August 23, 2015 The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 ended Friday’s action with a wicked sell-off, dropping more than 3% and over 5% the last two trading days.

A strategy that has worked well over the last couple of years has been to buy the dip. However, every rally on Friday was eventually sold.

What caused this?

Sellers were more aggressive than buyers. It might sound too simple, but there was no real news to justify the move. Of course, that won’t stop the financial press and media try to come up with a reason why.

In any event, global markets now look weak. With Europe, China, and the U.S. now showing signs of slowing down.

Just a week ago, the VIX was below 13, on Friday, it closed at 28.03!

Crude Oil futures remain at multi-year lows, closing at $40.44. On the other hand, gold futures were up every day, closing 4% higher, as they retained their flight to safety status.

It will be important to see how the futures open up this evening, as well as, what happens out of China.

Here’s what else is on the schedule:

Key Economic Data:
25 August 2015- New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET
26 August 2015- Durable Goods 8:30 AM ET
27 August 2015- GDP 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
28 August 2015- Personal Income 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
24 August 2015- QIHU, QUNR
25 August 2015- BBY, PLCE, DSW, EJ, NMBL, SAFM, TOL
26 August 2015- EXPR, GES, NQ
27 August 2015- ARO, ADSK, BEBE, BURL, DG, GME, SDRL, GAME, SPLK, TIF, ULTA, VEEV, YGE, TD
28 August 2015- BIG