U.S. stock markets rallied sharply over the past two days, with the Nasdaq breaking out to the upside to hit a new high.
The Dow Jones gained 1.91%, the S&P 500 rose by 2.00% and the Nasdaq jumped 3.44%. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index recovered 2.94%.
Your Smart Money Masters’ holdings enjoyed a positive week, as well. BlackBerry Ltd. (BBRY) rose 5.27%, Liberty Broadband (LBRDK) jumped 4.63%, Paypal Holdings (PYPL) gained 3.76% and Restaurant Brands International (QSR) ended the week 3.19% higher.
All of your current positions, except for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) and Navigator Holdings (NVGS), are trading above their 50-day moving averages and therefore are BUYS.
The big news this week among your Smart Money Masters’ holdings is with Charlie Munger’s favorite stock, Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST).
Yesterday, Costco announced that it plans to return $3.1 billion to shareholders through the payment of a special dividend. The company will pay a huge $7-per-share special dividend on May 26. This sum is in addition to a regular quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share the company declared yesterday.
This big cash windfall highlights Costco’s status as a standout in the otherwise suffering U.S. retail sector. Even as many outlets are suffering from the acceleration of online shopping and a glut of physical stores, Costco’s U.S. same-store sales jumped 6% in March. That was almost double the 3.1% gain analysts had projected.
The special dividend also confirms Costco’s laser focus on maximizing shareholder returns.
Portfolio Update
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) will report first-quarter 2017 earnings on April 26 after the bell.
Markel Corporation (MKL) will report earnings on April 26 before the market opens. The report will be for the fiscal quarter ending March 2017.
You can read a bullish story on Navigator Holdings in Forbes magazine this week by clicking here.
Sincerely,
Nicholas A. Vardy
