Stocks notched multiple highs during the holiday-shortened week
Despite the week being cut short for the Thanksgiving holiday, there was plenty of action on Wall Street. On Monday, investors cheered comments from China saying it will hike penalties for intellectual property theft, leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), the S&P 500 Index (SPX), and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) to start the week with record highs. Tuesday's trading was a bit more muted, though all three indexes, once again, notched fresh highs amid another batch of retail earnings and tepid economic data.
Wednesday was more of the same, with low-volume trading culminating in yet another record-setting session -- pushing higher on a stronger-than-anticipated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reading for the third-quarter. Friday's trading session has cooled, however, with markets closing today at 1 p.m. ET in observance of the holiday. For the month though, all three indexes are eyeing impressive gains. Specifically, the S&P, which is zooming toward its best month since June.
Black Friday Friday Winners (And Losers)
Retail stocks were in the spotlight this week as investors geared up for big sales on Black Friday. Earlier in the week, Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White broke down some of the data on stock behavior during the week following the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season. White also highlighted some of the best and worst stocks for the month of December, with some surprising data showing that the media sector tends to surpass retail during the holiday season, and Amazon's (AMZN) historically dismal performance.
Other retail stocks in focus as the holiday season ramps up, are Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) which fell earlier this week after an earnings miss. Dollar Tree (DLTR) dropped, too, on a lowered holiday-quarter forecast. Under Armour (UAA), on the other hand, popped on an upgrade from Raymond James, Best Buy (BBY) hiked its holiday sales outlook, and Target (TGT) announced an early start to Cyber Week sales.
Disney Pushes Netflix to the Wayside
Walt Disney (DIS) stock remained in the spotlight this week, notching several new record highs amid data from Apptopia that the company's buzzing Disney+ streaming service is averaging almost 1 million new subscribers daily. News on Monday that "Frozen II" collected $127 million in U.S. box office sales helped push the stock higher as well. The Mickey Mouse creator's recent success has pushed streaming staple Netflix (NFLX) to the wayside though. The stock stumbled earlier this week after Wells Fargo downgraded it to an "underperform" from "market perform."
December Kicks Off With Retail Still in Focus
With Black Friday sales in the rear view, Wall Street will be focusing its attention on Cyber Monday next week, with online sales already eclipsing the traditional post-Thanksgiving shopping event this year. Earnings will continue to roll in too, including reports from AutoZone (AZO), Five Below (FIVE), and RH (RH). Meanwhile, investors will pore over the November jobs report.