July 16, 2018 The Week Ahead

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Many media outlets would like you to believe that the President’s economic policies have been a disaster to date. Despite worries of inflation rising and potential trade wars with China, the Nasdaq hit all-time highs and the S&P 500 hit its highest price level in 5 months.

Focus will now turn to earnings as several large caps report, companies like Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and Bank of America. Other notable earnings include: Netflix, American Express, IBM, Goldman Sachs, Ebay, and UnitedHealth Group Incorporated.

Stocks in play last week included: FAST +14.6%, IQ +13.5%, AVGO -18.3%, LB -13.6%

Here are how some of the most widely traded index ETFs performed over the week:
Powershares QQQ ETF (QQQ) +2.28%, SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) +1.51%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) +2.29%, iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) -0.49%

The VIX declined sharply, closing at 12.18 on Friday.

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Here are how some futures and commodity ETFs performed over the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -3.28%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.02%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -1.05%

Economic Releases:
16 July 2018- Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET

17 July 2018- Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET

18 July 2018- Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET

19 July 2018- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET; Philly Fed Business Survey 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
16 July 2018- ACI, BAC, BLK, JBHT, LUB, NFLX, RIO

17 July 2018- CMA, GS, JNJ, PGR, SCHW, UNH, BHP, CSX, IBKR, MLNX, UAL

18 July 2018- ABT, ASML, GWW, MS, NVS, NTRS, TXT, USB, AXP, AA, CCI, CCK, CP, EBAY, IBM, SLG, URI8

19 July 2018- BBT, BK, BX, DHR, DPZ, FITB, GPC, KEY, NUE, PM, PPG, RPM, SAP, SON, TRV, TSM, UN, UNP, WBC, CE, COF, ETFC, ISRG, MSFT, PBCT, SWKS

20 July 2018- BHGE, CFG, CLF, GE, GNTX, HON, KSU, RF, SWK, VFC, SLB, MAN

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March 2, 2017 Market Wrap Up

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The markets sold off today on rather light volume. However, today’s headlines were dominated by Snap. The much anticipated IPO traded over 216M shares on its opening day, closing up more than 40%, at 24.48. With that said, this was the largest IPO in over 2 years.

Strong earnings performers included: Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF), Burlington Stores (BURL), and Intrexon (XON)

Weak earnings performers included: Costco Wholesale (COST), Anheuser-Busch (BUD), and Shake Shack (SHAK)

ETF Performers: United States Oil Fund (USO) -2.02%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.43%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -1.23%.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in HRG Group Inc (HRG), which traded 5.2 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Fastenal Company (FAST), which traded 2.6 times normal option volume.

There are no major events on the schedule for tomorrow.

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March 1, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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We had lift-off in the markets today, as the S&P 500 closed more than 2% higher on the day. Even more impressive, the Nasdaq closed more than 3% higher. The S&P 500 is nearly 10% higher than its February 11 lows.

Crude oil futures closed the day higher, trading comfortably above $34 per barrel. Of course, tomorrow we’ll have data from the Department of Energy on inventory levels. This is a report many traders will be paying attention to.

The VIX got clobbered, dropping more than 13% and closing at 17.70.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in ImmunoGen (IMGN). In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Fastenal Company (FAST), about 5.9 times usual options volume.

Stocks in play included: Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) -1%, Tesla Motors (TSLA) -3%, and Pepco Holdings (POM) -12%.

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

Key Economic Data:
1 March 2016- ISM Mfg Index 10:00 AM ET
2 March 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
3 March 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
4 March 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET, International Trade 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
2 March 2016- ANF, DSX, COSST, NOG
3 March 2016- BKS, BURL, CIEN, JOY, CIEN, KR, SSYS, AMBA, AVGO, NMBL
4 March 2016- SPLS

Key Conferences:
29 February 2016- BMO Metals & Mining Conference (runs till 3/3), JPMorgan High Yield Leveraged Finance Conference (runs till 3/2), Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (runs till 3/3)
2 March 2016- Simmons Energy Conference (runs till 03/4)