After a brutal morning in which the major indices fell more than 3%, stocks staged a strong, but partial recovery in the afternoon. Another plunge in crude oil prices was once again the culprit in sending stocks reeling.
Although there was no specific news to push oil lower today, fear across world markets, plus the comments Tuesday from the International Energy Association (IEA) that the world could “drown in oversupply” in 2016 combined to send oil as much as 7% lower intraday. Crude oil finished the day down 6%.
But stocks were still lower at the closing bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.6%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.2%. The stronger Nasdaq was only off by 0.1%. All sectors except for health care finished down, with energy stocks the worst of all again and even utilities stocks showing new weakness.
There weren’t many big winners today, but Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE), Spirit Airlines Incorporated (NASDAQ:SAVE) and Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) were some that managed to offer hope to a handful of investors. Here’s why they are three of today’s best stocks:
Cree, Inc. (CREE)
Shares of CREE bolted 8% higher today after introducing a new product, called the XLamp XQ-E LED, to their line of LED inventory.
Cree says that the new XLamps will produce the same amounts of light output and reliability, but with a reduction in size and cost of the LED luminaries. The new product is geared towards industrial applications in particular.
CREE stock had recently dropped from $28 to $23 a share. Today’s action saw it pierce its 50-day moving average at $25.82.
Spirit Airlines Incorporated (SAVE)
Spirit Airlines lifted off today, after announcing an increase in fourth-quarter operating guidance from 17.5% to 22.5%. And the reason for the improvement? The company points to better-than-expected revenue and reduced costs within the last three months.
Since fuel is the largest cost borne by airlines, a reduction in average fuel cost from $2.56 a gallon a year ago to $1.59 for the most recent quarter has helped Spirit’s bottom line tremendously. Plus, capacity was up over 30% this past quarter as well.
It was no surprise, then, that SAVE stock was upgraded by analysts at Citigroup today, lifting it from “neutral” to “buy.”
SAVE stock closed almost 11% higher on the day.
Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (ABX)
Another big hit on the major indices, and another day for advancing gold prices, put ABX stock near the top of the gainers list today. ABX stock rose 7% on the back of a 1.1% gain for spot gold.
Other gold stocks showing strength today included AngloGold Ashanti Limited (ADR) (NYSE:AU), up more than 6.5%, and Gold Fields Limited (ADR) (NYSE:GFI), up 7%. ABX and GFI have been two of the best-performing gold stocks over the past three months.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
