Week of December 17th Stock Market Watch

Stocks came under heavy selling pressure on Friday, as they closed lower for the second straight week. Traders and investors are concerned about the trade dispute between China and the U.S., rising interest rates, and fears of a U.S. government shutdown. Other concerns include the U.K. Brexit vote, and Italy’s budget issues.

Small cap stocks were among the weakest, as the Russell 2000 Index hit 52-week lows.
Among the losers included: Wells Fargo -7.4%, FedEx -8.58%, Best Buy -8.6%, and Tilray -25.06%. However, not all stocks performed poorly. For example, winners included: Twitter +9.26%, Facebook +4.83%, and Huya +24.83%

The VIX closed at 21.63 on Friday. A sign that traders have a concern, but nowhere near panic levels, which would be anything above 30.

Crude oil futures prices are starting to stabilize near $50; they closed at $51.40 on Friday. That’s well off it’s October highs of $76.39.

Here are how some of the most actively traded commodity and interest rate ETFs performed: United States Oil Fund (USO) -2.61%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +0.06%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -0.87%

The number one event traders will focus on next week will be the FOMC Meeting Announcement, held on Wednesday. The Fed is expected to raise rates at the meeting. However, everyone will be listening to its forecast, and the Fed Chair press conference, held right after the announcement, for further clues on what the Fed does next.

Economic Releases:
18 Dec 2018- Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET

19 Dec 2018- Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET; EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET; FOMC Meeting Announcement 2:00 PM ET

20 Dec 2018- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET; Philly Fed Business Survey 8:30 AM ET

21 Dec 2018- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET; GDP 8:30 AM ET; Personal Income and Outlays 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
17 Dec 2018- LAKE, ORCL, RHT

18 Dec 2018- NAV, FDS, DRI, FDX, JBL, MU, SCS

19 Dec 2018- GIS, PAYX, PIR, RAD

20 Dec 2018- APOG, ATU, CAG, SAFM, WBA, NKE, CAMP

21 Dec 2018- KMX

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