With a presidential inauguration just around the corner, two stocks that are polar opposites are making Investor's Business Daily's New Highs list: Swiss financial giant UBS Group (UBS) and Grand Canyon Education (LOPE), a Phoenix-based higher-education provider. UBS stock surged into a buy zone Friday while Grand Canyon was knocking at its door.

As banks ride a wave of earnings-fueled investor adoration, UBS is tagging along. Five of the six largest financial institutions in IBD's Banks-Money Center group based on market capitalization currently reside in or near buy zones. They also have blue dots on their weekly charts, which means their relative strength lines are at new highs while these stocks form bases or break out.

That includes JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS). The group ranks 55th out of the 197 industry groups covered by IBD and has moved up of late, thanks to upside surprises in earnings reported this past week by these players.

No Blue Dot On UBS Stock

UBS has yet to report its fourth-quarter earnings, which are expected Feb. 4. Further, the RS line on UBS stock doesn't contain a blue dot. But it did itself a favor by moving into a buy zone from a first-stage double-bottom base with a 33.10 entry.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the U.S. Labor Department granted UBS a waiver so it could continue managing $11 billion in domestic retirement plans that had been at risk. It now can keep U.S. pensioners under its wing, as it insulates the bank's U.S. operations from earlier charges of market rigging and tax fraud in relation to its French operations, Reuters said.

Meanwhile, Grand Canyon stock hovered just below a 173.37 entry on Friday after shares pushed into a buy zone earlier in the session. Grand Canyon had been building a flat base over the last 10 weeks.

Much like UBS' banking rivals, Grand Canyon sports a blue dot on its RS line. It also holds a Relative Strength Rating of 88 from IBD. The RS rating for UBS stock stands at 72.

Grand Canyon is expected to report fiscal first-quarter earnings on Feb. 11.

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