It was an intriguing day for the Dow Industrial Average (DJIA), which essentially closed unchanged, following the trajectory of Boeing (BA) after it popped at the start of trading, only to stumble on news of zero aircraft orders and only 13 deliveries last month. Microsoft (MSFT) also pressured the Big Board as big Tech names were sideswiped by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which announced an investigation of up to 400 smaller rivals over the past ten years, including:

• Microsoft
• Amazon
• Google
• Facebook
• Apple

It’s a compelling move during an election year, where many candidates have promised to undo big acquisitions, such as Facebook’s (FB) purchase of Instagram. Imagine trying to unwind smaller deals from a decade ago. That would be a nightmare. There is no doubt the sharks have been circling these names for some time, but I have mostly felt it was all a part of international shakedown efforts, with governments grabbing big chunks of cash with antitrust action.

Broad Market Pulse

S&P 500

The Dow Jones is only thirty stocks, and nowhere near a representative of the overall stock market as it’s missing entire sectors. The S&P 500, on the other hand, is wider and more encompassing. Yesterday, the index finished at a record high, along with the NASDAQ Composite.

• 8 sectors higher
• 3 sectors lower

NYSE

• 2,203 advancing issues
• 918 declining issues
• 345 new highs
• 45 new lows
• 2.6 billion up volume
• 1.1 billion down volume

NASDAQ

• 2,041 advancing issues
• 1,167 declining issues
• 256 new highs
• 57 new lows
• 1.4 billion up volume
• 945 million down volume

Workers on the Move

The so-called JOLTs report saw a sharp decline in job openings, but the 6.42 million is still higher than the 5.9 million Americans currently unemployed. Moreover, we are seeing a steady movement in ‘quits,’ which are higher now than a year ago at 3.49 million. I suspect this will translate into higher wage growth.

Portfolio Approach        

We added two positions in our model portfolio and edged closer to perhaps taking profits on two additional long ideas.  If you are not currently a subscriber to Hotline service, contact your account representative or email research@wstreet.com to get started today.