on inflation coming in the next couple of days.

November is just in its second week, but the month is shaping up to be one of the most eventful of the whole year. The latest bit of blockbuster news is that the more than $1 Trillion infrastructure bill finally passed Congress, which led to a strong session for stocks that will benefit from such funding.

We can add this to the other major stories in just the past few days, including the Fed announcing a taper plan, a ‘goldilocks’ jobs report, and the continuation of a solid earnings season.

The Dow was the best performer on Monday due to the infrastructure news, though it only advanced by 0.29% (or nearly 105 points) to 36,432.22. Meanwhile, the S&P rose 0.09% for its first close about 4700 at 4701.70, while the NASDAQ advanced 0.07% (or nearly 11 points) to 15,982.36. That makes new highs for each of the indices.

But the S&P and NASDAQ have now put together eight straight sessions of record closes. This impressive run of new highs started last month on Thursday, October 28.

The indices are returning from their fifth straight positive week, which was capped off on Friday with a strong Government Employment Situation report. The economy added 531K jobs in October, beating expectations of 450K. The NASDAQ jumped 3% last week, while the S&P was up 2% and the Dow increased 1.4%.

We may be at the tail end of earnings season, but there’s still more than 800 companies reporting this week. However, investors will probably be most interested in the upcoming inflation reports over the next two days. The PPI report comes tomorrow and the CPI on Wednesday.

Both numbers are expected to remain sweltering, but the big question is how they will perform compared to expectations. The previous month’s numbers were abnormally high, but were not as bad as feared. A repeat performance would be nice...

Today's Portfolio Highlights:

Commodity Innovators: The newly-passed $1.2 Trillion infrastructure bill was on Jeremy’s mind when he bought Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) on Monday. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) recently reported a rather lackluster quarter, but it sees “significant headwinds” from the bill and global initiative to address climate change. SCCO is a long-term holding that pays a more than 6% dividend while we wait for the infrastructure push to really make an impact. But that’s not all. The editor also cashed in two double-digit winners in the session. Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLE) is nearing the portfolio’s initial targets of $60, so it was sold for 21.3% in exactly seven months so the service can focus on individual names on any sector pullbacks. Finally, the volatile steel name Nucor (NYSE:NUE) was sold for 14.7% in less than six months and serves as an infrastructure swap with SCCO. Read the full write-up for a lot more on today’s moves.

TAZR Trader: Shares of automaking staple Ford (F) have soared to two-decade highs as investors appreciate the company’s foray into the EV space. However, most big banks have price targets below $20, so it might be time for the stock to stall a bit as it moves past that mark. Kevin decided to trim the position on Monday and take a 41.9% return. F is currently the third best performer in the portfolio with a 47.2% gain since first being added in July (the editor added to the position a few times since then). In other news, The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) was the best performer among all ZU names today by soaring 29.5% after a nice beat-and-raise quarter. TTD is the second best performer in the service with a 78.6% advance in just under five months. Finally, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) also made the top movers scoreboard by climbing 10.1% after gaining Meta Platforms (FB), formerly known as Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), as a chip customer.

Surprise Trader: Earnings season may be winding down, but there’s still hundreds of reports coming this week and plenty of opportunities for this portfolio. On Monday Dave picked up BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR), a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) nutritional products company that offers things like protein shakes, powders, nutrition bars and supplements. The past four quarters have seen three beats and one match. A positive Earnings ESP of 14% suggests this solid earnings history will continue when it reports again on Thursday, November 18 after the bell. BRBR was added today with a 12.5% allocation, while Newmark (NMRK) was sold for a 5.4% return in less than a week. The complete commentary has more on today’s action.

Technology Innovators: We’re starting off a new week with a new buy, as Brian added ASGN (NYSE:ASGN) on Monday. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) IT services firm topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters with an average surprise of 7.6%, so these are “steady and stable beats”. The stock has a good valuation and solid topline growth that will “probably reach double digits next year”. Learn more about today’s addition of ASGN in the full write-up.

Black Box Trader: The portfolio cashed in a double-digit profit among five swaps in this week's adjustment. The stocks that were sold today included:

• Olin Corp. (NYSE:OLN, +21.5%)
• Nucor (NUE, +7.1%)
• Jefferies Financial (NYSE:JEF, +0.16%)
• PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF)
• C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW)

The new buys that filled these spots were:

• Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH)
• Huntsman (NYSE:HUN)
• Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC)
• Tronox (TROX)
• Univar Solutions (NYSE:UNVR)

Read the Black Box Trader’s Guide to learn more about this computer-driven service.

All the Best,
Jim Giaquinto