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Apple Off, But Stocks Up Sharply; Can These 4 Retailers Win Big In 2018?

Wall Street brushed off yet another North Korean missile launch and seemed to applaud the passage of a comprehensive tax reform bill in the key Senate budget committee as well as expectations that Jerome Powell will replace Janet Yellen as the new Federal Reserve chair in early 2018.

While Apple (AAPL) was down for a second day in a row, it didn't stop the Dow Jones industrial average from rising 1.1% and roaring into new high ground. The blue-chip index saw at least eight of its 30 components rally 2 points or more. Goldman Sachs (GS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) led the way for the Dow Jones industrials, rising 1.7% and 3.6%, respectively.

JPMorgan is lifting off its 50-day moving average for the second time in nearly three weeks after clearing a 95.32 buy point in a base on base, one of seven bullish patterns IBD has identified among true stock market leaders.

The S&P 500 rallied nearly 1% while the Nasdaq lagged, gaining just 0.5%. But the Nasdaq is still the top major index of 2017, up more than 28% since Jan. 1.

Small caps outperformed; the S&P SmallCap 600 rose 1.5%. Volume grew sharply vs. Monday on both main exchanges, according to initial data.

Meanwhile, the spread between long and short government bonds continues to tighten, a reflection of downward pressure on prices on the short-dated U.S. Treasury securities, corresponding to higher yields. The gap between the 3-month and 10-year benchmark U.S. Treasury bond tightened by 5.1 basis points to 101.7 basis points, according to Tradeweb. In September, that gap was as tight as 101.2 basis points, down from 208.8 bps in December 2016.

The yield on the 10-year note is at 2.34%, slightly down from 2.45% at the start of the year.

Gold prices are back near $1,300 a troy ounce on the Comex; futures traded briefly above that round number in mid-October.

Apple's decline is mild and not surprising, given that the megacap leader recently got extended from its latest buy point, a cup with handle at 160.97. Since the Oct. 27 breakout, the iPhone and iPad maker has risen as much as 9.5% to an all-time high of 176.24.

Apple continues to forge a solid uptrend, posting higher highs and higher lows since an initial breakout from a bottoming base pattern on Jan. 6-9.

With consumer sentiment at a 17-year high, as noted by the Conference Board Tuesday, Apple would seem to be on the right track in its important holiday quarter. The Street is expecting another set of double-digit EPS and revenue growth for fiscal Q1, ending in December.

Breadth resumed a positive bent following Monday's negative statistics. On Tuesday, winners beat losers by a nearly 3-2 ratio on both the Nasdaq and the NYSE.

Amid the CyberWeek specials and huge discounts being offered at long-standing brick-and-mortar chains, the astute investor may want to keep an eye on at least four retailers that provide a unique experience that likely tends to draw repeat customers. They include luxury furnishings chain RH (RH), Anthropologie women's fashion store operator Urban Outfitters (URBN), Five Below (FIVE) and Ollie's Bargain Outlet (OLLI).

The former two are battling to rise out of early-stage bottoming bases. RH is up more than 35% since clearing a cup with handle at 75.03. Urban Outfitters is now just 11% below the 40.80 high of a massive, deep cup-type pattern.

RH, which stands out with its gigantic multi-level gallery showrooms, has notched two quarters in a row of top-line growth, boosting the bottom line. In the July-ended fiscal second quarter, earnings jumped 48% to 65 cents a share on a 13% rise in sales to $615.3 million, the second highest for any quarter.

In the prior April-ended first quarter, RH posted a net profit of 5 cents a share vs. a 5-cent loss a year ago as sales rose 23% to $562.1 million.

Watch for RH to either make another test of the 10-week moving average or form a new base.

Urban halted a four-quarter profit drought as earnings in the October-ended fiscal third quarter jumped 2% to 41 cents a share and sales edged 4% higher to $892.8 million. The Street sees modest growth acceleration on the bottom with earnings likely to increase 9% to 60 cents a share on another 4% pickup in sales to $1.07 billion.

The latter two of the four, Five Below and Ollie's, provide a treasure-hunting experience much like what former fast-growing firms Dollar Tree and now-private 99 Cents Only did for a dollar or less.

Five Below offers hot merchandise ranging from sports equipment to cellphone accessories and candy for $5 or less, drawing in tons of young consumers. The strategy is working: The Sector Leader shows earnings-per-share increases of 50%, 38%, 25%, 17%, 25% and 67% vs. year-ago levels in the past six quarters.

Sales grew 18%-29% over the same time frame.

Five Below, which is still in buy range from a new flat base at 57.75, holds a 98 Composite Rating from IBD Stock Checkup, while Ollie's scores an equally impressive 97.

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