The U.S. stock market did its best Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde imitation today. Although the economic news was mixed, the major indices bounced back from recent weakness on some stability in the oil market before totally reversing course in the last hour of trading to finish at the lows of the day.
Crude oil began the morning by tumbling to $53.60, then staged a rally and finished at $55.97.
On other economic fronts, housing starts fell 1.6% but surpassed the 1 million mark on an annualized basis; while building permits were off by 5.2% from the previous month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than .6%, while the S&P 500 was off nearly .9%, and the Nasdaq Composite shaved off 1.2%. Energy, basic materials, and industrials were the strongest sectors today, and Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU) and Encana Corporation (USA) (ECA) were direct beneficiaries of that strength. Novogen Limited (ADR) (NVGN) was another very strong biotech stock as well.
Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU)
BTU stock was up more than 5% today, even without any news to push it higher, as it benefited from the bounce in energy prices.
BTU stock has recently seen some bottom-fishing by its director, Robert Malone, who purchased 21,900 shares at an average cost of $9.08 per share, for a total cost of $198,852. Last week, CEO Gregory H. Boyce was named CEO of the year, while Peabody was also named energy company of the year at the worldwide Energy Awards in New York.
BTU stock closed today at $7.70, so investors can still purchase shares cheaper than Malone did at this point.
Encana Corporation (USA) (ECA)
Shares of ECA stock rose more than 7% today after it announced plans for increased spending in 2015, despite lowering its forecast for oil prices and cash flow.
The company plans to invest $2.7 to$2.9 billion next year, up from $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion in 2014. The news is significant because other oil producers, such as ConocoPhillips (COP), have already announced plans to curb spending due to low oil prices.
ECA stock has recently been slashed from $23 in September to today’s closing price of $12.49.
Novogen Limited (ADR) (NVGN)
Novogen Limited crushed all other stocks today, blasting up more than 212% after announcing that TRXE-009, a treatment first developed for brain cancer, has now been shown in pre-clinical studies to be effective against melanoma as well. This is important research because brain cancers often begin as melanomas before spreading to the brain.
NVGN stock had fallen from $10 a share in early 2013, to as little as $1.50 prior to today’s announcement.
NVGN stock closed at $5.35 today on extremely heavy volume of 18.8 million shares, far surpassing its three-month average volume of 20,459 shares per day.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
