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Dow stocks Intel, GE, Exxon and Chevron are in a correction. Why some traders say you should buy them

The Dow stocks in a correction that could be buys
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The Dow stocks in a correction that could be buys

The wild swings in the market have sent nearly half of the Dow into correction territory.

Those names include GE, Merck, IBM, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, P&G, Apple, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Intel, Caterpillar, 3M, and UnitedHealth.

The sell-off could prove to be a buying opportunity for a few names.

Miller Tabak equity strategist Matt Maley pointed to Intel as a stock to watch.

"The stock has made a series of nice higher-highs," Maley told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Wednesday. And, "each time the stock has sold off it hasn't made a lower low."

Intel's stock stretched to a 52-week high on Jan. 29, a few days after the Dow reached its most recent closing record. Since then, shares have fallen 11 percent, putting it above the 10 percent marker indicative of a correction.

Even with its recent decline, Intel has held close to its 100-day moving average. The tech company closed Tuesday's session at $45.20, roughly 4 percent above its 100-day moving average.

The stock's reaction to recent earnings reports also gives Maley conviction in his Intel pick.

"The last two times it has reported, it's seen a nice gap higher," he said. "Whenever you see a real positive response to an earnings report, that's always positive."

The stock rallied 10 percent in the two days following its fourth-quarter report in January and 9 percent in the two days after its third-quarter earnings release in October.

Intel isn't the only Dow name in correction that could make a comeback.

Larry McDonald, founder of the Bear Traps Report, sees the chance of a rebound in GE, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, three of the most beaten-down stocks in the index this year.

"The three of those are very, very strong buys," said McDonald in an appearance on "Trading Nation." "They've really had dramatic underperformance relative to the market."

GE has held at the bottom of the Dow for the bulk of the year after disclosing a $6.2 billion charge in its legacy insurance business in January. The company has also been in tumult since longtime CEO Jeff Immelt announced his retirement in June and stepped down in October. Since then, its stock has dropped 47 percent.

GE, the oldest stock on the Dow, has halved in value since its 52-week high set last February and is down nearly 13 percent in the year to date.

Meanwhile, Exxon and Chevron have posted sharp losses in February as crude oil prices retreated from a January rally. Both stocks have fallen 14 percent from 52-week highs set last month.

"The capitulation score that we get on the oil names and GE is one of the highest buy readings in our model that we've had in the last couple of years," said McDonald.

Nearly half of Dow companies now sit in correction after receding at least 10 percent from their 52-week highs. The 13 names in correction have taken $322 billion in market cap off the Dow since it hit its record high on Jan. 26. The Dow as a whole briefly dipped into correction on Tuesday but is now down 6.5 percent from its late January high.

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