Markets continued their recent upward trend, with both the Dow and S&P 500 closing at record highs on Friday. The Dow Jones was up 0.67%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.63% and the NASDAQ rose 1.27%. The MCSI Emerging Markets Index was unchanged for the week.
It was a much better week for all of your positions in your Bull Market Alert portfolio.
Big gainers included the Rubicon Project, Inc. (RUBI), which jumped 8.96%; the ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (BIB), which added 8.21%; Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW), which gained 4.69%, and MasterCard (MA), which rose 4.19%.
ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (BIB), Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW), MasterCard (MA) and the WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ) all hit new 52-week highs.
With your MasterCard April $85 call options (MA150417C00085000) up 65.25%, sell half of your options today to lock in these gains. Also sell half of your Palo Alto Networks March $130 call options (PANW150320C00130000) for a 66.08% gain.
With market sentiment now turning to “extreme greed” in the CNN Fear and Greed Index, I am holding off on making a new Bull Market Alert recommendation this week.
Note, however, that I am raising your stops in in both the ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (BIB) and Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) to lock in 25% and 10% gains, respectively. See Portfolio Update below.
Special Note on Bank of Ireland
The ticker symbol for Bank of Ireland changed this past week from IRE to IREBY.
Note that according to the press release by the American Depository Receipt (ADR) sponsor Bank of New York, the Bank of Ireland ADR is scheduled to be wound up on April 22.
At that time, the stock will be sold and you would receive the proceeds from the sale, unless you elect to have them converted into local shares.
Since the stock is still trading OTC, and with European stocks rallying in general, I am recommending that you still hold on to the stock for now.
I do expect to be recommending that we sell the stock prior to the April 22 deadline, after which we will no longer follow the stock in Bull Market Alert.
Portfolio Update
ProShares Ultra Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (BIB) added another 8.21% during the shortened holiday week. BIB rose for a second week in a row, pushing up past previous highs and its major resistance level to hit a new 52-week high. The “big correction” in the biotech bull run bottomed just under one year ago as BIB sunk to a $61 low. Now hitting new highs at the $153 price level, this “ultra” biotech fund is up an astounding 151% since then. BIB is a BUY. Raise your stop to $142.85 to lock in at least a 25% gain.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) gained 4.69% last week to hit a new 52-week high. Much like the biotech sector, cybersecurity has enjoyed a long-standing bull run of its own. Faced with potentially huge losses from all kinds of “hack attacks,” companies are ramping up security efforts and pushing stocks like PANW to all-time highs. PANW is up 10.32% in the last month, 28.49% in the previous three months and 91.81% for the past year. PANW will report earnings on March 2, after markets close. PANW is a BUY. Raise your stop to $139.89 to lock in at least a 10% gain.
Halyard Health Inc. (HYH) rose 3.66%. Although news of the terrible struggle with the Ebola epidemic may have fallen off the media’s radar, the battle rages on in several parts of the world, and Halyard Health is still a player in the fight. HYH bounced off its 50-day MA last week and recorded gains every day since. HYH will report earnings on March 4, before markets open. HYH is a BUY.
The Rubicon Project, Inc. (RUBI) jumped 8.96%. RUBI pushed above its $17-a-share resistance level last week, a level set way back in late 2014, as buyers continued adding shares going into the company’s earnings report. RUBI will report earnings this Tuesday, after markets close. RUBI is a BUY.
MasterCard (MA) rose 4.19%, hit a new 52-week high and also broke above a major resistance level set back in late 2014. Apple Pay is a big push in the race to mobile payments, and companies like MasterCard reap the benefits due to their central positioning. Google I/O, Google’s big annual conference, is coming up in May and Google appears to be ramping up its own Apple Pay-like efforts for Google Wallet. And unlike Apple, Google is willing to make it worthwhile for payment networks such as MasterCard to help their platform float to the top — a move that could further drive payment processors higher. MA is a BUY.
JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (JASO) lost 2.92% for its opening week in your portfolio. Nevertheless, the story behind JASO’s solar successes is a compelling bet for the future. JASO is a BUY.
Latest Special Report
As a courtesy, I want to bring to your attention the newest version of The Top 12 Stocks for 2015, which features three of my top investment recommendations, as well as bonus picks from each of my fellow investment newsletter editors at Eagle. This report and others are available FREE on my website to you.
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