March 5, 2017 The Week Ahead

Week after week, traders are all asking the same question… when is this market going to pullback? Well, we didn’t see a whole lot of upside during the week. However, the market SPDR S&P 500 is up 5.39% over the last 30 days. With earnings mostly behind us, the attention will focus on an FOMC meeting which is 11 days from now, and politics out of Washington.

Where is the volatility?

The VIX continues to hangout below 11. On Friday, the VIX closed at 10.96. Based on some of the volatility estimators that we look at, the SPDR S&P 500 has a 20-day volatility of 7% compared to its median of 11% over the last 3 years.

Moving on to gold and oil.

Crude oil futures closed the week closing, lower at -1.16%. In precious metals, gold futures prices finished the week lower, dropping -1.79%
Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -1.49%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -2.01%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -1.85%.

One of the main highlights over the last week was the IPO of SNAP Inc., the parent company of Snapchat. A successful IPO to say the least, the company has a market cap of $31.35B, after gaining 59% it’s first week.

Here is a list of some events that traders will be following:

Key Economic Data
7 March 2017- International Trade 8:30 AM ET,
8 March 2017- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
9 March 2017- ECB Central Bank (ECB) policy decision at 7:45 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
10 March 2017- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings
6 March 2017- ASNA, MEET, THO
7 March 2017- DKS, MIK, NAV, HRB, NMBL, URBN, WIFI, ZAGG
8 March 2017- CIEN, EXPR, BOBE, HOV, OA, SMRT, VAL, CWH, RATE, VVUS, UNFI, WATT
9 March 2017- FCEL, PRTY, SIG, SSYS, ZUMZ, FNSR, FRPT, LOCO, PAY, ULTA

Key Events
6 March 2017- Citigroup 22nd Annual Global Property CEO Conference (runs till ⅜); Cowen 37th Annual Healthcare Conference (runs till ⅜); Deutsche Bank 25th Annual, Media, Internet and Telecom Conference runs till (⅜); Raymond James 38th Annual Institutional Investors Conference (runs till ⅜)

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

January 29, 2017 The Week Ahead

Unless something drastic happens, the month of January will be another strong month for the stock market. However, how long can this low volatility environment continue? After all, it seems like there is one political protest after another in the US, with some uncertainty and concerns about the new President. With that said, the market is telling us something different from what the news is saying. It’s actually pretty wild if you consider that the VIX closed at $10.58 on Friday. Going into the week, traders will be watching earnings and what comes out of the FOMC announcement.

Moving on to energy:

Crude oil futures closed pretty flat on the week, having two out of five winning days. On the other hand, gold futures prices finished the week down more than 1.3%

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) 0.09%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.26%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -1.36%.

Some key earnings include: Apple, Amazon, Exxon, United Parcel Service, Visa and Mastercard to name a few.

Here are a list of events that traders will be watching:

Key Economic Data:
30 Jan 2017- Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET
1 Feb 2017- ISM Mfg Index 10:00 AM ET; EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET; FOMC Meeting Announcement 2:00 PM ET
2 Feb 2017- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM
3 Feb 2017- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings Release Dates:
30 Jan 2017- EPD, BAH, BOFI, GGG, GGP, PFG, RMBS, SANM
31 Jan 2017- ABC, AET, ALLY, CIT, CNX, COH, HCA, HOG, LLY, LYB, MA, MAN, NDAQ, NUE, PCAR, PFE, S, UA, UPS, VLO, XOM, XRX, AAPL, AMD, APC, CB, CHRW, EA, ILMN, OLN, X
1 Feb 2017- ANTM, ADP, BAX, D, IP, JCI, MO, MPC, MPLX, MTOR, TUP, WEC, AVB, CAVM, CRUS, FB, HOLX, IAC, LM, MAA, MET, MLNX, NXPI, QRVO, SFLY, SYMC, TSCO
2 Feb 2017- S, AZN, BSX, CME, COP, DB, EL, ETN, IP, MMP, NOK, NOV, PM, RDSA, RL, SIRI, VOD, WFT, AMGN, AMZN, CMG, DATA, CY, DATA, DECK, FEYE, FTNT, GIMO, GPOR, V
3 Feb 2017- AN, APO, HSY, WY

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

January 22, 2017 The Week Ahead

The weekend was highlighted by mass protests across the globe for Women’s March. Whether you’re into politics or not, a new regime was sworn into office on Friday, January 20, 2017. Given the love/hate relationship the new President has with the media, it’s caused him to be very active on social media. With that said, his tweets on specific sectors and stocks has already proven to add volatility. All of this could potentially lead to greater day trading opportunities.

Outside of that, earnings will be one of the key areas traders will be focused on during the week.

Crude oil futures closed up nearly 2%, having three out of four winning days. On the other hand, Gold futures prices finished the week on a two-day winning streak, gaining a shade under 1% on the week.

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -1.3%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -1.60%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +1.0%.

Some key earnings include: Yahoo, Alibaba, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ford, Intel, Alphabet, Microsoft and Starbucks to name a few.

Here are a list of events that traders will be watching:

Key Economic Data:
24 Jan 2017- PMI Manufacturing Index 9:45 AM ET, Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET
25 Jan 2017- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
26 Jan 2017- International Trade in Goods 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings Release Dates:
23 Jan 2017- BOH, HAL, MCD, PETS, YHOO
24 Jan 2017- AKS, BABA, DD, DHI, EXP, GLW, JNJ, KMB, LMT, VZ, SAP, WAT, AA, COF, CREE, DFS, HA, NAVI, STLD, STX, SYK, TXN
25 Jan 2017- BA, EAT, FCX, HBAN, HES, PG, NSC, NVS, NYCB, PGR, ROK, SC, STT, TXT, UTX, CCI, EBAY, FFIV, LRCX, LVS, MCK, PUB, QCOM, URI, VRTX, WDC
26 Jan 2017- AEP, ALK, BHI, CAT, CELG, DGX, DOV, DOW, F, HP, JBLU, LEA, LLL, LUV, MJN, NOC, RCI, EFTC, FLEX, GOOG, INTC, JNPR, KLAC, MSFT, PYPL, SBUX, SYNA, SWFT, VMW
27 Jan 2017- ABBV, APD, BEN, CL, CVX, HON, UBS

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