U.S. equities melted higher on Thursday, pushing large-caps to new record highs, thanks to strength in crude oil (providing much needed relief to the energy sector after Wednesday’s decline) driven by a larger-than-expected inventory drawdown. In fact, it was the largest draw since 2016 even as production hits a 21-month high, suggesting strong-end demand.
Will it be enough to offset surging U.S. shale output? Likely not. Especially since OPEC’s compliance with its supply freeze agreement is falling (the headlines that pushed the energy complex lower on Wednesday). Late-session selling in crude supports this thesis.
In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7% (new high), the S&P 500 gained 0.8% (new high), the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.8% (new high) and the Russell 2000 gained 1.9%. Treasury bonds weakened, the dollar climbed, gold lost 0.4% and oil gained 0.1% more sizable gains earlier in the session faded away. In fact, the United States Oil Fund LP (ETF) (NYSEARCA:USO) actually closed in the red, down 0.5%, after trading up as much as 2%.
top five stocks to buy: Piedmont Natural Gas Company Inc.(PNY)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By WWW.KIPLINGER.COM]
Duke also recently has expanded on its natural gas efforts, and will add numerous more natural gas customers when its buy-out of Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. (PNY) goes through.
top five stocks to buy: Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A.(GOL)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Monica Gerson]
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (ADR) (NYSE: GOL) is expected to post a quarterly loss at $0.73 per share on revenue of $705.31 million.
Caretrust REIT Inc (NASDAQ: CTRE) is estimated to post its quarterly earnings at $0.26 per share on revenue of $22.21 million.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Regional Airlines: The industry dropped 1.9 percent by 11:00 am. The worst performer in this industry was Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (ADR) (NYSE: GOL), which declined 5.8 percent.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Yet some stocks didn’t participate in the rally, instead contending with negative news of their own. Zoe’s Kitchen (NYSE:ZOES), GOL Lineas Aereas Inteligentes (NYSE:GOL), and Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) were among the worst performers on the day. Below, we’ll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so poorly.
top five stocks to buy: Sonic Corp.(SONC)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows shares of newcomers Shake Shack and California based IPO Habit Restaurants both underperforming or below their IPO close prices whilemore established small capburger stocks Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc (NASDAQ: RRGB) and Sonic Corporation (NASDAQ: SONC) were big outperformers up until more recently:
- [By Peter Graham]
A long term performance chart shows shares of small caps Habit Restaurants and Shake Shack Inc (NYSE: SHAK) below their IPO prices while more established burger stocks Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc (NASDAQ: RRGB) and Sonic Corporation (NASDAQ: SONC)have seen their performance drift downward last year or the year before:
- [By Peter Graham]
After the market closed yesterday, small cap burger stock Sonic Corporation (NASDAQ: SONC) reported fiscalQ2 2017 earnings with shares falling moderately in after hours trading as the top line missed and the bottom line met expectations. However, it appears analysts are zeroing in on the system same-store sales comps down 7.4% versus expectations for a fall of 4.3%. The decline was comprised of a7.3% same-store sales decline at franchise drive-ins and a decline of 8.9% at company drive-ins.
top five stocks to buy: National Beverage Corp.(FIZZ)
Advisors’ Opinion:
- [By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
Tailored Brands (NYSE:TLRD) and National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ) were two of the biggest individual stock movers on Thursday.
Winners and losers
Shares of formal clothing specialist Tailored Brands dove 32% after the companyposted surprisingly weak fiscal fourth-quarter earnings results. Sales fell 3.9% to $793 million, while consensus estimates were targeting a more modest decline to $805 million.
- [By Dan Caplinger]
Yet some solid individual stock gains also helped lift investors’ moods, and Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD), National Beverage (NASDAQ:FIZZ), and JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) were among the best performers on the day. Below, we’ll look more closely at these stocks to tell you why they did so well.
