Big Comeback Keeps S&P, NASDAQ in the Green

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Investors went on quite a ride today as stocks plunged at the open and looked ready to challenge Monday’s steep selloff… but then we enjoyed the biggest turnaround of the year!

The NASDAQ and S&P managed slightly positive gains, while the Dow flirted with the green after recovering from a near 600-point drop. It had to settle with a slight loss though.

A sharp decline in global bond yields was the big problem this morning, exacerbating concerns of slowing global growth. However, the 10-year Treasury yield eventually stabilized after momentarily slipping below 1.6%, which snapped the market out of its malaise and provided enough fuel for an impressive comeback.

The NASDAQ rose 0.38% (or nearly 30 points) to 7862.83, while the S&P inched forward by 0.08% (or a little more than 2 points) to 2883.98. These indices each broke 6-session losing streaks yesterday.

The Dow snapped its own skid on Tuesday, but couldn’t stay in the green even though it momentarily crossed onto the positive side. Still, today’s decline of a little more than 22 points is a whole lot better than plunging by 590, which was its worst spot of the day.

In the end, the index was down only 0.09% to 26,007.07.

If you were confused about the market’s future direction… this session certainly didn’t help clear things up. The comeback was fun, but we’re still tied to trade headlines and the whims of central banks across the globe.

Fortunately, earnings season remains strong with good reports after the bell from the likes of Lyft and Roku. And despite fears of a global slowdown, our economy continues to outperform the rest of the world.

So let’s wait and see what tomorrow has in store for us…

Today's Portfolio Highlights:

Insider Trader: After reporting a negative earnings surprise and lowering its full year guidance, it’s no wonder shares of Chemours (CC) moved sharply lower. But 30% in a month? Four insiders at this specialty chemical company think that selloff is overdone, which led to a cluster buy this month. The General Counsel, the President of Titanium Tech and two directors took advantage of “dirt cheap” shares and bought in recent days. It’s possible that shares could fall even more in the near future, but Tracey decided to take a chance with a 10% position in CC. By the way, the portfolio also sold half of Anaplan (PLAN) for a 15.4% return in two months and all of The Hartford (HIG) for an 8.2% profit in less than three months. Read the full write-up for more on all of today’s moves.

Income Investor: Last quarter, Crown Castle International (CCI) announced the highest leasing activity in over a decade for its 40,000 cell towers. Management decided to raise its full-year guidance due to such success. Maddy doesn’t expect this demand to wane moving forward… quite the opposite. CCI will have plenty of growth opportunities given the acceleration of 5G networks. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) also boasts a solid yield of 3.3%. The editor thinks CCI has that “bang for your buck”, so she added it on Wednesday. See the full write-up for more.  

Surprise Trader: With gold prices soaring due to lower interest rates, Dave finally decided to add Barrick Gold (GOLD). He thinks the precious metal could continue advancing amid rumors of another cut in September. This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) is in the Mining – Gold space, which puts it in the Top 6% of the Zacks Industry Rank. Furthermore, GOLD has a small positive Earnings ESP for the quarter coming before the bell on Monday, August 12. The editor added GOLD on Wednesday with a 12.5% allocation and also got out of a couple underperformers. See the full write-up for more on today’s moves.

Value Investor: Tracey added WW (WW) in June to see if this weight control staple could rebound from some rough times. Well, that rebound may have come today! Shares soared more than 42% on Wednesday after the company continued its excellent record of positive surprises with a beat of 20% in the second quarter. As importantly though, subscribers rose 1.5% to 4.6 million with digital subscribers soaring 8.3%. Not only was WW the top performer among all ZU names today, the stock also skyrocketed to the front of the Value Investor.

Until Tomorrow,
Jim Giaquinto

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