The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied Monday despite Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's pledge to back the war efforts of Israel and Ukraine. As stocks jumped, Cathie Wood sold Tesla and Nvidia. And Donald Trump-related entity Digital World Acquisition rose even as the former president was the target of a federal gag order.
Meanwhile, a number of stocks cleared buy points amid the bullish action. Lululemon Athletica tested an entry as it gets set to join the S&P 500. Williams Cos. and Murphy Oil also flirted with buy points.
Yellen Makes Israel, Ukraine Pledge
Treasury Secretary Yellen made it clear Monday that the U.S. is standing by its allies, despite concerns about the nation's ability to financially support Israel and Ukraine in their war efforts.
"America can certainly afford to stand with Israel and to support Israel's military needs," Yellen told U.K.'s Sky News Monday. "And we also can and must support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia."
The former Federal Reserve chair added that the U.S. economy is doing "extremely well," and touted the current strength of the labor market.
Nasdaq Jumps As Small Caps Shine
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fared best out of the major indexes, ending the trading session up 1.2%. Warner Bros Discovery was a standout as it popped 5.1%.
The S&P 500 also muscled higher, rising 1.1%. Index component Etsy surged 5.2%.
The S&P 500 sectors all closed in positive territory. Consumer discretionary and communication services shined brightest on the stock market today. Energy stocks made the slimmest gains.
Small caps gave the bears a bloody nose, with the Russell 2000 popping 1.7%. Growth stocks also made strong gains, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF rising 1.5%.
Dow Jones Today: Nike, Microsoft Stock Pop
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged the other major indexes but still popped 314 points, or 0.9%.
Nike rode atop the blue-chip index, jumping 2.1%. The move allowed the stock to pull away from its 50-day moving average, MarketSmith analysis shows.
Other strong gainers included Travelers, which rose 2.1%, and Salesforce, which gained 1.9%.
Microsoft also stood out on the Dow Jones today as it rose 1.5%. In contrast, old rival Apple slipped 0.1%.
But Walgreen Boots Alliance was the worst laggard as it tumbled 2%. It skidded further below its 50-day line.
Cathie Wood Sells Tesla Stock Despite This Claim
Meanwhile, it was revealed that noted fund manager Cathie Wood made some stock moves as Big Tech earnings loom large.
Her ARK Innovation exchange traded fund sold more than 13,000 Tesla shares Friday as she continued to trim holdings in the electric-vehicle giant. It may be a prudent move given Tesla reports earnings late Wednesday. TSLA stock currently sits considerably below a 278.98 buy point.
Also, Wood's ARK Genomic Revolution sold more than 4,000 shares of chip stock Nvidia. The artificial-intelligence play currently trades below a potential entry of 502.66.
Wood spoke out about the two companies on Monday. She told CNBC she sees the upside surprises on Tesla over the next five years "are going to be substantially more than Nvidia's, mostly because most analysts don't believe that autonomous (cars) as a taxi platform for Tesla is going to be part of the story. We disagree."
She said she sees tremendous revenue and margin expansion opportunities for Tesla.
Tesla stock rose 1.1% while Nvidia gained 1.4%. Both NVDA and TSLA are members of the IBD Leaderboard list of top stocks
Trump SPAC Reverses Higher Amid Gag Order
There is an old saying that there's no such thing as bad publicity. That certainly was the case for Digital World Acquisition after former President Donald Trump received a gag order in the 2020 election meddling case.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan said a limited gag order was necessary to stop the leading GOP presidential candidate from launching a "pretrial smear campaign" in the case. Trump is barred from criticizing prosecutors, possible witnesses and the court itself. He is charged with attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
DWAC is a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, which was used as a vehicle to take the Trump Media & Technology Group public. Its main product at the moment is Truth Social, an X rival which has become the home of Trump's social media efforts.
DWAC stock reversed higher to post a gain of 0.6%. It currently trades just below the key 50-day moving average.
Outside Dow Jones: LULU Breaks Out On S&P 500 Nod
Lululemon Athletica soared on news that it will join the S&P 500. The athleisure apparel maker is set to debut on the benchmark index on Wednesday.
LULU stock is actionable after clearing a flat-base buy point of 406.94. It closed the day up 10.3%. Shares hold an IBD Composite Rating of 97 out of a best-possible 99.
Williams also trades in a buy zone after clearing a flat base with an entry point of 35.46. It finished the session up 1.5%.
The natural gas play saw its relative strength line spike in recent sessions. Earnings are a strength for WMB stock, as its EPS Rating stands at 94 out of 99.
Finally, Murphy Oil was testing a cup-with-handle buy point of 47.31. It currently sits just below the entry after finishing the day with a 1.3% gain.
Murphy is among the top 10% of stocks in terms of price performance over the past 12 months, but its EPS rating is 32.
Please follow Michael Larkin on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
