Bed Bath & Beyond Continues to Soar as Entrepreneur Index™ Nears an All-Time High Bed Bath & Beyond was up 4.32 percent today -- the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™ for the second consecutive day.
By Andrew Osterland •
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Investors' faith in the U.S. economy was momentarily restored by good March job growth numbers released by the Bureau of Labor this morning. The major stock indexes posted moderate gains on the day.
The economy created 196,000 new jobs in March. That's far stronger then the revised 33,000 added in February and more than 10 percent above estimates. What's more, wage growth ticked down 20 basis points to 3.2 percent.
The Goldilocks economy argument is shaping up nicely. The environment is not so hot as to stoke inflation and prompt more interest rate hikes by the Fed, and not so cold as to cause a corporate earnings recession. If investors can stomach much lower earnings growth when companies begin reporting first quarter results next week, the major stock indexes could set new highs this month.
The Entrepreneur Index™, up 0.53 percent today, is within a percentage point of its all-time high set last August.
Bed Bath & Beyond continued its remarkable run this year. The stock was up 4.32 percent today -- the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™ for the second consecutive day. Its return so far this year is a heady 62 percent. The shares got an upgrade to market weight from a Morgan Stanley analyst who thinks the activist investors who plan to replace the company's board could bring positive change to the struggling retailer. The company is expected to see sales drop by ten percent in the first quarter.
Hess Corp. was also up sharply today, rising 3.7 percent. The price of oil rose 1.87 percent and settled well above $63 per barrel. It was the fifth straight week of gains for the commodity and it is now trading at five-month highs. Hess, one of the bigger shale oil producers in the U.S., is up 55.5 percent this year.
Tesla shares rebounded from a more than eight percent drop yesterday, rising 2.68 percent. Tesla's first quarter vehicle deliveries disappointed badly yesterday. On a positive note, a judge's decision yesterday to force the Securities and Exchange Commission and CEO Elon Musk to resolve their dispute out of court probably means the mercurial leader isn't in danger of losing his job. Tesla shares are down 17.4 percent this year.
The technology sector was quiet today with NVIDIA Corp. (1.43 percent) and TripAdvisor Inc. (-1.49 percent) the only two stocks in the sector to move by more than one percent in either direction.
Homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc. (1.73 percent) and asset manager Franklin Resources (1.29 percent) also posted notable gains today.
Gap Inc. and L Brands gave back some of the healthy gains they posted yesterday. Gap, up 2.34 percent yesterday, was down 1.83 percent today -- the biggest decline on the Entrepreneur Index™. L Brands was down 0.94 percent today after a 2.74 percent gain yesterday. Under Armour Inc. was also down 0.82 percent.
The Entrepreneur Index™ collects the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time on Entrepreneur.com.
