Dow Jones futures edged higher on Christmas Day, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. The stock market rally is holding near record highs. Overall holiday sales were solid, thanks to booming e-commerce. Instead of hitting the malls or your phone for after-Christmas sales, consider these five Santa Claus rally stocks near buy points: Shopify (SHOP), Target (TGT), Mastercard (MA), Burlington Stores (BURL) and JD.com (JD.com).
Target stock, Mastercard stock and JD.com stock are just above buy points. Shopify stock and Burlington Stores stock are on the cusp of breakouts.
Burlington Stores stock has a 98 IBD Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Mastercard stock has a 96 Composite Rating with Target stock at 95. JD.com stock has an 89 Composite Rating, though it boasts a 99 EPS Rating. Shopify stock lags at a 76 Composite Rating.
Mastercard stock is on IBD Leaderboard, while Shopify stock is on the Leaderboard watchlist.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures rose 0.1% vs. fair value, along with S&P 500 futures. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.1%. Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Holiday Sales
U.S. retail sales excluding autos rose 3.4% from Nov. 1-Dec. 24, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. That’s despite six fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas vs. last year. Online sales surged 18.8%, accounting for 14.6% of total sales. In-store sales grew 1.2% this holiday season.
Current Stock Market Rally
The current stock market rally had a quiet half-day Christmas Eve session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% on Tuesday while the S&P 500 index edged lower. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.1%.
Among the best ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) rose 0.1%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) edged lower. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) climbed 0.3%.
The Dow Jones today is holding at record highs, along with the overall stock market rally. Sideways actions or a modest pullback could be healthy, with the major indexes extended somewhat from their 50-day moving averages.
Shopify Stock
Shopify stock rose 2.6% to 399.39 on Tuesday, moving toward a 409.71 buy point from a cup base, according to Marketsmith. If shares can hold in their range for one more session, they would form a handle with a slightly lower 404.90 entry. So far there isn’t too much of a shakeout, however.
Shopify stock already cleared a 349.54 buy point on Dec. 3.
The relative strength line for Shopify stock still has some distance from retaking its late August peak, but has been rebounding since early November.
The EPS Rating for Shopify stock is a woeful 28, reflecting a surprise third-quarter loss. But the growth story remain intact, with Shopify earnings expected to soar 384% in 2020 after a 50% fall in 2019.
Shopify stock was one of the true leaders of the 2019 stock market rally. So if and when it does break out to a new high, it would be significant.
Target Stock
Target stock rose 6 cents to 128.40 on Christmas Eve, just above a 128.07 buy point from a tight consolidation. Shares had gapped up 14% on Nov. 20%. It was the third straight time that Target stock had gapped up on earnings, and with good reason. Target earnings growth has accelerated for the past three quarters.
One issue with the latest move into buy range is that Target stock just nudged past the entry point. In recent months, the bulk of Target stock gains have come on the earnings day and perhaps the next several days, followed by several weeks of sideways action.
Mastercard Stock
Mastercard stock edged up 0.1% to 297.48 on Tuesday. Shares are trading just above a 293.79 since a Dec. 13 breakout from a flat base. The longtime leader is one of several payment stocks in buy range, including archrival Visa (V).
Burlington Stores Stock
Burlington Stores stock climbed 1.55% to 227.76 on Tuesday, not far from a 230.06 buy point from a four-weeks-tight pattern. Shares gapped up on Nov. 26, the third straight time that Burlington Stores gapped up on earnings.
JD.com Stock
JD.com stock edged up 0.1% to 36.28. A day earlier, JD.com stock broke out past a 35.53 buy point from flat base. The RS line for JD.com stock is at a 16-month high. JD.com was Monday’s IBD Stock Of The Day.
