Stock Market Today: Winter Storm Boosts Energy Sector, But Stocks Finish Mixed
Oil and natural gas prices surged Tuesday as Winter Storm Uri pounded the nation, sending power demand higher and impacting energy supplies.
![Pike Electric service trucks line up after a snow storm on Feb. 16, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/K3BRLmh9JebUnxVhqAyav4-415-80.jpg)
The major indices looked like they were ready to go after the long holiday weekend, and they did at the open. Unfortunately, many stocks couldn’t sustain that buzz all day.
A massive winter storm has wreaked havoc on Texas's power grid, leaving millions without electricity, and impacting the state's pipelines and refineries. The resultant spike in demand as well as the disturbance in supplies sent oil and natural gas prices higher; U.S. crude oil futures jumped a full 1% to $60.05 per barrel. Energy names such as Exxon Mobil (XOM, +3.0%) and ConocoPhillips (COP, +3.6%) helped lead the sector forward.
The rest of the stock market was a much more mixed affair.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hwgJ7osrMtUWhk5koeVme7-200-80.png](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hwgJ7osrMtUWhk5koeVme7-320-80.png)
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.2% to a record 31,522) managed to finish in the black, albeit off its highs for the day, thanks to strong performances from Salesforce.com (CRM, +3.4%) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, +2.4%). But the S&P 500 weakened throughout the day and closed with a marginal loss to 3,932, and the Nasdaq Composite also went green-to-red, finishing 0.3% lower to 14,047.
Other action in the stock market today:
- The small-cap Russell 2000 drooped 0.7% to 2,272.
- Gold futures settled 1.3% lower to $1,799.00 per ounce.
- Bitcoin prices briefly surpassed the $50,000 mark on Tuesday before dipping back to $48,783. That was still 2.4% better than its price of $47,622 on Friday. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.)
Turn Short-Term Pain Into Long-Term Gain
The market very well could be running out of gas. Tony Dwyer, analyst at Canaccord Genuity, says "We still believe the market is ripe for a pullback" amid high valuations, overbought chart indicators and historically sky-high sentiment (which incidentally can be a bearish signal).
Fortunately, these are mostly short-term concerns in what appears to be a favorable longer-term setup.
"The Fed is focused on obtaining sustainably higher inflation, money availability remains historic, the economy is just in the beginning of a long-duration recovery, consensus EPS forecasts are too conservative, and like 2010, any valuation contraction should be a result of a sharp EPS ramp rather than something more onerous," Dwyer adds.
The prevailing wisdom in such an environment is to buy dips, as they're expected to be temporary. But what dips should investors buy?
These S&P 500 stocks would have more appeal with a major reduction in price. But in the event that we don't get drastic pullbacks, simply look for slightly better prices for the highest-quality stocks on your wishlist. Perhaps that's the picks espoused by Warren Buffett, whose latest changes to the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) portfolio will be revealed this evening (check back here later tonight for full updates).
Or it might be the 21 picks hand-selected by several of us here at Kiplinger, as well as some of Wall Street's top fund managers. Most of these picks appear to have plenty more room to run in 2021 – and a quick market dip would make them all the more attractive.
Disclaimer
Kyle Woodley was long CRM and Bitcoin as of this writing.
Get Kiplinger Today newsletter — free
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.
Kyle Woodley is the Editor-in-Chief of WealthUp, a site dedicated to improving the personal finances and financial literacy of people of all ages. He also writes the weekly The Weekend Tea newsletter, which covers both news and analysis about spending, saving, investing, the economy and more.
Kyle was previously the Senior Investing Editor for Kiplinger.com, and the Managing Editor for InvestorPlace.com before that. His work has appeared in several outlets, including Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Barchart, The Globe & Mail and the Nasdaq. He also has appeared as a guest on Fox Business Network and Money Radio, among other shows and podcasts, and he has been quoted in several outlets, including MarketWatch, Vice and Univision. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a BA in journalism.
You can check out his thoughts on the markets (and more) at @KyleWoodley.
-
Try the 6 to 1 Grocery Shopping Method to Save Time and Money
The 6 to 1 Grocery Method can help you save money, reduce waste and eat healthier.
By Erin Bendig Published
-
Ford Stock Plunges on Earnings Miss: What to Know
Ford stock is down big Thursday after the automaker fell short of earnings expectations for its second quarter. Here's what you need to know.
By Joey Solitro Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Tumble on Disappointing Big Tech Earnings
Poorly received quarterly results from Alphabet and Tesla sparked a steep selloff in equities.
By Dan Burrows Last updated
-
Stock Market Today: Mega-Cap Tech Rallies to Drag Markets Higher
Markets focused on upcoming earnings from Magnificent 7 stocks rather than chaos in D.C.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Tumble After Spectacular Global Internet Crash
Market participants rushed out of risk assets to end a wild week of trading.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Sinks 533 Points as Big Banks, Mega Caps Slump
Goldman Sachs and Apple were two of the worst-performing blue chip stocks on Thursday.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Semis Get Slammed and Blue Chips Bounce
The potential for more curbs on tech sales to China set off a rotation into blue chips.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Spikes 742 Points After UnitedHealth Earnings
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also scored wins Tuesday albeit with much smaller gains than the blue chip Dow.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Adds 210 Points as Apple, Goldman Hit New Highs
A big rally in blue chips and some dovish Fed speak boosted the equities market Monday.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Bounce Back on Rate-Cut Optimism
The latest readings on consumer sentiment and inflation helped lift the odds of the Fed easing in September.
By Dan Burrows Published