Third Straight Day of Gains for S&P, Dow

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After two days of sharp gains to begin February, stocks sold off into Wednesday’s close and ended only slightly changed. However, two of the major indices still managed a third straight day in the green.

But here’s the interested thing: The NASDAQ wasn't one of the indices that rose today! It slipped 0.02% (or a little over 2 points) to 13,610.54, which means it held onto practically all of the 4%+ advance over the previous two sessions.

Nevertheless, it's the first time since January 6 that the NASDAQ declined while the other major indices advanced, which shows the dominance of tech here in the early days of 2021.

Meanwhile, the Dow rose 0.12% (or about 36 points) to 30,723.60, while the S&P advanced 0.10% to 3830.17. That’s three straight days of gains for the indices, though they’re still trying to make up for last week’s more than 3% plunge.

Alphabet (GOOG) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced better-than-expected quarterly results after yesterday’s close. The market has been pretty stingy about rewarding strong reports this earnings season, but GOOG managed to gain more than 7% on Wednesday.

On the other hand though, AMZN was down 2% despite soaring past $100 billion in revenue for the first time in a single quarter. Perhaps investors are a bit uneasy with Jeff Bezos stepping down as CEO in the third quarter to become an executive chairman.

We got some really good news from ADP today, which said that private payrolls added 174,000 jobs in January. Not only was the total three times better than expectations, but it reversed the previous month’s nearly 80K-job loss (revised from the original tally of more than 120K).

It’s a welcomed headline for an economy hoping to stay positive while waiting for more stimulus and the vaccines to take hold. Of course, the bigger impact will be felt by Friday’s Employment Situation report. You probably remember that the last number was far below expectations with the economy losing more than 100K jobs.

The squeeze craze continued cool off on Wednesday, along with investor fears of a looming pullback. GameStop (NYSE:GME) rose 2.68% and AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) advanced 14.7%, which would be a lot under normal circumstances but pales in comparison to the triple-digit bonanzas from last week.

Today's Portfolio Highlights:

Home Run Investor: It looks like Cambium Networks (NASDAQ:CMBM) may have topped out after two months in the portfolio. However, the company gained 29.4% in that time, so Brian sold the name and took the profit on Wednesday. The new buy is Option Care Health (NASDAQ:OPCH), a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) outpatient/home healthcare name that the editor thinks is all set to push past its 52-week high. The company only earned a penny per share in its most recent report, but that was 125% better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate for a four-cent loss. Brian loves to see swings back into profitability, which is also happening with annual earnings estimates as 2021 is now expected at a profit of 40 cents compared to 2020’s expected loss of eight cents. The editor wants to be in OPCH before its margin profile flips to the positive as well, which should happen this year. Read the full write-up for a lot more on today’s moves.

Surprise Trader: It’s been a little while since “something fun like a tech stock” caught Dave’s attention, but it finally happened on Wednesday with Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH). This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) is a global manufacturer and supplier of semiconductors and passive components. The stock has beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last three quarters, and seems poised to do it again before the bell on Tuesday, February 9. VSH has a positive Earnings ESP of 4.82% for the upcoming report. The editor added the stock today with an 11.5% allocation, while also getting out of the disappointing Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) position. Read the full write-up for more on today’s moves. Elsewhere, the portfolio had a "nice win" on Wednesday when Triumph Group (NYSE:TGI) jumped 13.2% after solid third-quarter results.

Healthcare Innovators: One of the things all approved covid vaccines have in common is that they’re shots. Actually, you’ve got to take more than one shot! Nobody likes shots. So it was good news to hear that Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT) announced encouraging results for its oral covid tablet vaccine. This company is a clinical-stage biotech that develops a range of oral recombinant vaccines based on its proprietary delivery platform. Kevin added VXRT on Wednesday, though warns that it has only passed Phase 1 data and hasn’t been scrutinized by the scientific community yet. Read his complete commentary for all the news on this new data and to find out when you should buy. In other news, this portfolio had a top performer today as Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL) advanced 37.9%.

Have a Good Evening,
Jim Giaquinto