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Stocks End Mixed; Dow Breaks 4-Week Win Streak; Which Blue Chips Lead Today?

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Stocks showed mild action Friday, but the Dow snapped a four-week winning run. In general, the market maintained a positive bent amid a week jam-packed with earnings reports and a data showing weaker-than-expected growth in the U.S. economy.

But the Q2 advance GDP report didn't seem that horrible beyond the headline number. While the overall 1.2% gain far missed the Econoday consensus forecast for an increase of 2.6%, the government also revised the figure for Q1 of 2015 sharply higher from 0.6% growth to 2.0%.

Plus, in the latest reading, consumer spending jumped 4.2%, strongly reflecting the positive impact of relatively high employment and lower gas prices in the world No. 1 economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped less than 0.1%, lagging gains of nearly 0.3% for both the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500. The latter hit a new all-time high, rising as high as 2,177.09 during the stock market today.

The Dow's 0.1% loss for the week pales in comparison with gains of 3.2%, 1.1%, 2% and 0.3% in the prior four weeks, respectively. The Nasdaq rallied 1.2% for the week -- a fifth straight weekly advance. The S&P 500 edged lower by fewer than 2 points, or less than 0.1%.

Which stocks are performing best in the Dow?

One way to view this is by comparing the Relative Strength Rating, which measures a stock's performance over the past 12 months vs. the rest of the stock market. Action over the past three months carries a higher weighting. On that score, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and UnitedHealth Group (UNH) lead the Dow's 30 components with RS ratings of 83 and 81, respectively.

J&J rose 0.6% to 125.23, padding its impressive gains since clearing a long saucer with handle near 105. Even with that large advance, J&J's annualized dividend yield of 2.6% still exceeds the S&P 500's 2% payout.

J&J continues to rise after recently posting a third quarter in a row of modest earnings growth. Q3 earnings are seen rising 11% to $1.66 a share, which would be an acceleration from the 2% increase which the medical and personal care products titan saw in the second quarter.

For the year, J&J's earnings per share are seen rising 8% on a 3% pick-up in revenue to $72.07 billion.

UnitedHealth has had a masterful performance since it broke out of a shallow double-bottom base at 121.19 in late February. The managed care behemoth rose 0.3% to 143.20, up 18% from that proper pivot point.

Ranking third in RS Rating among the Dow components is DuPont (DD). The chemicals giant is cozying up to the 70 price level, where it's had trouble piercing higher. Earlier this week, DuPont marked a 14% jump in Q2 earnings, the best result in 10 quarters. Sales slid 8%, however.

Investors who seek companies with faster growth need to look at IBD's various high-growth screens, including today's IPO Leaders column. This screen looks for outstanding performers in each aspect of IBD's CAN SLIM investment paradigm. The latest story highlights China's Yirendai (YRD) (EPS seen rising 65% in 2016), Veeva Systems (VEEV) (EPS seen up 12% in 2016 after a 38% gain in 2015) and IBD 50 stock LGI Homes (LGIH) (EPS seen rising 36% in 2016).


IBD'S TAKE: The IBD 50, Big Cap 20, Stock Spotlight and Sector Leaders columns, located inside IBD Stock Lists at Investors.com, all hunt for companies with above-average fundamentals. Keep an eye out for those companies that offer something new in the form of fantastic new products, a new industry, new market conditions, new management and a stock hitting new highs in price. This is the N in CAN SLIM.


Next week, keep an eye out for quarterly results from Big Data software expert Tableau (DATA), CVS Health (CVS) and Procter & Gamble (PG) on Tuesday; Tesla Motors (TSLA), Electronic Arts (EA) and First Solar (FSLR) on Wednesday; and IBD Leaderboard member Monster Beverage (MNST) and Priceline Group (PCLN) on Thursday.