The stock market rout the past week took its toll on top growth stocks. After a wild week of price action, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is set to close down nearly 4%. Among companies on the Stock Spotlight list, Planet Fitness (PLNT) and Wendy's (WEN) were showing strength, while IPO stock Yeti (YETI) plunged after earnings, triggering a sell signal.
The Nasdaq plunged Friday amid surging oil prices and a weaker-than-expected jobs report before the stock market open.
The stock market rout on Tuesday downshifted the market trend to "Uptrend under pressure," according to the IBD Big Picture. Investors should be mostly avoiding new purchases amid the strong institutional selling in the major stock indexes. Focus on stocks whose relative strength lines are hitting new highs; those stocks are holding up the best amid the stock market volatility.
These 2 Top Stocks Have Strong RS lines
Planet Fitness hit a new high Tuesday, but ended the trading session with a bearish downside reversal. Shares are about 7% off their 52-week high.
On Nov. 7, the gym owner and operator surged to all-time highs after strong quarterly earnings results. But the consolidation was too short to be a proper base. Shares have risen from a pullback to the 10-week moving average.
Meanwhile, the stock's relative strength line is holding near highs, signifying strong market outperformance. The RS line measures a stock's price performance vs. the general market. It is painted in blue ink on every IBD daily and weekly stock chart.
Wendy's was featured in the Stock Spotlight column on Nov. 27, as the hamburger chain neared an 18.78 cup-shaped base entry. Now, the top restaurant stock is adding a handle to the base formation, reducing the buy point to 18.36.
The stock's RS line is holding near highs, as the stock looks for support at its nearly conjoined 50- and 200-day moving average lines.
This IPO Stock Triggered A Sell Signal
Yeti earlier showed tremendous potential when it broke out past an IPO base's 17.55 buy point. At its Nov. 29 peak price, the stock briefly gained as much as 22% from the buy point on strong earnings results. But those gains were fleeting. By the end of the trading session, the retail stock reversed lower to plunge 16%.
Investors could have cut their position when the stock gave back the entirety of the breakout gain on that day. A key IBD rule is to never let a double-digit gain turn into a loss.
The Stock Spotlight is a daily list of high-quality stocks that may be getting ready to break out.
