August 21, 2016 The Week Ahead

Education, Trading , , , , ,

The S&P 500 closed the week flat, holding on to near record high levels. With that said, a lot of the most anticipated earnings have now past and the market is grinding on below average volume.

When will the volatility pick up?

One could imagine as the presidential elections near, we’ll start to see some fear and uncertainty creep in. The VIX didn’t really change much from the previous Friday’s close, still trading below 12 at 11.34.

Crude oil futures prices gained nearly 9% on the week. OPEC is set to meet next month, as crude oil futures are about 5% off their 52-week highs.

Moving on, gold futures prices were relatively unchanged, up less than .5%. In addition, T-bond futures prices fell more than 1%, and are now about 3.5% off their 52-week highs.

Here is what else is on the schedule for the upcoming week:

Key Economic Data:
23 Aug 2016- New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET
24 Aug 2016- Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM
25 Aug 2016- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
26 Aug 2016- GDP 8:30 AM ET, International Trade in Goods 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
22 Aug 2016- CTRP, QUNR, NQ, ZOES
23 Aug 2016- BBY, DY, INTU, SJM, LZB, NMBL, RGS, TOL
24 Aug 2016- EXPR, GES, HPQ, PVH, WSM, WDAY
25 Aug 2016- FLS, EPAY, BURL, BRCD, DG, DLTR, GME, GLNG, JKS, MDT, SAFM, SHLD, SFUN, SDRL, SPLK, ZAYO, ULTA, TIF
26 Aug 2016- BIG

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

August 18, 2016 Market Wrap Up

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 crept higher for the second straight session, pushing to us to nearly flat on the week now. Earlier in the day, earnings out of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) was taken well as the stock closed at 74.30, touching 52-week highs.

Stocks in play today include: Corrections Corp of America (CXW) -35%, The Geo Group (GEO) -40%, Harley-Davidson (HOG) -1.7%, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) -2.7%

The VIX closed lower, and now trading below 11.50, closing at 11.43.

Crude oil futures continue to ascend higher, now up over 8% on the week, and not incredibly far from the 52-wk highs, closing above $48 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Amphenol Corp (APH), which traded 4 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Chicos Fas (CHS) at 2.8 times normal options volume.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Earnings:
19 Aug 2016- DE, EL, FL, MSG

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

August 16, 2016 Market Wrap Up

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 sold off from 52-week highs today on below average trading volume.

Stocks in play today include: The Hain Celestial Group (HAIN) -26%, Meetme (MEET) -16.7%, Stemcells (STEM) +598%, and Resolute Energy (REN) +3%

The VIX closed higher, up over 7% on the day at 12.64.

Crude oil futures continue to ascend higher, now up over 9% over the last three trading sessions. With that said, crude oil futures are are still more than 10% off their 52-week highs.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Reynolds American (RAI) at 4 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in 8×8 Inc (EGHT) at 23.3 times normal options volume.

This evening we got earnings out of Cree (CREE) -7% and Urban Outfitters (URBN) +8.8%

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow and the rest of the week:

Key Earnings:
17 Aug 2016- AEO, LOW, SPLS, TGT, A, CSCO, NTAP
18 Aug 2016- BONT, WMT, AMAT, GPS, ROST, DV
19 Aug 2016- DE, EL, FL, MSG

Key Conferences:
Enercom Energy Conference (runs till 8/18)

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

August 14, 2016 The Week Ahead

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 closed the week nearly unchanged, holding on to record high levels. Earnings have been fairly decent across the board as we head into next week. Despite the market being near all-time highs, it hasn’t really been met with too much excitement as witnessed by the below average trading volume.

The VIX didn’t really change much from the previous Friday’s close, still trading below 12 at 11.55.

Crude oil futures prices gained more than 6% on the week. OPEC is set to meet next month, earlier in the week, the Saudi Oil Minister made comments that they’d be willing to work with other OPEC nations to stabilize prices.

Moving on, gold futures prices were relatively unchanged. In addition, T-bond futures prices gained nearly 1%, and are now about 2.5% off their 52-week highs.

Earnings season is slowing down, but we’ll be hearing from big retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Home Depot (HD), Lowe’s (LOW), Target (TGT), and WalMart (WMT) just to name a few.

Here is what else is on the schedule for the upcoming week:

Key Economic Data:
16 Aug 2016- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET, Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET, Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET
17 Aug 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET, FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM ET
18 Aug 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philly Fed Survey 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
15 Aug 2016- SYY
16 Aug 2016- AAP, COTY, DKS, HD, TJX, CREE, URBN
17 Aug 2016- AEO, LOW, SPLS, TGT, A, CSCO, NTAP
18 Aug 2016- BONT, WMT, AMAT, GPS, ROST, DV
19 Aug 2016- DE, EL, FL, MSG

Key Conferences:
15 Aug 2016- Enercom Energy Conference (runs till 8/18)

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

August 9, 2016 Market Wrap Up

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 traded slightly higher today on below average volume, a theme over the last couple of weeks. The SPDR S&P 500 traded about 50 million shares, whereas on average it’s been trading around 76 million shares per day.

Stocks in play today include: Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) +26%, Rackspace (RAX) + 6.7%, and Wayfair (W) -19.7%.

The VIX closed higher, still trading below 12 at 11.66.

Crude oil futures closed mildly lower, closing under $43 per barrel. Gold and Treasury bonds both caught a bid today, both gaining about .5%.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Splunk (SPLK) at 2.5 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Phillips 66 at 2.2 times normal options volume.

This evening we got earnings out of Disney (DIS) -.5%, Yelp (YELP) +13.8%, Sunpower (SPWR) -22.7%, and Fossil (FOSL) +3.7%.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow and the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
10 Aug 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
11 Aug 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
12 Aug 2016- Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET, PPI 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
10 Aug 2016- JD, KORS, PRGO, RL, WEN, BUFF, SHAK
11 Aug 2016- BABA, EAT, FLO, CSAL, KSS, M, JWN, NVDA, RT
12 Aug 2016- JCP

Key Conferences:
Credit Suisse Transports Conference (runs till 8/10); Jefferies Industrials Conference (runs till 8/11); JPMorgan Auto Conference (runs till 8/10); Oppenheimer Tech, Internet, and Communications Conference (runs till 8/10); UBS Financial Services Conference (runs till 8/10)

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

August 7, 2016 The Week Ahead

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 closed the week higher, holding on to record high levels. Earnings have been rolling out pretty smoothly and on Friday we received a really strong employment number. Sure, a lot of these gains in the market have been on extremely low volume, however; that hasn’t been raised as a concern yet. The economic schedule is light but there are more earnings to look forward too.

The VIX continued to decline during the week, closing on Friday below 12, at 11.39.

Crude oil futures prices gained almost 1% on the week, however; we’re nearly 12% off our one month highs.

Moving on, gold futures prices dropped more than 1% on the week, turning a weekly gain into a loss after Friday’s employment numbers. In addition, T-bond futures prices dropped more than 1.5%, as they fell back from yearly high levels.

As mentioned earlier, earnings season continues to roll. We’ll be hearing from Michael Kors (KORS), Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX), Alibaba (BABA), Yelp (YELP), and Disney (DIS) just to name a few.

Here is what is on tap for this upcoming week:

Key Economic Data:
10 Aug 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
11 Aug 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
12 Aug 2016- Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET, PPI 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
8 Aug 2016- AGN, DF, HZNP, TSN, ENDP, MCHP, NUAN, ONDK, NWSA, RAX, TWLO, WBMD
9 Aug 2016- CHTR, COH, INCY, LAMR, LNG, MYL, SNI, VRX, W, WWAV, ZBRA, CYBR, DIS, FOSL, JAZZ, MDVN, SCTY, SPWR, YELP
10 Aug 2016- JD, KORS, PRGO, RL, WEN, BUFF, SHAK
11 Aug 2016- BABA, EAT, FLO, CSAL, KSS, M, JWN, NVDA, RT
12 Aug 2016- JCP

Key Conferences:
8 Aug 2016- Credit Suisse Homebuilding & Building Products Conference (runs till 8/9)
9 Aug 2016- Credit Suisse Transports Conference (runs till 8/10); Jefferies Industrials Conference (runs till 8/11); JPMorgan Auto Conference (runs till 8/10); Oppenheimer Tech, Internet, and Communications Conference (runs till 8/10); UBS Financial Services Conference (runs till 8/10)

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

August 4, 2016 Market Wrap Up

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 traded slightly higher today and very weak volume. The SPDR S&P 500 traded about 45 million shares, whereas on average it trades around 80-85 million.

Stocks in play today include: Saexploration (SAEX) +356%, Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY) +35.7%, Metlife (MET) -8.7%, and CF Industries (CF) -12.35%

The VIX closed lower, now trading below 12.5 at 12.42, dropping 3.4% on the day.

Crude oil futures surged today, climbing over 2% and closing near $42 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in One Gas (OGS) at 43.6 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in PDC Energy (PDCE) at 16.4 times normal options volume.

This evening we got earnings out of Priceline (PCLN) +4% and Fireeye (FEYE) -17%.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Economic Data:
5 August 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET, International Trade 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
5 Aug 2016- WY, WLTW, HSBC, CTSH, AES

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

August 3, 2016 Market Wrap Up

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 recovered about half their losses from yesterday, closing the day .3% higher. With that said, volumes were well below average. The SPDR S&P 500 traded about 52 million shares, whereas on average it trades around 80-85 million.

Stocks in play today include: Genworth Financial (GNW) +28.7%, 3D Systems (DDD) +17.6%, Cray (CRAY) -30.4%, and Kate Spade (KATE) -18.7%

The VIX closed lower, now trading below 13 at 12.86.

Crude oil futures surged today, climbing over 4% and closing above $41 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Gap (GPS) and Michael Kors (KORS).

This evening we got earnings out of Tesla Motors (TSLA) -.96%, Tripadvisors (TRIP) -7.7%, and Herbalife (HLF) +2.86% to name a few.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow and the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
4 August 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
5 August 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET, International Trade 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
4 Aug 2016- DUK, K, MGM, NOK, PCLN, SEAS, SSYS, TEVA, TIME, VIAB, ANET, ATVI, CSOD, FLR, FSLR, IMPV, KHC, LGF, LNKD, OLED, TRUE, TTWO, ZG, ZNGA
5 Aug 2016- WY, WLTW, HSBC, CTSH, AES

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

July 31, 2016 The Week Ahead

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 closed the week relatively flat, which means it’s still near record highs. Earnings thus far have been taken positively. The FOMC meeting proved to be a non-event, as they continue to use the same rhetoric. We now have a situation where gold, stocks, and bonds are near their yearly highs. It will be interesting to see how long that relationship can keep up.

The VIX continued to decline during the week, closing on Friday at 12, at 11.87.

Crude oil futures prices fell more than 6% on the week. On Thursday, they hit a 3-month low, when the traded at 43.13. Crude futures prices are down 10% over the last two weeks and nearly 19% off their 3-month highs.

Moving on, gold futures prices gained more than 2%, closing above $1350 an ounce. Gold futures prices are creeping back to their yearly highs, and are now more than 20% higher than their 6-month lows.

In addition, T-bond futures prices gained more than 1.5%, as they too are near their yearly highs.

As mentioned earlier, earnings season continues to roll. We’ll be hearing from Tesla (TSLA), Pfizer (PFE), CVS Health Corp (CVS), Fitbit (FIT), and Procter & Gamble (PG) just to name a few.

Here is what is on tap for this upcoming week:

Key Economic Data:
1 August 2016- ISM Manufacturing Index 10:00 AM ET
2 August 2016- Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET
3 August 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
4 August 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
5 August 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET, International Trade 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
1 August 2016- FDC, MCY, SOHU, FTR, GGP, IDTI, TEX, THC, WMB, VNO
2 August 2016- AET, AVP, CAH, CMI, CVS, EMR, EXPD, H, MNK, MOS, ODP, PBI, PFE, PG, RDC, SABR, SODA, SHPG, STX, TAP, AIG, DATA, EA, DVN, FIT, FUEL, GLUU, JIVE, NFX, TX, ZEN
3 August 2016- AXA, D, DDD, ICE, KATE, OXY, TWX, ZTS, CF, FOXA, GDDY, HLF, HUBS, MET, NLY, TROX, TSLA, TSO, WU
4 August 2016- DUK, K, MGM, NOK, PCLN, SEAS, SSYS, TEVA, TIME, VIAB, ANET, ATVI, CSOD, FLR, FSLR, IMPV, KHC, LGF, LNKD, OLED, TRUE, TRIP, TTWO, ZG, ZNGA
5 August 2016- WY, WLTW, HSBC, CTSH, AES

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses

July 28, 2016 Market Wrap Up

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 closed relatively flat ahead of a heavy earnings schedule and the aftermath of the FOMC meeting.

Stocks in play today include: Cirrus Logic (CRUS) +19.2%, Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) +7.7%, Infinera (INFN) -33.6%, and GNC Holdings (GNC) -25%.

The VIX closed lower, now trading below 13 at 12.72.

Crude oil futures are down 6 straight days, trading barely above $41 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in FireEye (FEYE), which traded 4.9 times normal volume. We also saw a ton of bearish bets being placed in Seadrill (SDRL), which traded 2.2 times usual volume.

This evening we got earnings out of Amazon (AMZN) +4.3%, Alphabet (GOOGL) +6.3%, Expedia (EXPE) -3.5%, and Eastman Chemical (EMN) -6.6% to name a few.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Economic Data:
29 July 2016- GDP 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
29 July 2016- ABBV, AN, BUD, CBOE, CPN, CVX, LYB, MRK, NWL, PSX, SAVE, UPS, WG, XOM

Be sure to check out our Active Trading Masters Program | Online Courses