Dow Jones Falls, Nasdaq Turns Positive; Microsoft, Apple In Buy Zones Ahead Of Earnings - Investor's Business Daily

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined modestly in today's stock market, while the Nasdaq composite turned positive from earlier lows of the day, up around 0.4% in afternoon trading.

The market cooled off this week ahead of a slew of major earnings reports from companies such as Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Facebook (FB).

The Nasdaq composite was up 0.4% and the Dow held a modest decline of 0.3%.

The company maintains mixed IBD Ratings, with a strong EPS Rating of 93, a Composite Rating of 80 and an unimpressive RS Rating of 44.

Two leading growth stocks from the MarketSmith Growth 250 list broke out on Monday.

Computer software company and recent IPO stock Palantir (PLTR) broke out past a consolidation buy point of 33.60.

The maker of software for institutions to protect personal privacy has a less-than-ideal Composite Rating of 60 but a very healthy RS Rating at 98, indicating strong outperformance.

That puts Palantir in the top 2% of stocks for market performance over the past 12 months.

The company has strong IBD Ratings, with a 92 Composite and a 97 RS Rating.

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