August 13, 2017 The Week Ahead

Markets sold off during the week as geopolitical tensions between the US and North Korea escalated. On Thursday the Nasdaq dropped more than 2% and the S&P 500 sold off more than 1.45%. But when Friday rolled around there was no follow through and markets closed in positive territory.

The VIX reached it’s highest levels of the year, closing at 15.50 on Friday.

Source: TradingView

There are less earnings reporting this week, however; there are still some large cap names to watch out for.

Earnings coming out for the week include: Wal-Mart, Applied Materials, Alibaba, Cisco, Target, and The Home Depot.

Here are how some of the most traded ETFs performed over the week: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) -1.33%, iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) = -2.67%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrials Average ETF (DIA) -0.85%, and PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ) -1.08%

Here is how some futures/commodity related ETF’s performed over the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -1.38%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +1.20%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +2.62%.

Below you’ll find what is else is on the schedule for the week:

Economic Releases:
15 Aug 2017- Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET
16 Aug 2017- Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET, FOMC minutes
17 Aug 2017- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philly Fed Survey 8:30 AM ET, Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET

Key Earnings:
14 Aug 2017- JD, SYY
15 Aug 2017- AAP, COH, DKS, HD, QIWI, TJX, A, URBN, VIAV
16 Aug 2017- TGT, CSCO, NTAP, LB, SMRT
17 Aug 2017- BABA, BKE, BNT, MSG, WMT, AMAT, GPS, ROST, ZOES
18 Aug 2017- DE, EL, FL, HIBB

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