Trading Recap & The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 closed the week slightly below its 50-day moving average, which currently stands at 2045. We opened the week at 2054.44 and closed at 2044.81. However, there was a lot of volatility in between. For example, our low during the week was 1992.44 and the high was 2064.43.

The VIX, closed the week below 18, at 17.55. The low this week was 16.44 and the high was 22.90.

On Friday, it was announced that the unemployment rate fell to 5.6% in December. However, we saw a substantial drop in the labor force.

Crude oil prices seemed to have stabilized somewhat. Their high during the week was $50.03 and low was $48.02, closing at $48.40 per barrel.

Traders continue to monitor the situation in Europe, the ECB has discussed going through another round, of their quantitative easing program. The Governing Council meeting is set for Jan. 22, 2015.

In addition, traders will be focusing on the retail sales numbers, which are set to be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 8:30 AM est.

Some other key events to watch for next week.

JPMorgan 2015 33rd Annual Healthcare Conference: Running Jan. 11 to Jan. 16
Stocks that could potentially move during the conference include– SNY, PRGO, INCY, CTRX, ABT, CELG, MYGN, JAZZ,BMRN, VCRA, ALXN, JNJ, INFI, IRWD, CLVS, MRK, AEGR, REGN, ISRG, AMRN, VVUS, NLNK, NBIX, BLUE, ZTS, HALO, ACAD, BMY, HUM, EXAS and ABBV to name a few.

17th Annual Needham Growth Conference: Running Jan. 13 to Jan. 15
Stocks that could potentially move during the conference include– EPAY, RMBS, PRLB, SIMO, OLED, ECOM, CAMP, DDD, INSY, TSEM, CODE, CSIQ, IRBT and JCOM to name a few.

In respect to economic data, here’s what traders will be watching:

Jan. 14: Retail Sales at 8:30 AM ET
Jan. 15: Jobless Claims at 8:30 AM ET, PPI at 8:30 AM ET, Philly Fed Survey at 10:00 AM ET
Jan. 16: Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM ET

Make sure to check back on Wednesday, Jan. 14th for our next blog post.