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Apple won the race to $1 Trillion on Thursday and the market was excited enough to rally off of a soft open.
The biggest beneficiary, of course, was the tech-heavy NASDAQ…and it really needed the help following three straight days of sharp declines stemming from the Facebook plunge. But now the index has a three-session winning streak after advancing 1.24% to 7802.7.
The iPhone maker is having quite a week. After the bell on Tuesday, Apple reported a strong fiscal third quarter that included beats for EPS and the average selling price for iPhones, which helped improve the market’s mood after a couple of disappointing FANG reports. Shares jumped nearly 6% yesterday and another 2.9% today. Along the way, it became the first American publicly-traded company to be worth $1 trillion…though it probably won’t be alone in that regard for long.
Elsewhere, the S&P had a nice increase of 0.49% to 2827.2.
But the most dramatic move came from the Dow, which started the day still hurting from the White House’s idea to raise tariffs to 25% from 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. The index had slipped more than 200 points shortly after the open. It wasn’t able to make it all the way back to the green, but it did get caught in the upward wave and finished lower by only 0.03% to 25,226.2.
So will these good times continue and finish this week strong? The Government Employment Situation report could have something to say about that. Last month, the economy added 213,000 jobs, which beat expectations. The market expects tomorrow's number to be in the same neighborhood. The ADP report yesterday was solid, though that’s usually not a bellwether for what’s to come from the BLS.
Today's Portfolio Highlights:
Insider Trader: The General Counsel and the CEO of Gates Industrial Corporation (GTES) obviously knew what they were doing in May when buying shares of their own company even though it was down more than 16% since its January IPO. Tracey knew what she was doing too when buying this application-specific fluid power and power transmission solutions company on May 9. Yesterday, GTES reported a positive earnings surprise of more than 26% on year-over-year revenue growth of 13.8%. It also increased its full-year 2018 guidance. As a result, shares soared nearly 18% and became the top performing stock from all the portfolios on Thursday.
Surprise Trader: We’re still waiting for the quarterly report from Turtle Beach (HEAR) that comes on Monday after the bell, yet this maker of premium headsets still soared by 10.4% today. Perhaps the spark was its recently announced partnership with Manchester City FC or its mention on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money show. Either way, Dave made a smart move when he bought this name on Tuesday because it was one of the best-performing stocks of the day among all portfolios. And let’s not forget there’s an Earnings ESP of more than 50% for the upcoming quarter. Brian Bolan also saw potential with HEAR because he bought it for Home Run Investor just yesterday, so Dave will have to share this spot on the Top Movers list.
Counterstrike: "The big story today was Apple making the move over ONE TRILLION in market cap. The company wins the race to the trillion dollar milestone that will also likely be clipped by the likes of Amazon and Google.
"Markets actually gapped down below 2800 this morning on trade war jitters. However, Apple came out of the gates on fire, moving straight up off the open. This leadership was followed by the market and before you knew it we were green.
"Interesting day today, let’s see the reaction tomorrow. Bulls need some follow through to the upside or we can see 2800 again." -- Jeremy Mullin
Options Trader: "The US jobs market has been on fire. And another good report will just further that narrative and underscore stocks for their next leg higher.
"So many things going great for stocks right now. There are definitely some challenges. (Aren’t there always?) But the current economic environment is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Truly historic times.
"And I’m expecting these historic times to continue ushering in historic returns for the market.
"So make sure you’re taking full advantage of it." -- Kevin Matras
Have a Great Evening,
Jim Giaquinto
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