U.S. markets finally got back on track after a weak start to the day, as oil prices stabilized near $31 a barrel. That turned prices around, and made winners out of all three major indices. In previous days, investors were selling into rallies and pushing prices lower in the afternoon. But today that was not the case.
In addition, Fed chairperson James Bullard helped push markets higher by noting that recent weakness in oil prices would keep a lid on inflation and could have an effect upon monetary policy.
In economic news, the Department of Labor said that weekly jobless claims were up 7,000 to 284,000, which was above Wall Street’s expectations for 275,000.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.4%, while the S&P 500 was 1.7% to the good. The Nasdaq tacked on 2%. All sectors were higher, and energy companies were particularly strong.
One of those energy companies was Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), which along with CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) and Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ:TREE) are three of today’s best stocks. Here now, is the tale of the tape:
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
XOM stock, along with other energy names like Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), was a big winner as oil prices stabilized around $31. Barron’s notes that XOM got a favorable mention from Torsten Slok of Deutsche Bank, who opined that we have probably seen about the worst we can in oil prices, since they have already fallen from $100 to $30 per barrel.
Today’s action pushed shares of XOM up to their 200-day moving average at $79.64, as well as its 50-day moving average just below that at $79.06. XOM stock has traded sideways for the past five weeks. XOM rose close to 5% today.
CSX Corporation (CSX)
Today was one of the best days in a long while for CSX stock. Yesterday, CSX hit a two-year low after besting street estimates on fourth-quarter EPS, but missing expectations on revenue. But today CSX stock rebounded nicely, despite picking up a few analyst price target reductions. RBC pushed its price from $31 to $27 and Cowen dropped theirs from $28 to $25.
However, on a more upbeat note, yesterday BB&T Corporation raised their rating on CSX from “hold” to “buy.” Credit Suisse has also maintained its “outperform” rating on the railroad transporter of building supplies and other materials. CSX stock, which rose 4% today, has fallen from $37 to near $23 over the last six months.
Lendingtree Inc (TREE)
In a stunning reversal, TREE stock was one of the top performers on the Nasdaq today, after CEO and founder Doug Lebda said he has “never been more bullish on the future of the company.” He also increased revenue projections for 2015 from a previous range of $244 million to $247 million, to a new range from $252.5 million to $253.5 million.
TREE shares were crushed more than 25% yesterday, after investors at the Needham Growth Conference did not like what they heard about mortgage originations coming from company executives. But several analysts later said they felt the price blowup was not justified, and today investors ran with the stock at the lower prices. TREE stock climbed 8%. Still, Tree’s price has been cut in half from the November highs near $130 a share.
As of this writing, Ethan Roberts does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
