Why SolarCity, Expedia, Petrobras, and Two Other Stocks Are on the Move Today

It’s been a pretty good Monday on Wall Street. The Dow Jones index is up 180 points, while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ are each 1% higher due to the lower odds of a ‘Brexit’ on Thursday.

Among the stocks on the move today are Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX), SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY), Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (ADR) (NYSE:PBR), Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR). Let’s take a closer look at why traders are buying and selling and see what elite funds think of each stock.

We believe that imitating hedge funds and other large institutional investors can be helpful in identifying stocks capable of outperforming the broader market. Through extensive research that covered portfolios of several hundred large investors between 1999 and 2012, we determined that following the small-cap stocks that large money managers are collectively bullish on, can generate monthly returns nearly 1.0 percentage points above the market (see the details here).

ermess/Shutterstock.com

Barrick Gold Down Due to Lower Gold Prices

Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) shares are almost 3% lower today due to several polls canvassed over Friday and the weekend that showed more Britons favor remaining in the EU than leaving. If Britain stays in the EU, the odds of an economic recession in Europe are lower and the demand for gold as a safe haven will not be quite as much. Not surprisingly, gold spot prices are off by around half a percent today and are below the 1,300 level. Among the funds tracked by us, 49 funds were long Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) at the end of the first quarter, up by nine funds from the previous quarter.

SolarCity Higher Despite Analyst Downgrade

Although analysts at Barclays downgraded SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) stock to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’ and lowered their price target to $28 from $35, shares of the solar installer are nevertheless almost 5% higher due to the ‘risk on’ sentiment caused by the latest ‘Brexit’ polls. Many traders have largely brushed off the Barclays analysts’ notes that weaker consumer credit and higher interest rates could hurt SolarCity’s profits, and the traders have instead focused on SolarCity’s long-term potential. The number of funds from our database with holdings in SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ:SCTY) fell by six quarter-over-quarter to 23 at the end of March.

On the next page, we examine Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras, Expedia, and Avis Budget Group.