The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed firmly lower even as Trump Media & Technology jumped. Fund manager Cathie Wood loaded up on Tesla just before the EV stock plummeted on Q1 delivery data. Magnificent Seven stocks Nvidia and Meta Platforms fell despite bullish Wall Street calls.
Meanwhile, a trio of stocks eyeing buy points dug in near entries. Badger Meter, Republic Services and TJX are all in base patterns.
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Hit, Small Caps Dive
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1% on the stock market today. ON Semiconductor was among the worst laggards as it tumbled 4.6%.
The benchmark S&P 500 battled back from session lows but still fell 0.7%. Humana, which lost 13.4% and CVS Health, which gave up 7.2%, were among the worst performers here as managed-care providers sold off.
S&P 500 sectors mostly finished in negative territory. Energy and utilities, the latter a defensive area, fared best on the stock market today. Consumer discretionary and health care had the worst sessions.
Small caps were mauled by the bears, with the Russell 2000 falling 1.8%. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF fell 1.7%.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed available positions at 8.76 million. This was in line with economist expectations for 8.8 million and up 8,000 on January's level. The ratio of openings to available workers fell to 1.35 from 1.43 the previous month.
The 10-year Treasury note rose 3 basis points to 4.36% while the 30-year also gained 3 basis points to 4.5%. The five-year yield gained 1 basis point to 4.35% while the two-year slipped 2 basis points to 4.69%.
While it backed off highs, the 10-year yield hit 2024 highs today. At one point, the benchmark rate rose to 4.4%, the highest level since November. It comes after Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said she still expects rate cuts in 2024, though she ruled one out at the May Fed meeting.
Dow Jones: UnitedHealth Plunges On Medicare Move
The Dow Jones managed to climb off lows but still ended the day down nearly 397 points. This equates to a fall of 1%.
UnitedHealth was hardest hit in the Dow, falling 6.4% to the lowest level since July, MarketSurge shows.
Health care stocks in general were hit after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Medicare Advantage rates for 2025 will increase 3.7%. This disappointed investors who had been hoping for a bigger increase.
Amgen, which fell 2.4% and Nike, which slipped 1.7%, also lagged. Dow Inc. fared best on the Dow Jones today with a lift of 1.8%.
Cathie Wood Buys Tesla, Stock Dives On Deliveries
Buying laggards can be a perilous strategy. But one investor who is not afraid to buy the dip is Ark Invest Chief Executive Cathie Wood.
The firm, where she also serves as chief investing officer, snapped up more than 62,000 Tesla shares for its ARK Innovation ETF Monday. It also bought just over 22,000 shares for the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF.
But this time it failed to pay off for the fearless investor as Tesla shares crumbled 4.9%, losing further ground on the 50-day moving average in the process.
Tesla was hammered on weak Q1 deliveries. They fell 8.5% year over year to 386,810, missing expectations for 454,000 deliveries. It was also a decline of 20% on the previous quarter and the fewest deliveries since 2022.
Tesla stock sits more than 44% below its 2023 high of 299.29, which it reached last July. It has been stuck in a stubborn downtrend since then.
Magnificent Seven: Nvidia, Meta Fall Despite Bullish Calls
The other Magnificent Seven stocks ended the day mostly lower.
Nvidia was off lows, but finished the session down 1% as it tests support at the 21-day line. The Leaderboard stock is extended past its most recent entry. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating today.
Meta Platforms managed to fight its way out of negative territory to rise 1.2%. Bank of America reiterated a buy rating while it hiked its price target to 550 from 510.
Google parent Alphabet fell 0.6%, though volume was below average. It is trading just above a 153.78 entry.
Amazon.com, Microsoft and Apple all fell less than 1%.
Donald Trump Stock Rebounds
The wild ride continues for shareholders of Trump Media & Technology.
The stock was in rally mode Tuesday, ending off highs but still up 6%. It comes after the stock plunged more than 26% the previous two sessions, wiping out a large slice of Trump's net worth in the process. DJT stock now sits above its short-term moving averages, but is well off recent highs.
The stock made strong gains earlier this year as Trump moved closer to his party's nomination for president, then rallied further after its merger with special-purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition gained shareholder approval.
The stock is up nearly 195% thus far this year, and has an also-strong lift of more than 32% in the last four weeks alone.
IBD does not recommend investing in stocks that make such wild price swings, and the company has almost no track record of earnings. It is acting more like a meme stock than a proper investment.
Rally Holds Support, Five Stocks Eye Buy Points
Outside Dow Jones: 3 Stocks Near Entries
Tuesday was not looking like the best day for breakouts. But a few noteworthy names continue to trade near entries.
Badger Meter is in a cup-with-handle base with an ideal entry of 164.81. While overall performance is strong, earnings performance stands out. Earnings have grown an average 39% over the past three quarters.
Republic Services is another one to watch as it forms a lopsided flat base with a buy point of 192.57. It was firm on the stock market today and is trading above its 21-day exponential moving average but slightly below the 10-day line.
Overall performance is very strong for the trash-hauling play, with its IBD Composite Rating coming in at 98. RSG stock holds an EPS Rating of 95.
Off-price apparel play TJX touched the 21-day exponential moving average. It has formed a flat base with an ideal entry point of 102.84. Its EPS Rating comes in at 93 out of 99.
Please follow Michael Larkin on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
