It was a relatively quiet week for both U.S. and global stock markets despite several major indexes closing at new highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded flat, rising a mere 0.07%, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.72%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq recovered 0.88%, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.69%.
Among your Smart Money Masters holdings, Markel Corp (MKL) recovered 3.85%, breaching the $1,000 level for the first time. Kraft Heinz (KHC) rose 2.13%. Your most recent recommendation, Priceline Group (PCLN), jumped 2.06% and is now up a solid 3.46% since I recommended it just two weeks ago. Five other positions rose by at least 1% as well.
Priceline closed at a new record high yesterday. The online travel booking company is busy boosting its share of home-rentals because it wants visitors to have as many options as possible — while still grabbing part of a market that is projected to grow 8% in 2017 to $34 billion.
Priceline’s Booking.com has revved its home-rental inventory to 2.5 million listings in the last year to mark a 50% increase.
All of this means that Priceline has plenty of growth left ahead of it. You can look forward to steady gains in the months ahead.
On a personal note, I saw Priceline spokesman “Captain Kirk” William Shatner last week at my colleague Mark Skousen’s FreedomFest conference in Las Vegas. Shatner certainly looks very spry for an 86 year old!
Portfolio Update
Kraft Heinz (KHC), Costco (COST) and BlackBerry (BBRY) remain below their 50-day moving averages (MA) and are currently HOLDs.
Four of your positions. PayPal Holdings (PYPL), Restaurant Brands International (QSR), BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) and Baxter International (BAX) all boast double-digit-percentage gains.
Raise your stop in PayPal Holdings (PYPL) to $52 to lock in at least a 27% gain.
Sincerely,
Nicholas A. Vardy
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