The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,437.80 on Wednesday with a gain of 61.97 points or 0.20%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,909.88 for a loss of 1.35 points or-0.03%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 13,972.53 for a loss of 35.16 points or -0.25%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 21.99 for a gain of 0.36 points or 1.66%.

Wednesday's Market Movers

U.S. stocks closed mostly lower for a second day as indexes retreated further from new highs. Investors were watching the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI increased 0.3% in January and 1.4% year over year. The

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,375.83 on Tuesday with a loss of 9.93 points or -0.03%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,911.23 for a loss of 4.36 points or -0.11%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 14,007.70 for a gain of 20.06 points or 0.14%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 21.63 for a gain of 0.39 points or 1.84%.

Tuesday's market movers

U.S. stocks ended mostly lower Tuesday, with the major indexes retreating from record highs. Investors continued to watch stimulus negotiations and impeachment proceedings. In the Senate, leaders debated and voted on whether to move forward

The following was excerpted from our Winter letter to IMA clients.

I have a problem with both growth and value demagogues.

Growth demagogues will argue that valuation is irrelevant for high-growth companies because the price you pay for growth doesn't matter. They usually say this after a very extended move in growth stocks, where these investors look like gods that walk on water. They call value investors "accountants."

The price you pay matters (this is not a new message). As we've discussed in the past, if you bought great, high-growth companies near the end of the Nifty Fifty bubble in

US Markets

U.S. stocks were up on Tuesday morning, with the S&P 500 hitting a record intraday high. The Dow gained 0.09% to 30,986, the S&P 500 index gained 0.07% to 3,858 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.26% to 13,671.

Gainers

• Twitter Inc (TWTR) +6.2%

• Kroger (KR) +3.7%

• Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX) +3.1%

• 3M Co (MMM) +2.8%

• ONEOK Inc (OKE) +0.8%

Losers

• Rockwell Automation Inc (ROK) -5.7%

• Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) -5.3%

• Masco Corp (MAS) -2.8%

• Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) -2.7%

• Xerox Holdings Corp (XRX) -3.4%

• AES

Appaloosa Management, the Florida-based hedge fund founded in 1993 by David Tepper (Trades, Portfolio), has earned an international reputation for producing strong returns among Wall Street investors.

Known for being a distressed-debt specialist, filings show the billionaire guru's firm focuses on "equities and debt of distressed companies, exchange warrants, options, futures notes and junk bonds." Tepper announced in 2019 that he was converting his hedge fund into a family office now that he also owns the Carolina Panthers NFL football team.

As of the end of the third quarter, the communication services sector had the largest representation

Dividend investors, or investors who focus on generating current period income, were hit hard earlier this year as many companies decided to halt or cut back on shareholder distributions due to headwinds related to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, airlines were forced to suspend dividends and stock buybacks under theterms agreed upon with the government in the $25 billion federal payroll support program that provided much-needed funds to the industry a few months ago. A massive hit to earnings was the primary reason behind the decision by many oil companies to reduce dividends.

Real estate investment trusts, or REITs as

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 29,263.48 on Friday with a loss of 219.75 points or -0.75%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,557.54 for a loss of 24.33 points or -0.68%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 11,854.97 for a loss of 49.74 points or -0.42%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 23.60 for a gain of 0.49 points or 2.12%.

For the week, the Nasdaq was down 0.40%, the S&P 500 fell 0.68% and the Dow Jones had a loss of 0.75%. For the year, the Nasdaq has a gain of 32.68%, the S&P 500 is up 10.11%

Greenlight Capital leader David Einhorn (Trades, Portfolio) disclosed his portfolio for the third quarter of 2020 earlier this week.

The well-known activist investor's New York-based firm seeks long-term capital appreciation by taking an approach rooted in emphasizing intrinsic value, investing in companies that have the potential to achieve consistent returns and safeguard capital regardless of market conditions. Einhorn is also known for his short positions, which include Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and Netflix Inc. (NFLX).

During the quarter, Einhorn entered 16 new positions, sold out of four stocks and added to or trimmed a slew of other existing

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,501.60 on Friday with a loss of 157.51 points or -0.59%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,269.96 for a loss of 40.15 points or -1.21%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 10,911.59 for a loss of 274.00 points or -2.45%. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 38.22 with a gain of 0.63 points or 1.68%.

For the week, the S&P 500 was down 5.6%, the Dow Jones was down 6.5% and the Nasdaq was down 5.5%. For the month, the S&P 500 was down 2.8%, the Dow Jones was down 4.6% and the

On Friday, several major technology companies like Apple Inc. (AAPL), Facebook Inc. (FB), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Twitter Inc. (TWTR) and Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)(GOOG) remain overvalued going into November according to the GF Value Line, a GuruFocus-exclusive way to measure a stock's intrinsic value.

The GF Value extends Peter Lynch's earnings line concept by considering three key factors: historical price multiples, an internal adjustment for past returns and future estimates of earnings growth. Based on the comparison between a company's stock price and intrinsic value, GuruFocus labels a stock from significantly undervalued to significantly overvalued. Also, if

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 26,659.11 on Thursday with a gain of 139.16 points or 0.52%. The S&P 500 closed at 3,310.11 for a gain of 39.08 points or 1.19%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 11,185.59 for a gain of 180.72 points or 1.64%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 37.59 for a loss of 2.69 points or -6.68%.

Thursday's market movers

U.S. indexes closed higher Thursday, but are on track for weekly losses after two dramatic selloffs this week. Gross domestic product was the day's top headline along with many earnings reports. GDP increased 33.1% on

US Markets

U.S. stocks were in the green on Wednesday morning. The Dow gained 0.37% to 28,412, the S&P 500 index rose 0.48% to 3,459 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.63% to 11,589.

Gainers

• Twitter Inc (TWTR) +7.8%

• Avery Dennison Corp (AVY) +5.2%

• Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) +2.4%

• Albemarle Corp (ALB) +3.3%

• Carmax Inc (KMX) +0.7%

Losers

• KeyCorp (KEY) -4.7%

• Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY) -2.7%

• Union Pacific Corp (UNP) -2.4%

• Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC) -0.3%

• Valero Energy Corp (VLO) -0.7%

Global Markets

The main European stock markets

US Markets

U.S. stocks were in the green on Wednesday morning after the S&P 500 rose yesterday for the first time in five sessions. Today, Nike (NKE) is pushing the Dow higher after beating Wall Street in earnings and revenue. The Dow advanced 0.55% to 27,437, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.14% to 3,318 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.22% to 10,939.

Gainers

• Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) +4.5%

• CarMax Inc (KMX) +2.4%

• Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) +2.6%

• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) +1.4%

Losers

• Albemarle Corporation (ALB) -8.1%

• Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) -4.3%

US markets

U.S. stocks were in the green on Wednesday, with Apple (AAPL) and Nike (NKE) shares pushing up the Dow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.11% to 25,917, the S&P 500 index jumped 0.20% to 3,151 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.65% to 10,410.

Gainers

• Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) +7.05%

• Lennar Corporation (LEN) +5.3%

• Biogen Inc. (BIIB) +4.5%

• Kohl's Corporation (KSS) +4.4%

Losers

• The Mosaic Company (MOS) -5.6%

• Mohawk Industries, Inc. (MHK) -4.7%

• Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) -4.2%

• Corteva, Inc. (CTVA) -3.6%

Global markets

The main European

Carl Icahn (Trades, Portfolio)’s largest position is a short bet on the U.S. commercial real estate market. In an GuruFoucs article published on March 15, I discussed the possible reasons behind the Guru's decision to bet against an industry that was seemingly poised to benefit in the long run.

Since then, the U.S. economy has entered a recession, and Jonathan Litt, who runs the hedge fund Land & Buildings Investment Management, has decided to short companies that are depending on rental income from New York office properties. This was revealed in a

Facebook Inc. (FB), the largest player in the global social media industry, is one of the few companies that have weathered the recent storm in global capital markets. According to data from GuruFocus, shares are up 5% this year, which is not a bad outcome considering the turmoil in U.S. equity markets that saw shares of some companies shedding more than 50% of their market value.

This performance was fueled by the strong financial performance in the first quarter, but Wall Street analysts are expecting the second quarter to be one of the worst periods in recent memory for Facebook.

Appaloosa LP recently disclosed its portfolio updates for the first quarter of 2020, which ended on March 31.

Founded by David Tepper (Trades, Portfolio) and Jack Walton in 1993, Appaloosa is a New Jersey-based limited partnership hedge fund that specializes in distressed debt. The firm invests in public equity and fixed-income markets around the world and is famous for earning some of the highest returns on Wall Street since its founding. In terms of equity holdings, the firm invests in a small number of companies that are typically large-cap and hold strong competitive advantages.

Based on its

In February, a federal judge temporarily blocked Microsoft (MSFT) from working on a $10 billion cloud services contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), which it was initially awarded in October 2019.

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract is a cloud computing contract meant to modernize the Pentagon. The contract is estimated to be worth up to $10 billion and will last approximately 10 years.

The block came after a lawsuit from Amazon.com (AMZN)’s web services arm, which alleged that the contract was awarded to Microsoft only because President Donald Trump dislikes Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

After a

Last May, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A)(BRK.B) revealed a position in Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) for the first time. Considering the rich earnings multiples the e-commerce giant was trading around at that time, many value investors were perplexed by this decision and wanted answers from Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio). The guru, in an interview with CNBC, said the decision was not made by him but another one of his managers. However, commenting further on the company, Buffett said:

“Amazon has far surpassed anything I would have dreamt could have been done. Because if I really