After a rough September, October has so far been much more kind to stocks and has helped Wall Street cut into some of its third-quarter losses . More encouragingly, our biggest winners aren’t limited to one sector but come from a range of industries, including retail, health care and cybersecurity. This month through Monday, the S & P 500 gained about 2%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.5%. In September, the S & P 500 sank 4.87%, the Nasdaq tumbled 5.81% and the blue-chip Dow dropped 3.5%. Here are our top five performers so far in October, and the factors that are driving the strong performances. FL mountain 2023-09-29 Foot Locker’s stock performance so far in October. Our worst performer for the September quarter, Foot Locker (FL) has rebounded to start the fourth quarter with a 25% gain. The ascent began after Nike ‘s (NKE) late September earnings report and conference call, when the shoemaker mentioned a “reset” in its relationship with Foot Locker. While the stock move has been encouraging, we don’t want to chase it. Shares of FL remain down 42% year to date, and as Jim Cramer mentioned during our October Monthly Meeting , the company’s turnaround plan has a tight deadline. LLY mountain 2023-09-29 Eli Lilly’s stock performance so far in October. Eli Lilly (LLY) shares have returned to their winning ways after falling about 3% in September. The stock closed at an all-time high Thursday. Its 14.8% climb in October has pushed its year-to-date gains to roughly 68%, the fourth best in our portfolio. We locked in significant profits on Sept. 12 — before the stock began its multiweek draw down — which makes us more comfortable letting the stock ride here. Lilly’s best day this month came on Oct. 11, when it rallied 4.5% in sympathy with a bullish GLP-1 trial announcement from rival Novo Nordisk (NVO). Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk’s diabetes treatment Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy are in a drug category known as GLP-1s. Mounjaro, a key piece to our LLY thesis, is awaiting U.S. regulatory clearance to also treat obesity. PANW mountain 2023-09-29 Palo Alto’s stock performance so far in October. Our third-best performer in October is Palo Alto Networks (PANW), which is up 11.55% through Monday. Similar to Eli Lilly, the cybersecurity company’s stock closed at a record high Thursday and has been a big 2023 winner — up 87.4%, trailing only Nvidia (NVDA) and Meta Platforms (META) in our portfolio. Nevertheless, the stock’s October gains are notable because they follow three consecutive monthly declines. PANW’s recent strength seems tied, in large part, to high-profile cyber attacks at companies such as Clorox (CLX) and Johnson Controls (JCI). The various breaches underscore the importance of security tools that Palo Alto and its cyber peers provide. Palo Alto offers a slew of security features on the same platform, which is attractive to customers looking to…
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