The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed, but Donald Trump-linked entity Digital World Acquisition tumbled Monday amid more legal woes for the former president. Apple and Tesla rallied while Alphabet surged on the stock market today. And famed investor Cathie Wood snapped up a plunging stock.
Meanwhile, a trio of noteworthy stocks are near buy points. Alphabet, Neurocrine Biosciences and Arista Networks are all eying entries.
The Nasdaq composite recovered some of last week's losses as it closed with a gain of 0.8%. PDD Holdings performed well here as it rallied 4%.
The benchmark S&P 500 climbed 0.6%. Match fared well here as it rose 4.7%. But the stock remains below its major moving averages, MarketSurge analysis shows.
The S&P 500 sectors nearly all ended positive. Communication services and consumer staples outperformed on the stock market today. Only real estate and health care gave up ground.
But small caps lagged, with the Russell 2000 dipping 0.7%. In contrast, growth stocks inched higher, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF rising 0.4%.
Yields rose ahead of the latest Fed meeting. The 10-year Treasury note rose 3 basis points to 4.33% while the 30-year also gained 3 basis points to 4.46%. The five-year yield popped 3 basis points to 4.35% while the two-year inched up 1 basis point to 4.73%. The Federal Open Market Committee is meeting to discuss rates on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Dow Jones Today: Disney Stock, Salesforce Shine
The Dow Jones industrials lagged the other major indexes but still managed to rise 76 points. This equates to a 0.2% gain.
Walt Disney was among the best performers as it rose 1.7%. But Salesforce fared best of all with a 2.1% gain. Caterpillar also outperformed with a 1.4% rise.
Boeing lagged the most on the Dow Jones today as it fell 1.5%. The loss comes amid ongoing worries about construction standards at the aviation giant.
Trump Entity Dives Amid Bond News
The Trump-linked special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition took a tumble after it emerged that the former president is having trouble meeting bond requirements for his New York fraud case.
His attorneys said in a court filing that he cannot fully secure the bond required as he tries to appeal the $454 million civil business fraud judgment.
"Enforcing an impossible bond requirement as a condition of appeal would inflict manifest irreparable injury on Defendants," his lawyers said in the filing.
Digital World, the blank-check company poised to merge with the Trump Media and Technology Group, tumbled 8.7%. It has now fallen below the 50-day moving average, a sell signal.
Even with this decline, Digital World remains firmly in the green so far this year. It is up more than 103% thus far this year, but has fallen more than 28% in the last four weeks
Stock Market Today: Cathie Wood Buys On The Dip
Elsewhere, ARK Invest Chief Executive Cathie Wood showed Monday she is one investor unafraid of buying on the dip, a perilous strategy for many investors.
Her firm, where she also serves as chief investment officer, bought more than 17,000 Roku shares on Friday for the ARK Innovation exchange traded fund.
Roku stock is currently stuck below its key 50-day and 200-day moving averages, MarketSurge analysis shows. Shares now sit around 42% below their recent high of 108.84, reached on Dec. 14.
The firm also bought nearly 34,000 shares in Moderna for its flagship fund. This stock also has skidded from highs but inched up 0.4% today. The fund also bought some PagerDuty stock and sold some Twilio.
Trying to catch a falling knife can be tempting, but often leaves investors nursing losses. IBD recommends buying stocks with strong earnings and price performance. Look for leaders in strong industries that are showing superior earnings growth and sales.
Magnificent Seven: Nvidia AI Event; Apple Analyst Call
The so-called Magnificent Seven group of stocks were making progress on the stock market today.
Nvidia stock saw gains fade but still managed to turn in a gain of 0.7%. It got a boost after HSBC reiterated a buy rating on the stock and hiked its price target from 880 to 1,050.
It comes as the Leaderboard stock's four-day GTC Conference starts. A new AI chip and a slew of other AI announcements are expected from Nvidia in coming days.
Apple stock rallied 0.6%, but recent declines mean it remains stuck below its major moving averages. It comes after KeyBanc reiterated a "sector weight" rating on the stock.
More important, Apple shares were rising after Bloomberg reported that Apple is in talks with Google-parent Alphabet to license and build its Gemini AI engine into iPhones.
Stock Market Today: Tesla Stock Manages A Gain
Tesla stock managed to surge higher on the stock market today despite Goldman Sachs reiterating its neutral rating and lowering its price target to 190 from 220 amid "market headwinds." The company said it plans to raise prices on its Model Y cars.
The stock jumped 6.3% but remains rooted firmly below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Tesla is down 30% so far this year.
Meta Platforms rose 2.7%. It comes after Mizuho reiterated its buy rating on Meta stock. The price target is 575. Analyst James Lee also named Meta one of the firm's top picks.
Microsoft and e-commerce giant Amazon.com both made fractional gains. Microsoft gained 0.2% while Amazon ended in the green but was essentially flat.
Outside Dow Jones: 3 Stocks Near Entries
One of the best-performing Magnificent Seven names is among a group of stocks nearing buy points. Google-parent Alphabet closed off highs but still rose 4.6% as it gets closer to a consolidation-pattern entry of 153.78, according to MarketSurge analysis.
Overall performance is very strong at the search giant, with its IBD Composite Rating a solid 94. Earnings are seen rising 20% this year and 15% in 2025. Google was making even better gains than Apple amid the AI hookup buzz.
Meanwhile, Neurocrine Biosciences rose 0.2% as it gets close to a flat-base entry of 143.35. This is a second-stage base, a bonus. This biotech stock has a perfect IBD Composite Rating and is in the top 10% of stocks in terms of price performance over the past 12 months.
And Arista Networks rallied 4.2% on the stock market today as it looks to reach a flat-base entry of 292.66 on a weekly chart. Big Money has been buying up Arista stock of late, with its Accumulation/Distribution Rating coming in at B+.
Please follow Michael Larkin on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
