Trump Pushes S&P Past 2300

What great timing! It was only yesterday when the editors seemed to reach peak frustration with President Trump’s inaction on the pro-growth economic initiatives that helped to get him elected. They were asking for a statement, or executive order or even a Tweet that would let the market know that he wasn’t lollygagging around while stocks sputtered along. And on the very next day…they got it! This morning, POTUS said that a “phenomenal” tax announcement was coming in the next few weeks.

Just as the editors said, it didn’t take much from the President to get the market moving again. The S&P finally broke through 2300 with a gain of 0.58% to 2307.9. The Dow climbed 0.59% to 20172.4 and the NASDAQ increased 0.58% to 5715.2. Each of these results were new all-time highs. Perhaps the market can now finally focus on the solid earnings season and strong economic data as it waits for specifics from the White House.

Reitmeister Trading Alert accounted for most of the activity in the portfolios on Thursday. Steve bought a steel company and added to two existing positions that will benefit from rising rates. Get the specifics below, along with a couple excerpts from the commentaries.

Today’s Portfolio Highlights:

Reitmeister Trading Alert: Just yesterday, Steve reiterated the need for President Trump to say something about the pro-growth agenda that he promised, and this morning…voila! The editor sprung into action with three moves on Thursday, including replacing yesterday’s sale of BERY with a 6.5% allocation in steel company Nucor (NUE). After its most recent quarterly report, analysts expect this stock to move from the lower $60s to the upper $60s…and possibility even further. Steve likes that NUE is mostly US based and is a better-than-average value for its industry.

The portfolio’s other two moves involved pumping more money into trades that benefit from rising rates. Steve added additional shares to Community Bank ETF (QABA) and Treasury Bear 3X ETF (TMV), bringing those allocations up to 7.5% and 8.5%, respectively. Read the complete commentary for more on all of today’s activity.

Momentum Trader: “I guess if you throw enough spaghetti to the wall, some of it is going to stick. A wise man once told me, “I’d rather be lucky than good.” Well maybe I got lucky because yesterday at the end of my lengthy Wednesday night write-up I wrote:

“‘All of this doubt and international risk-off could be cleared out with the stroke of a pen or a single tweet. If we start talking about corporate tax breaks rather than immigration policies this market will forget all about this.’

“Ask and you shall receive my friends as today the Donald came out and told us all to expect a “phenomenal tax plan.” Didn’t even need a tweet nor a stroke of the pen. Just a quick sound bite.

“If this tax reform comes down the pipe and corporate tax rates get cut to 20%, it’s going to be a runaway market. I don’t mean a little bit of a run higher, I mean some epic, legendary, everybody gets a car Oprah style rally. It will open the floodgates for economic reforms in the US and will lead to short-term opportunities across the board.” — Dave Bartosiak

Zacks Counterstrike: “We finally got there! 2300 printed and my 2315 fib target (Friday’s commentary) is within reach. S&P was strong all day, with a move of 0.58% higher. The Nasdaq also saw a 0.58% gain for the day.

“Trump and tax reform was the catalyst. All it took was for Trump to mention that he was announcing something “phenomenal” in a couple weeks and markets responded. I would expect follow through on this move into tomorrow and early next week.

“Now that we are over 2300 it’s the job of the bulls to not step off the gas. A move back under 2300 will start to force weak hands to cover, but that will be a gift. I will be looking to add a stock tomorrow so be on the lookout. If the market falls asleep again it might just be better to wait till early next week.” — Jeremy Mullin

All the Best,
Jim Giaquinto

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