The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,157.97 on Monday with a gain of 834.57 points or 2.95%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,550.50 for a gain of 41.06 points or 1.17%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 11,713.78 for a loss of 181.45 points or -1.53%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 25.75 for a gain of 0.89 points or 3.58%.

Monday's Market Movers

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones ended higher Monday after Pfizer (PFE) announced its vaccine trials in partnership with BioNTech (BNTX) were more successful than expected, showing a 90% efficacy rate.

On the earnings calendar:

In last week's lecture for Peking University's Fall 2020 Value Investing Course, Chang Jing used Meituan Dianping (HKSE:3690) as a case study to illustrate the concept of economic moat and the relationship between economic moat and margin of safety.

Meituan Dianping is China's leading e-commerce platform for services. It operates some of the best-known mobile apps in China, including Meituan, Dianping, Meituan Waimai, Mobike and others. Its main mobile app, Meituan, offers over 200 service categories, including catering, on-demand delivery, car-hailing, bike-sharing, hotel and travel booking, movie ticketing and other entertainment and lifestyle services, and covers more than 2500 cities

The revenue per share of the S&P 500 index, which is a benchmark for the U.S. market, has grown at a yearly average rate of 4.1% over the past five years through Dec. 31, 2019. On the tailwind of this, the share price of the index rose by 42% over the past five years through May 26.

Investors may be interested in the following companies as they have outperformed the S&P 500 in terms of a higher five-year revenue per share growth rate. Assuming that growing revenue per share is a catalyst to higher share prices, these stocks possess solid

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 24,597.37 on Monday with a gain of 911.95 points or 3.85%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,953.91 for a gain of 90.21 points or 3.15%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 9,234.83 for a gain of 220.27 points or 2.44%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 29.30 for a loss of 2.59 points or -8.12%.

Monday’s market movers

U.S. stocks reported their third day of gains and started the week higher. The Dow Jones led the day’s gains with a return of 3.85%. Investors were buying quality with the Dow Jones U.S. Select

Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio)’s Weitz Investment Management Inc. sold shares of the following stocks during the first quarter of 2020.

Booking

The firm closed the Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) position. The portfolio was impacted by -2.09%.

The online travel agency has a market cap of $57.75 billion and an enterprise value of $59.55 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 10 out of 10. The return on equity of 60.87% and return on assets of 16.26% are outperforming 98% of companies in the travel and leisure

The travel industry is highly susceptible to economic conditions. When the economy is struggling, fewer people are willing or able to go on big-ticket excursions, and the opposite holds true for economies in the midst of bull markets.

It is undeniable that the Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the travel industry more so than the previous few recessions, which were purely financial in nature. People are even less willing to travel in a recession when doing so will help the spread of a potentially deadly virus that has no known cure or vaccine.

This has driven down the valuations of companies

The Partners III Opportunity Fund’s Institutional Class returned -16.17% in the first quarter of 2020 compared to -19.60% for the S&P 500 (the Fund’s primary benchmark) and -20.90% for the Russell 3000. For the year ending March 31, 2020, the Fund returned -5.83% compared to -6.98% for the S&P 500 and -9.13% for the Russell 3000.

There was extreme volatility in the stock and bond markets during the first quarter of 2020. The COVID-19 crisis has unfolded at an alarming pace, putting the country and much of the world in a kind of economic “time out.” Investors are encouraged to

Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio)'s Baron Funds sold shares of the following stocks during the fourth quarter of 2019.

CoStar Group

The guru reduced the CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP) position by 5.16%. The portfolio was impacted by -0.3%.

The provider of commercial real estate data has a market cap of $26.24 billion and an enterprise value of $24.99 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity of 9.96% and return on assets of 8.92% are outperforming 65% of companies in

Weitz Investment Management leader Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio) disclosed one new position when he released his fourth-quarter 2019 portfolio earlier this week.

When picking stocks, the guru’s Omaha, Nebraska-based firm combines Benjamin Graham’s principles of price sensitivity and insistence on margin of safety with a conviction that qualitative factors that allow the company to control its future can be more important than statistical metrics like book value and earnings.

Based on these criteria, Weitz established a holding in First Hawaiian Inc. (FHB) during the quarter.

First Hawaiian

The guru invested in 160,000 shares of the Honolulu-based bank,

Additionally, we purchased shares of online travel services provider Expedia (EXPE) at roughly 12 times our 2020 free cash flow estimates after the market violently (over)reacted to a soggy near-term outlook and lower-than-expected margins. We think these short-term issues are manageable and applaud Expedia’s willingness to take a long-term view.

From [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Wallace+Weitz]Wallace Weitz[/url] ([url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Wallace+Weitz]Trades[/url], [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Wallace+Weitz]Portfolio[/url])'s Partners III Opportunity Fund fourth-quarter 2019 commentary.

The Hickory Fund returned +6.58% in the fourth quarter compared to +7.06% for the Russell Midcap Index (the Fund’s primary benchmark) and +8.54% for the Russell 2500. For the year, the Hickory Fund returned +36.06% compared to +30.54% for the Russell Midcap and +27.77% for the Russell 2500.

The solid fourth quarter results put the finishing touches on very strong 2019 performance, on both an absolute and relative basis. As might be expected in a highly risk-on or “rising tide” environment, gains were broad-based, as nearly every portfolio holding delivered a positive return. That said, as managers that believe in

TripAdvisor (TRIP) is a leading travel platform. The company’s mission is to help travelers reach the full potential of every trip. Their websites and apps have accumulated more than 830 million reviews and opinions across millions of accommodations (hotels), restaurants and travel experiences (like tours and local activities). As shown below, their user base has continued to grow over the years, with hundreds of millions of unique visitors coming to their properties each month (roughly two-thirds of users accessing TripAdvisor’s properties are doing so from a mobile device).

Five years ago, TripAdvisor was firing

Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) had a bad third quarter. Reporting earnings on Nov. 5, the company narrowly missed analysts’ estimates. The miss was especially embarrassing, since Expedia’s new management team had previously increased their earnings guidance.

According to Expedia, the miss was due to search engine optimization headwinds. However, a look beneath the surface reveals that this clame may not account for everything.

SEO headwinds get the blame

Expedia’s management team tried to place the blame for the poor quarter entirely on the shoulders of SEO. CEO Mark Okerstrom was unequivocal on this point during the company’s

The largest insider buys this week were for Cigna Corp. (CI), Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR), Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (KDP) and Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE).

Cigna director bought 10,200 shares

Director Eric J. Foss bought 10,200 shares on Dec. 3 for an average price of $195.41. The share price has increased by 1.8% since then.

Cigna is an international health services company. Its insurance subsidiaries are major providers of medical, life and disability insurance and related services. The majority of insurance services offered by the company are offered through employers and other groups. The company has a market capitalization of

According to current portfolio statistics, the top four consumer cyclical holdings of Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio)’s Weitz Partners as of the third quarter include CarMax Inc. (KMX), Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA).

As of quarter-end, the consumer cyclical sector represents 9.11% of the $2.43 billion equity portfolio. Despite this, two of Weitz Partners’ three new holdings were from the consumer cyclical sector: Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) and LKQ Corp. (LKQ).

Expedia shares rise on leadership changes

On Wednesday, Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom and Chief Financial Officer Alan

DuPont de Nemours Inc. (DD), Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG), Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) and Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP) have declined to their three-year lows.

DuPont de Nemours declined to $65.83

The price of DuPont de Nemours shares declined to $65.83 on Nov. 22, which is only 4.5% above the three-year low of $62.87.

DuPont de Nemours Inc. is a chemical company that was formed by the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont in 2017. Prior to the spinoff of Dow Inc. and Corteva, the company was the world’s largest chemical company in terms of sales. It is a

Davis Selected Advisors recently disclosed its portfolio updates for the third quarter of 2019. During the quarter, the advisory firm established new positions in Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE), Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) and CyrusOne Inc. (CONE) and sold out of its shares in Liberty Expedia Holdings Inc. (LEXEA), Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) and Futu Holdings Ltd. (FUTU). Major additions to existing positions included Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW), while major reductions included Loews Corp. (L) and Adient PLC (ADNT).

Founded in 1969, Davis Selected Advisors is an employee-owned investment management firm based in

Guru Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio), leader of Weitz Investment Management, released his third-quarter portfolio earlier this week, listing three new positions.

When picking stocks, the investor’s Omaha, Nebraska-based firm combines Benjamin Graham’s price sensitivity and insistence on margin of safety with a conviction that qualitative factors that allow the company to control its destiny can be more important than statistical values like book value and earnings.

Based on these criteria, Weitz established positions in LKQ Corp. (LKQ), Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) and Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) during the quarter.

LKQ

Weitz invested in 750,900 shares of LKQ, dedicating

Expedia (EXPE) recently reported its third-quarter earnings. At a time when stock market indexes have hit their all-time highs, the Bellevue Washington-based online travel company suffered its worst stock price drop in history as it failed to meet earnings expectations.

As a result of increased competition from the world’s largest search engine, Alphabet's Google (GOOGL), other similarly established online travel peers did not escape the market’s dissent as share prices of Booking (BKNG) and Trip Advisors (TRIP) also fell. Expedia identifies the need for higher costs in the short term, but still expects itself to return to

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY), Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE), Nokia Oyj (NOK) and Diamondback Energy Inc. (FANG) have declined to their three-year lows.

Occidental Petroleum declined to $40.10

The price of Occidental Petroleum shares declined to $40.10 on Nov. 8, which is only 4.5% above the three-year low of $38.30.

Occidental is an international oil and gas exploration and production company. The company has operations in the U.S., the Middle East and Latin America and is engaged in petrochemical manufacturing in the U.S., Canada, and Chile. The company was the ninth-largest petroleum producer in Texas in 2018.

Occidental Petroleum has a