Dow Jones futures rose on Sunday night, as did S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures, with investors waiting for the Fed’s meeting this week. The stock rally continued to improve over the past week, with the S&P 500 hitting an all-time high and more breakouts continuing.

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While this is not a bull market like in 2020, investors can take advantage of the current uptrend. But to make big gains in the market over time, you need to minimize losses.

Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) both have proper bases and purchase points. But which of these technological titans is more promising: Apple or Microsoft stock?

Meanwhile, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), Novocure (NVCR) and Bio-Techné (TECHNOLOGY) are just below the purchase points.

Microsoft and Google shares are on IBD Ranking and long-term leaders. Google action is also on the MICI 50.

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Dow Jones Futures Today

Futures contracts on Dow Jones increased slightly from fair value. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.1%.

Keep in mind that overnight action on futures contracts on Dow and elsewhere doesn’t necessarily translate into actual trades during the next regular trading session.

Join the IBD experts as they analyze the exploitable stocks in the stock market rally on IBD Live

Coronavirus news

Coronavirus cases around the world have reached 176.64 million. Deaths from Covid-19 have exceeded 3.81 million.

In the United States, coronavirus cases have reached 34.32 million, with deaths exceeding 615,000.

Stock exchange rally

The stock rally showed healthy action last week, even with the Dow Jones falling slightly.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 0.8% in equity trading last week, with caterpillar (CAT) tumbling and a few other blue chips with modest losses. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.85% and the Russell 2000 rose 1.9%.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell 10 basis points to 1.46% last week, hitting a new three-month low. Bond traders have bought into the Federal Reserve’s argument that the recent spike in inflation is temporary. The Fed is meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, with investors looking for clues that policymakers are starting to talk about cutting bond purchases.

Bitcoin’s price jumped to around $ 39,000 on Sunday, near the high of the recent trading range after falling from record highs in mid-April.

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Best ETFs

Among the top ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) edged up 0.3%, while the Innovator IBD Breakout Opportunities ETF (COMBAT) fell 0.2%. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) jumped 3.85%, along with Microsoft’s main stock. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) closed apartment.

SPDR S&P Metals and Mining ETF (XME) rose 0.9% and the Global X US Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) fell 1.1%. US Global Jets ETFs (JETS) fell 0.2%. SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) fell 1.4%, but the stock in many homebuilder stocks was much worse.

Reflecting more speculative historical stocks, ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) jumped 6% and ARK Genomics ETF (ARKG) 8.3%. Both recovered their 50 and 200 day moving averages.

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Apple versus. Microsoft

Apple and Microsoft have market caps of $ 2.13 trillion and $ 1.94 trillion, respectively. Both have at least two quarters of accelerating earnings and revenue growth.

And both have new foundations. Apple has a flat base with a buy point of 137.17, according to MarketSmith analysis. Microsoft stocks have a flat or cup base with a buy point of 263.29, in fact base-to-base formation.

Microsoft stock is getting somewhat closer to its buy point as Apple is still stuck below the 50-day line. But what really separates them is the relative line of force. The RS line, the blue line in the charts provided, tracks a stock’s performance against the S&P 500 Index.

The RS line for MSFT stocks isn’t great, still a far cry from last year’s records. But it wouldn’t take a big lead for Microsoft to take its RS line above its consolidation peak and then its 2021 peak.

The RS line for Apple stocks, meanwhile, is at its lowest level in 10 months. It’s well below April’s consolidation highs and even further below January’s best levels, not to mention the all-time highs of last year.

Microsoft may not be a big winner, but could be a solid player in the future, balancing out some more volatile names. Last week, MSFT stock was up 2.8% to 257.89, rebounding from its 10 week line. Investors interested in Microsoft stock as a long-term leader could take a stand now.

Apple stock needs more work before investors seriously consider it.

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Google, Novocure, Bio-Techne

Neither Apple nor Microsoft stocks look as strong as Google, the trillion-dollar tech titan.

Google, Novocure and Bio-Techne shares are all just below new highs. All three stocks not only have solid RS lines, but they also have RS lines to new highs while staying in the basics. They make Blue Dot stocks a particularly bullish brand.

Google stock rose 1.5% last week to 2,430.20, the fourth consecutive weekly advance. The flat base entry is 2,431.48.

NVCR stock jumped 5.1% last week to 216.28. It is in a cup base next to a deeper consolidation. The purchase point for Novocure shares is 220.58.

Bio-Techne stock rose 4.6% to 443.94 last week. TECH stock has a buy point of 444.93 from a flat base as part of a base-to-base pattern.

Market rally analysis

The S&P 500 didn’t rise much last week, but hit an all-time high. The Russell 2000 and the Nasdaq have also moved closer to unprecedented levels. It was the third consecutive weekly gain for the S&P and Russell 2000 and the fourth for the Nasdaq. The Dow fell slightly, but is finding support on its 21-day and 10-week lines, not far from new highs.

Above all, the main stocks are behaving well. Breakouts and other buying opportunities keep popping up and generally working

Software is definitely back in favor, as is technology in general. The same goes for a number of doctors. Steel and certain mining stocks are consolidating on the rise.

However, home builders have been hit hard. Financials are having a little trouble.

Don’t assume the choppy market rally and sector rotation is over. Maybe the tech and growth names will have an extended shelf life, but maybe not.

So while investors have likely been expanding their tech holdings in recent weeks, don’t focus too much.

Today’s action looks to buy point after bullish move

How to be a big winner

Maybe the key to being a big winner in the stock market is being a small loser.

Hopefully you will have more winning trades than losers. But you can get good performance with an even number of winning and losing trades. Your annual winners can include a number of small to modest advances, big raises, and maybe one or two huge payouts.

Of course, you can and should study to help find the real huge winners, as well as develop trading strategies to capture more wins for the races of your stocks.

But the best thing you can do is cut your losses. If your average winning stock is up, say 25%, while your average loss is 4% to 5%, generating a big return over the course of a year or decade is simple.

Reducing short-term losses requires decisive action, especially when the market is heading south. At this time, your stocks can fall quickly, especially highly valued stocks. So stay alert and be decisive to prevent small winners from turning into losses or small losses from turning into big drops.

Read The Big Picture every day to stay in tune with the market direction and major stocks and sectors.

Please follow Ed Carson on Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.

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