Diamonds and Dogs

5/16/19

Two Dow components lifting the major averages. Cisco Systems (CSCO) is jumping 7% after beating earnings estimates as sale rose 4% to $12.96 billion. The company also gave inline guidance, but is seeing strong demand for its new switching products to take advantage of software enhancements along with demand for the transition to faster 5G networks. Walmart (WMT) is up 2% following better than expected earnings. Walmart continues to spend money to compete and match Amazon's offerings. Walmart's U.S. eCommerce grew sales by 37% reflecting strong growth in online grocery, as well as the Home and Fashion categories on Walmart.com.

Semiconductor sector taking a hit on more trade tariff tensions. The Commerce Department said it was adding Huawei and 70 affiliates to its "Entity List," which bars them from buying components and technology from U.S. firms without government approval. Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have long feared Huawei's equipment could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans. However, it's the US chip stocks that are taking a hit. Qualcomm is down 4%, Micron (MU) is down 3%, Analog Devices is down 3% and Broadcom is down 2.5%.