Midterm elections historically lead to stock market rallies, regardless of the results. Wednesday was no exception when there was a late-day rally in marijuana stocks adding icing to the cake.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +2.13% rose 545 points, or 2.1%, to close at 26,180.30. The S&P 500 Index SPX, +2.12% was up 2.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +2.64% added 2.6%.
A split in party control of the two houses of Congress tends to cheer investors.
The resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions — at President Trump’s request — added fuel to the broad rally and helped stretch a seven-day rally for marijuana stocks. It’s too early, of course, to consider whether Trump’s eventually nominee to replace Sessions will share the outgoing AG’s opinion that legalizing the recreational use of cannabis is a bad idea. The ETFMG Alternative Harvest exchange-traded fund MJ, +7.06% rose 7.1%, while the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF HMMJ, +8.13% was up 8.1%. Shares of Aurora Cannabis ACB, +9.19% ended the day 9% higher, while Tilray TLRY, +30.64% was up 31%, and Cronos Group CRON, +8.40% rose 8.4%.
All stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up on Wednesday, except for Procter & Gamble PG, -0.24%
Company Ticker Price change - Nov. 7 Price change - November Price change - October Price change - 2018 through Nov. 7 Price change - 2017 Caterpillar Inc. CAT, +4.46% 4.5% 11.4% -20.4% -14.3% 69.9% UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, +4.21% 4.2% 5.1% -1.8% 24.6% 37.8% Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +3.94% 3.9% 4.8% -6.6% 30.9% 37.7% Pfizer Inc. PFE, +3.23% 3.2% 3.1% -2.3% 22.6% 11.5% DowDuPont Inc. DWDP, +3.12% 3.1% 11.0% -16.2% -16.0% 24.5% Intel Corp. INTC, +3.11% 3.1% 3.9% -0.9% 5.5% 27.3% 3M Co. MMM, +3.07% 3.1% 5.8% -9.7% -14.5% 31.8% Apple Inc. AAPL, +3.03% 3.0% -4.1% -3.0% 24.1% 46.1% Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO, +3.01% 3.0% 4.7% -6.0% 25.1% 26.7% Home Depot Inc. HD, +2.87% 2.9% 6.5% -15.1% -1.2% 41.4% Visa Inc. Class A V, +2.83% 2.8% 5.0% -8.2% 27.0% 46.1% Merck & Co. Inc. MRK, +2.41% 2.4% 2.0% 3.8% 33.4% -4.4% American Express Co. AXP, +2.22% 2.2% 4.5% -3.5% 8.1% 34.1% United Technologies Corp. UTX, +2.04% 2.0% 5.1% -11.2% 2.3% 16.4% Nike Inc. Class B NKE, +1.83% 1.8% 3.9% -11.4% 24.7% 23.1% JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, +1.72% 1.7% 2.3% -3.4% 4.2% 23.9% Chevron Corp. CVX, +1.66% 1.7% 8.3% -8.7% -3.5% 6.4% Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. WBA, +1.63% 1.6% 2.7% 9.4% 12.8% -12.3% Johnson & Johnson JNJ, +1.53% 1.5% 3.4% 1.3% 3.6% 21.3% Boeing Co. BA, +1.51% 1.5% 4.8% -4.6% 26.1% 89.4% International Business Machines Corp. IBM, +1.40% 1.4% 8.2% -23.7% -18.6% -7.6% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +1.35% 1.3% 2.6% 0.5% -9.2% 6.4% Travelers Cos. Inc. TRV, +1.31% 1.3% 4.1% -3.5% -4.0% 10.8% Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, +1.27% 1.3% 4.2% -6.3% -0.7% -7.3% Walmart Inc. WMT, +0.96% 1.0% 4.0% 6.8% 5.6% 42.9% McDonald's Corp. MCD, +0.84% 0.8% 4.2% 5.7% 7.0% 41.4% Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, +0.77% 0.8% 1.0% 6.9% 8.9% -0.8% Coca-Cola Co. KO, +0.53% 0.5% 3.1% 3.7% 7.6% 10.7% Walt Disney Co. DIS, +0.29% 0.3% 1.9% -1.8% 8.9% 3.2% Procter & Gamble Co. PG, -0.24% -0.2% 2.9% 6.5% -0.6% 9.3% Source: FactSet
You can click the tickers for more about each company, including news, profiles, charts, price ratios and financials.
Here are the day’s 10 best-performing stocks among the S&P 500:
Company Ticker Price change - Nov. 7 Price change - November Price change - October Price change - 2018 through Nov. 7 Price change - 2017 Cimarex Energy Co. XEC, +12.07% 12.1% 17.3% -14.5% -23.6% -10.2% DaVita Inc. DVA, +9.86% 9.9% 13.0% -6.0% 5.3% 12.5% Centene Corp. CNC, +9.23% 9.2% 9.7% -10.0% 41.7% 78.5% Pioneer Natural Resources Co. PXD, +8.88% 8.9% 9.8% -15.5% -6.4% -4.0% WellCare Health Plans Inc. WCG, +7.30% 7.3% -0.3% -13.9% 36.8% 46.7% Align Technology Inc. ALGN, +6.95% 6.9% 10.9% -43.5% 10.4% 131.1% Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +6.86% 6.9% 9.9% -20.2% 50.1% 56.0% Humana Inc. HUM, +6.68% 6.7% 10.5% -5.3% 42.7% 21.6% Anthem Inc. ANTM, +6.59% 6.6% 5.2% 0.6% 28.9% 56.5% Illumina Inc. ILMN, +6.18% 6.2% 10.1% -15.2% 56.8% 70.6% Source: FactSet
Here are the top 10 performers on Wednesday in the Nasdaq 100 NDX, +3.07%
Company Ticker Price change - Nov. 7 Price change - November Price change - October Price change - 2018 through Nov. 7 Price change - 2017 Align Technology Inc. ALGN, +6.95% 6.9% 10.9% -43.5% 10.4% 131.1% Workday Inc. Class A WDAY, +6.86% 6.9% 8.4% -8.9% 41.8% 53.9% Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +6.86% 6.9% 9.9% -20.2% 50.1% 56.0% Illumina Inc. ILMN, +6.18% 6.2% 10.1% -15.2% 56.8% 70.6% Netflix Inc. NFLX, +5.36% 5.4% 8.5% -19.3% 70.6% 55.1% Adobe Inc. ADBE, +5.35% 5.4% 3.1% -9.0% 44.6% 70.2% American Airlines Group Inc. AAL, +5.12% 5.1% 5.4% -15.1% -28.9% 11.4% Intuitive Surgical Inc. ISRG, +5.00% 5.0% 4.7% -9.2% 49.5% 72.6% Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. VRTX, +4.94% 4.9% 8.5% -12.1% 22.7% 103.4% Henry Schein Inc. HSIC, +4.57% 4.6% 5.2% -2.4% 25.0% -7.9% Source: FactSet
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