Dow Jones Reverses As Walmart Jumps On Earnings; Home Depot Rallies

The Dow Jones Industrial Average turned higher Tuesday, as the index sits atop a solid four-day advance. Blue chip stocks Home Depot (HD) and Walmart (WMT) were higher following earnings beats ahead of Tuesday’s open. Early trade was generally muted, as markets looked toward Fed minutes from the central bank’s latest policy meeting and U.S. retail sales, both due out Wednesday.

X

Contract manufacturer Fabrinet (FN) staked out an early lead, up more than 10% after delivering a solid second-quarter report and strong guidance late Monday. Zoom Video Communications (ZM) dropped to the bottom of the Nasdaq 100, falling more than 3% after it was downgraded to sell by Citi.

Electric-vehicle leader Tesla (TSLA) traded up about 1% Tuesday morning. Elsewhere, Dow Jones tech leaders Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) both inched lower after today’s stock market open.

In the healthy stock market environment, Dow Jones stocks Coca-Cola (KO) and Merck (MRK) — as well as Albemarle (ALB), Costco (COST), Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR) and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (OLLI) — are among the top stocks to buy and watch.

Albemarle is an IBD Leaderboard stock. Albemarle and Costco were featured in this week’s Stocks Near A Buy Zone column.

Dow Jones Today: Treasury Yields, Oil Prices

Early Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, and the S&P 500 moved down 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.4% in morning trade.

Among exchange-traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell 0.4% and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) inched lower in morning trade.

The 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher to 2.81% early Tuesday, recovering a bit of Monday’s fall to 2.79%. The 10-year Treasury yield is rebounding after hitting its lowest level since early April in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, U.S. oil prices erased early losses Tuesday morning after undercutting recent lows on Monday. West Texas Intermediate futures inched higher, trading above $89 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve’s minutes from its latest meeting are due out Wednesday morning. The minutes are expected to reveal clues into the central bank’s thoughts on potential interest-rate hikes at the September meeting.

At the most recent Fed meeting, the central bank delivered a 75-basis-point rate hike for the second straight meeting, and Fed chair Jerome Powell indicated a third such hike “could be appropriate” in September.

Stock Market Rally

On Monday, the Nasdaq Composite once again fared best out of the major indexes. It finished just off highs for the day as it rose 0.6%. It remains down more than 17% so far in 2022.

Monday’s The Big Picture column commented, “The stock market rally showed resilience even as it took a well-earned breather Monday. Indexes battled back after coming under early pressure amid new data and managed to end marginally higher.”

If you’re new to IBD, consider taking a look at its stock trading system and CAN SLIM basics. Recognizing chart patterns is one key to the investment guidelines. IBD offers a broad range of growth stock lists, such as Leaderboard and SwingTrader.

Investors also can create watchlists, find companies nearing a buy point, or develop custom screens at IBD MarketSmith.

Dow Jones Earnings: Home Depot, Walmart

Home improvement retailer Home Depot reported its second-quarter results early Tuesday. The company earned $5.05 per share on sales of $43.79 billion, topping analyst estimates. HD shares rose more than 1% in early morning trade.

Discount retailer Walmart extended a win streak to seven sessions Monday, rising 0.3%. Walmart’s second-quarter earnings came in at $1.77 per share on revenue of $152.9 billion, beating estimates. WMT shares jumped 5% after the open.

Five Dow Jones Stocks To Watch Now

Dow Jones Stocks To Watch: Coca-Cola, Merck

Dow Jones soda giant Coca Cola is building a flat base that has a 67.30 buy point. A handle entry at 65.14 is also in play. Shares are rebounding from their 50-day line and nearing the early entry amid Monday’s 1.3% rally. The stock inched higher early Tuesday.

Merck is also building a flat base, a pattern that shows a 95.82 buy point. Shares are trying to hold above their 50-day line amid Monday’s 0.5% decline, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis. Merck shares fell 0.5% Tuesday.

MRK stock shows a solid 94 out of a perfect 99 IBD Composite Rating, per the IBD Stock Checkup. Investors can use the IBD Composite Rating to easily gauge the quality of a stock’s fundamental and technical metrics.

4 Top Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch In The Current Stock Market Rally

Top Stocks To Watch: Albemarle, Costco, Monolithic, Ollie’s

IBD Leaderboard stock and lithium producer Albemarle is in buy range following Friday’s breakout past a large cup with handle with a 273.78 buy point. The 5% buy zone goes up to 287.47. Earlier last week, shares topped a smaller cup with handle with a 250.25 buy point. Shares moved up 0.9% Monday, extending a win streak to four sessions….