The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made a government shutdown pledge. Warren Buffett stock Jefferies Financial (JEF) rallied back toward a buy point while CarMax (KMX) cratered following its earnings report.
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Meanwhile, a trio of stocks are eyeing entries despite the challenging conditions. Woodward (WWD), Costco Wholesale (COST) and Jacobs Solutions (J) are all near buy points.
McCarthy Makes Shutdown Pledge Amid Rising Risks
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck a determined tone as he seeks to avert a government shutdown. The Republican leader pledged at the end of the day, “we will get this done,” even as he criticized a proposed Senate government funding bill.
“I look at the current Senate bill that does nothing to deal with the border security,” he told CNBC. “Don’t take my word for it. The governor of Massachusetts declared a state of emergency.”
The proposed bill would keep the government open through Nov. 17. At the moment, the government will shut down unless an agreement is reached before Oct. 1. Republicans are seeking to force through measures on immigration and to cut spending.
McCarthy seemed determined to get a satisfactory measure passed, saying it is “something that Democrats and Republicans want to have done.”
Meanwhile, initial jobless claims totaled 204,000 for the week ended Sept. 23, a slight rise on the previous week’s 202,000 claims, according to new Labor Department data. However, it was also well below analyst expectations for a jump to 214,000.
Oanda senior market analyst Edward Moya said investors are weighing up a number of factors in addition to fears over a potential shutdown.
“The checklist for risks to the U.S. economy is not getting any smaller as the UAW strike appears like it might expand after the Sept. 29 deadline,” he said in a note to clients. “With a government shutdown potentially poised to start on Sunday, this might be the last jobless claims data we see in a while.”
Nasdaq Up As Growth Stocks Shine
Stocks were trying to fight back from recent losses amid oversold conditions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fared best out of the major indexes as it rose almost 1%. Sirius XM (SIRI) stood out with a gain of around 13% as it continues to gain amid a proposed merger with Liberty Formula One (FWONA).
The benchmark S&P 500 also broke a losing streak as it gained 0.6%. Trimble (TRMB) was a top performer here as it rose more than 7% amid news of a smart-farming joint venture with AGCO (AGCO).
The S&P 500 sectors were nearly all higher. Materials and communication services fared best in the stock market today. Only utilities and energy lagged.
Small caps saw were having a strong session, with the Russell 2000 up around 1%. Growth stocks also impressed, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) gaining nearly 1%.
Dow Jones Today: Boeing Stock Lags As Index Gains
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was lagging the other major indexes but still rose nearly 100 points, or 0.2%.
UnitedHealth (UNH) fared best as it gained more than 1%. It has recently rallied back above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, MarketSmith analysis shows.
Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Caterpillar (CAT) were other standout performers on the Dow Jones today.
Boeing (BA) was the worst laggard as it fell around 2%. It is trading below all its moving averages as it continues to decline.
Warren Buffett Stock Rallies Towards Entry
Jefferies Financial moved back toward a cup-with-handle ideal entry point of 37.73 following its recent earnings report.
JEF stock was rallying despite the firm posting a 72% EPS decline to 22 cents for its fiscal third quarter. Revenue fell 22% to $1.18 billion.
It rallied after the firm’s CEO Richard Handler voiced optimism on future investment banking activity.
Price performance is Jefferies’ strongest suit, and it is in the top 15% of issues in terms of stock market performance over the past 12 months. In contrast, its EPS Rating of 47 out of 99 is far from ideal.
IBD recommends buying stocks with strong earnings and price performance rather than laggards. Look for leaders in strong industries that are showing superior earnings growth and sales, such as those in the IBD 50.
CarMax Stock Plummets
CarMax plunged Thursday on second-quarter earnings results amid falling demand.
An EPS decline of 5% to 75 cents was in line with expectations, while a 13% decline in revenue to $7.07 billion was better than expected. Comparable-store used-unit sales fell 9%.
The firm also said it intends to resume share repurchases in Q3, however this did not seem to reassure investors.
KMX stock was down more than 12% heading into the close. It fell away from its 50-day moving average and triggered a sell signal by diving below the 200-day moving average.
The move came in mammoth volume, another red flag for investors.
Outside Dow Jones: 3 Stocks Eye Entries
Investors should be a keeping a lookout for potential stocks to add to their watchlist at the moment.
Woodward is one to watch for now. The aerospace play is crafting a flat base with a 133.15 buy point.
It has been showing impressive relative strength as it clings to support at the 50-day line. In addition, overall excellent performance is reflected in WWD stock’s IBD Composite Rating of 97 out of 99. It has won a spot on the prestigious IBD Leaderboard Watchlist.
Costco Wholesale tested a flat base buy point of 571.16. It is now trading below the entry.
Earnings are a key strength for COST stock, with its EPS Rating coming in at 95 out of 99.
Heavy construction play Jacobs Solutions is trading just below a flat base entry of 137.61.
Institutions have been snapping up stock of late, with its Accumulation/Distribution Rating coming in a B+.
Please follow Michael Larkin on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
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