Slow Trading Can't Stop S&P, NASDAQ From Setting New Records

SPECIAL ALERT: We’ve just released this quarter’s Ultimate Four Special Report which includes four stocks our team believes have the greatest upside potential over the upcoming quarter. This latest report features favorite stocks from Kevin Cook, Jeremy Mullin, Neena Mishra, CFA, FRM, and Daniel Laboe. Log on to Zacks.com to see these stocks today.


This week’s data deluge began in earnest on Tuesday with a couple solid reports, but slow summer trading eventually left the major indies little changed in the session. Nevertheless, the S&P and NASDAQ managed another day of new records.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index jumped to 127.3 in June, which bettered the previous month’s 120 and easily beat expectations. It was also the fifth straight month with a gain. Obviously, fears of inflation are not handcuffing consumers, who are finally getting out and spending now that the pandemic is against the ropes.

Furthermore, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index soared 14.6% in April, compared to 13.3% in March. That makes 11 months of rising prices and shows again that consumers are in a spending mood, even for high-priced items.

We’re about to see three straight sessions of jobs data, beginning with ADP employment tomorrow, jobless claims on Thursday and, of course, the Government Employment Situation on Friday.

But for today, stocks stuck pretty close to the flatline as these summer sessions tend to just amble forward. The NASDAQ again outperformed, but was only higher by 0.19% (or about 27 points) to 14,528.33. That still makes five new records in the past six sessions, including the last two consecutively.

The other major indices rallied in the morning on the data news, but then lost steam as the day progressed. The S&P only advanced 0.03% to 4291.80, but that was still enough for a fourth day in record territory. The Dow was up by 0.03% too (or about 9 points) to 34,292.29.

Well, June 2021 is almost in the books with only one day to go. The monthly totals show the resurgence of tech in recent weeks, as the NASDAQ is up more than 5% so far this month. However, the Dow is actually in the red by less than 1% while the S&P makes up the middle with a rise of about 2%.

Let’s see how June finishes up tomorrow.

Today's Portfolio Highlights:

Stocks Under $10: The portfolio had a position to fill this morning, so Brian added Entravision Communication Corp. (EVC). This broadcast radio and TV company is highly correlated with Univision and owns stations in 17 of the top 50 Hispanic markets. The company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the past four consecutive quarters with an average beat of more than 70%. And rising earnings estimates have given EVC the status of Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Furthermore, the valuation is looking pretty attractive for a company that reported topline growth of 131% in the most recent quarter with growth of 100% expected this year. Read the full write-up for more on this new addition.

Surprise Trader: The semiconductor memory space is in the top 4% of the Zacks Industry Rank, so that’s where Dave went for today’s addition. He picked up Micron (MU), which is one of the biggest names in the field and will be reporting after the bell tomorrow. MU has beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate for eight straight quarters now and has a positive Earnings ESP of 5.78% for the upcoming release. The editor added this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) on Tuesday with a 12.5% allocation. But Dave really needs to make some room for earnings season, which is ‘right around the corner’. Therefore, he sold two names today, including Winnebago (WGO) for a 7.8% return in less than two weeks and NetApp (NTAP) for 4.8% in a little over a month. Read the full write-up for more on all of today’s action.

Counterstrike: Even a strong quarterly report from KB Home (KBH) couldn’t stop shares of this homebuilder from sliding. It had already lost about 20% before announcing a positive earnings surprise of 16%. But Jeremy thinks its about to make a comeback, especially after finding support around its 200-day. The editor feels that KBH could bounce to $45 in the coming month, so he added the stock on Tuesday with a 4% allocation. Meanwhile, Facebook (FB) was the big story yesterday after a couple antitrust lawsuits were thrown out, prompting the social media pioneer’s market cap to surpass $1 Trillion. So now the targets have been hit and there’s been some pullback today. Jeremy needs to raise cash for the upcoming earnings season, so it was a good time to sell FB for a 13.9% return. Read the full write-up for more on today’s action. In other news, this portfolio had a top performer on Tuesday as Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) rose 6.4%.

Healthcare Innovators: This portfolio sure did dominate the top performers list on Tuesday with four of the top five positions. Those solid results came from Twist Bioscience (TWST, +6.6%), Dynavax Technologies (DVAX, +6.2%), Meridian Bioscience (VIVO, +5.4%) and Editas Medicine (EDIT, +4.8%).

Options Trader: "It's been a relatively quiet week so far, with relatively small trading ranges.

"Given that, I wouldn't be surprised to see some bigger moves as we head into the end of the week, which will be a 3-day holiday weekend as the markets are closed on Monday in observance of the 4th of July.

"Volatility can go either way. And short-term moves are hard to predict. But with the improving economic outlook, and prospects for it to get even stronger, it looks like there's a lot more upside to go." -- Kevin Matras

Have a Good Evening,
Jim Giaquinto

Recommendations from Zacks' Private Portfolios:

Believe it or not, this article is not available on the Zacks.com website. The commentary is a partial overview of the daily activity from Zacks' private recommendation services. If you would like to follow our Buy and Sell signals in real time, we've made a special arrangement for readers of this website. Starting today you can see all the recommendations from all of Zacks' portfolios absolutely free for 7 days. Our services cover everything from value stocks and momentum trades to insider buying and positive earnings surprises (which we've predicted with an astonishing 80%+ accuracy). Click here to "test drive" Zacks Ultimate for FREE >>

 
Zacks Investment Research