Top stocks & April jobs 🚀

The market rebounded from its mid-week swoon with a modest rally on Thursday. The Nasdaq and Russ2K outperformed, with the S&P 500 and Dow trailing close behind.

Dow [+0.8%]
S&P 500 [+0.9%]
Nasdaq [+1.5%]
Russell 2K [+1.8%]

Future are up again in early trading. S&P 500 contracts are currently sitting on a 0.4% gain.

The April jobs report is the biggest item on Friday’s calendar, and it will likely steer the trading action in today’s session. Median forecasts predict the U.S. added 240,000 jobs in April after adding 303,000 the previous month. After this week’s Fed Statement, we could see the market react positively to less-than-favorable results because a miss could encourage the Fed to cut rates sooner.

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Today’s job report is anticipated to reveal that hiring maintained a strong pace in April, although investors will be on the lookout for any signs of weakness that might influence the Federal Reserve's decisions. The consensus from Dow Jones predicts that nonfarm payrolls will have increased by 240,000 in April, with the unemployment rate expected to remain stable at 3.8%.

Federal Reserve Policy 🏦
While the predicted job growth for April is slightly less than the 276,000 monthly average seen in 2024, it still points to a robust labor market. This continued strength could make the Federal Reserve hesitant to cut interest rates, especially with inflation persisting above the 2% target.

Sectors Showing Growth 📈
Significant job additions have been noted in the health care and leisure and hospitality sectors, which have been major areas of employment growth this year. Health care has added roughly 240,000 jobs, while leisure and hospitality has contributed 89,000 jobs so far.

Looking Ahead 🔮
As the year progresses, job growth is expected to broaden into sectors such as education, manufacturing, and warehousing. This shift typically aligns with seasonal trends, as educators seek summer employment opportunities and students enter the job market for summer work.

Labor Trends 🛠️
Friday's report will be closely scrutinized for its implications on future economic policies and market directions, particularly how it might influence the Federal Reserve's approach to managing inflation and interest rates amidst ongoing economic recovery.

Amgen [AMGN] - Last Close: $278.39

Amgen reported its Q1 earnings this morning, and the results have topped Wall Street’s expectations.

AMGN reported EPS of $3.96 per diluted share against the $3.89 consensus, and revenues grew 21% YoY to $7.45 billion, in line with the Street’s estimate.

The company also adjusted its full-year guidance in light of the strong quarter.
AMGN is up 12.8% on roughly 200K shares traded.

My Take: AMGN sold off in early February and it’s been struggling ever since. However, its recent progress could indicate that the drawdown has bottomed out.

El Pollo Loco [LOCO] - Last Close: $8.60

Restaurant franchise El Pollo Loco posted a double-line beat on its Q1 financial report in Thursday’s after-market, and shares are breaking out as a result.

LOCO reported EPS of $0.22 against the $0.14 consensus. Revenues of $116.153 million also topped analysts’ $111.083 million estimate.

LOCO is up 21.1%, but volume is very low at less than 100K shares traded.

My Take: LOCO had a good quarter, but this is a low-volume move so approach with caution.

Helius Medical [HSDT] - Last Close: $2.66

This micro-flat healthcare supplies stock is surging in a move that has many of the characteristics typically associated with a short squeeze.

HSDT suffered a 26.1% decline on Thursday, and it’s now down 61.6% over the past month.

As of April 15th, HSDT shows a short percentage of 8.2%. Given the stocks recent sell-off, the number has likely increased over the past two weeks.

HSDT is leading the premarket with a 53.0% gain on roughly 5 million shares traded.

My Take: It appears HSDT’s pullback may have been overdone, but I would like to see some more consistent increases in volume before I jump into this one.

WideOpenWest [WOW] - Last Close: $3.79

This high-speed internet provider has received a preliminary acquisition proposal from entities associated with Crestview.

Crestview’s group of investors have proposed to acquire all shares they don’t already own for $4.80 apiece in cash, a 26% premium to WOW’s last close.

WideOpenWest’s board will form a committee to evaluate the proposal.

WOW is up 22.3% on 400K shares traded.

My Take: WOW has already closed the gap between its last close and this acquisition offer, so all I see in this trade is downside risk at this point.

Gainers
Healthcare Triangle [HCTI] >> +43.0%
Vaxxanity [VAXX] >> +36.3%
Phoenix Motor [PEV] >> +22.4%

Decliners
Eupraxia Pharma [EPRX] >> (60.3%)
Aeon Biopharma [AEON] >> (56.2%)
Sprout Social [SPT] >> (30.4%)

The Hershey [HSY] ... AM
Cheniere Energy [LNG] ... AM
CBRE Group [CBRE] ... AM
Cboe Global Markets [CBOE] ... AM
Corebridge Financial [CRBG] ... AM
Trimble [TRMB] ... AM
XPO [XPO] ... AM
Plains All American Pipeline [PAA] ... AM
nVent Electric [NVT] ... AM
Fluor [FLR] ... AM

U.S. employment report [Apr] ... 8:30a
ISM services [Apr] ... 10:00a