The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain but the other major indexes plunged right at the close Monday as President Donald Trump said tariffs would proceed against Canada and Mexico. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway cleared a buy point while famed fund manager Cathie Wood loaded up on a diving stock. And Palantir Technologies was mauled by the bears on the stock market today.
Indexes made a feeble attempt to bounce back following Friday's shellacking. The Dow industrials fared best, but only posted a meager gain of 33 points, or less than 0.1%. Bill Ackman stock Nike topped the list as it rallied 5% after Jefferies upgraded it from a hold to a buy rating. Coca-Cola was leaving a bad taste in investors' mouths as it fell 1%.
The Nasdaq composite was hit hardest as it fell 1.2%. The tech-heavy index undercut its 50-day moving average last week and was losing more ground on the key benchmark.
Grail, a recent initial public offering, was a top performer on the Nasdaq, surging more than 11%. Temu parent PDD continued to lag in heading into the close as it fell nearly 9%.
Stock Market Today: IBD 50 Lags Back, Volume Slips
The benchmark S&P 500 saw gains evaporate as it lost 0.5%. Walgreens Boots Alliance impressed as it jumped 6.5%. Perfume play Estee Lauder also smelled of roses as it wafted 4.5% higher.
The S&P 500 sectors were mixed on the stock market today. Health and financials were strongest, with technology and utilities the only areas in negative territory.
Small caps briefly flirted with positive territory on the stock market today. The Russell 2000 index finished 0.5% lower.
Growth stocks got mauled by the bears in early trading. While the Innovator IBD 50 exchange traded fund was off lows, it remained down 1.7%. MarketSurge analysis shows it got buying support at its 200-day moving average.
Volume was lower vs. the same time on Friday on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq.
Trump: Tariffs Will Make U.S. 'Liquid And Rich'
Stocks pulled back late in Monday's session after President Trump said 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico will go forward as planned.
"It will be very good for our country," Trump said. "Our country will be extremely liquid and rich again."
Trump also held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House Monday on the subject of Ukraine. Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia could end "within weeks, if we're smart."
However, while President Macron said that "very substantive steps forward" had been made, he also said that any peace deal should not mean "a surrender of Ukraine, or ceasefire without guarantees." Macron also said that he will be meeting again with Trump again in the coming weeks as they try to secure a resolution to the conflict.
Ukraine also is looking for security guarantees to protect it from any further Russian aggression.
Word of the talks comes after a Ukrainian official said separately Monday that the country is close to agreeing a minerals deal with the U.S.
Stock Market Today: Palantir Plunges Again
Palantir stock was one of last year's major S&P 500 winners, and it is still a strong gainer so far in 2025. It is up more than 20% for the year so far.
However it plunged 14.9% last week, its biggest weekly drop since January, and was falling again Monday. The stock plummeted nearly 11% Monday and has now undercut its 21-day exponential moving average.
Palantir stock has been hit by worries that U.S. defense spending cuts could hurt the stock's growth. There also are fears retail investors are jettisoning their holdings of the artificial intelligence play.
AI stocks as a whole have struggled so far in 2025 compared with last year. Market darling Nvidia, which reports earnings later this week, is flat year to date.
Despite these fears, Palantir's excellent overall performance, despite negative recent action, shows up in its near-ideal IBD Composite Rating of 98.
The stock suffered its largest percent decrease since May 7, 2024, when it fell 15.11%, according to Dow Jones data. It has now fallen for four consecutive days, and has skidded around 27% during this period.
This was also its worst four-day stretch since the four days ending May 11, 2022, when it tumbled 33.7%.
Magnificent Seven: Apple Up After AI Announcement
It has hardly been a happy new year so far for Magnificent Seven stocks. It was no different Monday as growth stocks got pressured by the bears.
Apple bucked the overall market trend by rising 0.7%. It is moving higher as it eyes a cup-base buy point of 260.10, according to MarketSurge analysis.
Apple rose amid news it is to open an artificial intelligence server factory in Texas. Apple expects to open the facility in 2026 as part of a $500 billion investment package in the U.S. by the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech titan. Overall solid performance is reflected in AAPL's Composite Rating of 92 out of a best-possible 99 from IBD.
There was a bit more action on the downside, however. Google-parent Alphabet started out ahead but ended the day down a fraction. AI play Nvidia also switched gears and turned a fractional gain into a 3% loss.
Leaderboard stock Meta Platforms skidded more than 2% as did Tesla
Amazon.com also gave up ground with a decline of nearly 2% while Microsoft lost 1%.
3:25 p.m. ET
Cathie Wood Loads Up On Stock Amid Plunge
Warren Buffett once said investors should be "fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful."
One person who has taken his words to heart in Ark Invest Chief Executive Cathie Wood. She was loading up on a plunging stock even as the stock market sold off Friday.
Wood snapped up more almost 21,000 shares in Beam Therapeutics for the Ark Innovation exchange traded fund. In addition, slightly more than 4,000 shares were added to the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF.
Friday's closing price of 30.43 was a 39% decline from its 2024 high of 49.50. The move paid off straight away, as the biotech stock climbed on the stock market today.
Nevertheless, the overall picture does not suggest this will be a good investment. It has a poor Earnings Per Share Rating of 19 out of 99 and holds an IBD Composite Rating of 53 out of 99. The fact it previously fell more than 7% below a 34.09 buy point, triggering a sell signal, is another red flag.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based company aims to develop therapies based on genetic editing.
Stock Market Today: More Issues Flash Sell Signals
A number of noteworthy equities flashed sell signals on the stock market today amid the mixed action. Enterprise software stock DigitalOcean flashed two such signals in the same session as it undercut its 50-day and the 200-day moving averages.
The move came in volume that was way above average, further confirming the signals. It comes after the issue wiped out gains Friday from a double-bottom base entry of 41.37, triggering a round-trip sell signal.
Constellation Energy triggered a sell rule by undercutting the 50-day moving average in high volume.
The stock, which has an IBD Composite Rating of 95, has seen gains evaporate after previously clearing its 20% profit target from a 288.75 entry.
It has been selling off following its quarterly report despite an earnings beat after revenue came in below expectations.
1:55 p.m. ET
MicroStrategy Falls After Bitcoin Move
MicroStrategy revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had acquired 20,356 bitcoins between Feb. 18 and Feb. 23. This cost them around $1.99 billion in cash, which equates to a price of $97,514 per bitcoin.
The Tysons Corner, Va.-based firm is now doing business as Strategy. It touts itself as the first and largest bitcoin treasury company on the planet.
However, MicroStrategy stock was lower on the stock market today. The drop caused it to lose ground on the important 50-day moving average.
The stock holds an abysmal Earnings Per Share Rating of 5 out of 99. It lost $6.72 per share in fiscal 2024, MarketSurge data shows. It came as the price of bitcoin itself fell around 1% over the past 24 hours to just under $95,000 per token, according to CoinDesk.
Other cryptocurrency stocks were also lower. Coinbase Global dropped while miner Hut 8, which has previously been a member of the IBD 50 list, skidded as well.
Rival bitcoin mining play Riot Platforms was down as was Mara, formerly known as Marathon Digital.
12:36 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: This REIT Clears A Buy Point
Berkshire Hathaway was not the only issue that managed to surpass a buy point despite Monday's mixed action. Ventas made a bullish move by clearing a cup-base entry of 67.61. This is a first-stage pattern, a positive.
But the stock is currently trading more than 12% above its 50-day moving average. This suggests it is extended even as it clears this conventional entry.
In addition, investors should be acting with far more caution given the bearish action of late. The senior-housing real estate investment trust currently offers a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is comfortably better than the S&P 500 average of 1.2%.
Ventas stock holds a Composite Rating of 88 out of 99 from Investor's Business Daily. This means overall performance is also solid.
11:03 a.m. ET
Conservatives Win Germany Elections
Germany looks set to have a conservative-led government once again after the Friedrich Merz-led Christian Democratic Union and its sister party the Christian Social Union in Bavaria won 28.5% of the vote.
This means there are enough votes among the country's major centrist parties to form a new coalition government. This comes despite the fact they received their lowest-ever share of the vote. Combined with the Social Democratic Party they only got 45% of the vote.
Additionally, the far-right Alternative for Germany had its best-ever showing as it secured 20.8% of the vote. This means it is now the second-largest party. The left-wing populist party, known as The Left, received 8.8%.
Merz pledged to "achieve independence" from the U.S. following the victory. He also hinted he will look into loosening the country's strict limits on public borrowing, which currently acts as a check on spending.
German stocks and European defense equities got a boost from the news. However, the iShares MSCI Germany exchange traded fund rose less than 1% on the stock market today.
Berkshire Stock Rises, Buffett Gives Warning
Berkshire Hathaway stock surged 4% in morning action Monday after the Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate posted fourth-quarter results over the weekend. Buffett, known as the Oracle of Omaha, also issued a warning to "Uncle Sam" that politicians have to be prudent with tax funding and work to protect both the currency and the most vulnerable.
"Spend it wisely. Take care of the many who, for no fault of their own, get the short straws in life. They deserve better," Buffett said in his annual letter to investors. "Never forget that we need you to maintain a stable currency and that result requires both wisdom and vigilance on your part."
For the fourth quarter, Berkshire reported operating profit soared 71% to $14.5 billion, buoyed by insurance operations and investment income. Earnings for Berkshire's "B" stock came in at $6.73 a share, well above analyst expectations for $4.62 a share, according to FactSet.
The conglomerate saw its cash pile grow again. It hit $334 billion at year-end vs. $325.2 billion at the end of the third quarter. However, Buffett also said that he would "never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned."
In addition, Berkshire bought back none of its own shares for the second quarter in a row.
Berkshire Hathaway stock has cleared a cup base with an ideal entry point of 491.67, MarketSurge analysis shows. But its IBD Composite Rating of 79 out of 99 means it is not an ideal performer.
Please follow Michael Larkin on X at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
