It was a gloomy end to the week on Wall Street as U.S. markets reacted negatively to the Fed’s lack of action in yesterday’s session by falling precipitously from the open. The Fed’s decision to keep rates steady for now and without a clear indication of when they may raise them triggered a wave of uncertainty and lack of confidence in traders.
Still, it’s interesting that the heaviest selling began this morning, rather than mid-afternoon yesterday right after the announcement.
In addition to the Fed chatter, Quadruple witching was another possible culprit in today’s big selloff, as today is the third Friday of the month.
In economic news, the Conference Board reported that its leading economic index was up 0.1% to 123.7 in August, slightly below the 0.2% reading that analysts were expecting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sunk 1.7%, the S&P 500 lost 1.6%, and the Nasdaq gave up 1.4%. Every sector lost ground, and energy stocks were the weakest of all as crude oil lost more than 4% on the day.
But that news didn’t weigh down all stocks. Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL), Cheetah Mobile Inc (ADR) (NYSE:CMCM) and TRACON Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:TCON) all bucked the trend. Here’s why they are three of today’s best stocks.
Hecla Mining Company (HL)
The Fed’s decision to keep interest rates steady weakened the U.S. dollar and sent most gold stocks higher today. Hecla was one of the better stocks of the sector, climbing more than 3%.
HL stock has been a solid performer this week, after announcing on Wednesday that it expects to start production in its San Sebastian project in Durango, Mexico by the end of this year.
However, even with a rise of 17% this week, HL remains a $2 stock, and investors should be cautious with the degree of volatility that this stock continues to possess.
Cheetah Mobile Inc (ADR) (CMCM)
CMCM stock rose more than 3% today, and while there was no immediate news propelling the stock higher, Cheetah did report better EPS and revenue numbers from a year ago earlier this week.
In the year ago quarter, Cheetah had earnings of 2 cents per share on revenue of $60.97 million, CMCM reported earnings of 6 cents a share on revenue of $140.39 million this week.
After falling from $36 per share to a recent low near $16, CMCM stock has now bounced back over the last four consecutive sessions.
Now that’s worth calling your broker about.
TRACON Pharmaceuticals Inc (TCON)
Today’s big stock market winner is Tracon, surging up 36% after announcing positive results from a single patient Phase 2 clinical trial of TRC105, in combination with Avastin on a weekly basis.
The 37-year-old female patient had a severe and aggressive form of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, and had already received a hysterectomy, five chemotherapy regimens, and a stem cell transplant, all of which failed to eradicate her condition.
However, after the TRC105 treatment, one of the reliable markers of disease in her form of Cancer decreased dramatically, indicating an ongoing complete response.
Needless to say, that was great news for TCON.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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