June 1, 2016 Market Wrap Up

June 1, 2016 tvcuser Education, Trading Data, Earnings, Economic, ETE, Events, HFC, NKE, OPEC, OPTT, S&P 500, USO, VIX, WLK

The S&P 500 started the new month on a positive note, however; volume was well below the average. With that said, it’s not the greatest sign, when we’re moving towards all-time highs without any follow through in volume.

Stocks in play today: Nike (NKE) -.5%, Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) +8%, Ocean Power Technologies (OPTT) +285%, Hollyfrontier (HFC) +5%

Given the weak volume and lack of downward follow through pressure…the VIX didn’t do too much, closing at 14.20.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was down less than .25% today. Crude oil futures have been wrestling trying to break $50 per barrel. Now, they’ve been able to get their intraday, but have yet to hold on to it. Tomorrow marks an OPEC meeting as well as the EIA petroleum report.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Westlake Chemical Corp (WLK), which traded 16.9 times normal volume. We also saw a ton of bearish bets being placed in Nike (NKE), which traded 3.9 times usual volume.

Here’s what’s left for tomorrow and Friday:

Key Economic Data:
2 June 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status 11:00 AM ET
3 June 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET, International Trade 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
2 June 2016- CIEN, CONN, JOY, AMBA, AVGO, CMTL, FIVE, IDT, ZUMZ

Key Events:
KeyBanc Industrials & Auto Conference (runs till 6/2)
Bernstein 32nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference (runs till 6/3)
Bank America Global Technology Conference (runs till 6/2)
Cowen 44th Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (runs till 6/2)
DA Davidson 8th Annual Technology Forum; RBC Consumer & Retail Conference (runs till 6/2)

May 30, 2016 The Week Ahead

May 30, 2016 tvcuser Education, Trading Crude Oil, Data, Earnings, Economic, Events, OPEC, S&P 500, VIX

The S&P 500 had a solid week of gains, moving more than 2% higher. Not only that, we’re just less than 2% off the all-time highs. Another healthy sign was the influx of IPOs. Last week, we had five IPOs, a very strong number given the lack of inactivity we’ve seen in the space thus far this year.

With volume drying up and a shortened week ahead, it was no surprise to see the VIX sell off as much as it did. With that said, the VIX on Friday closed at 13.12, a drop of more than 2 points from the previous Friday close.

Crude oil futures prices traded above $50 for a brief moment last week. An impressive feat considering it’s 88% higher from the six month lows. As we stand, we’re a tad under $50 ahead of the OPEC meeting this week.

Here is what is on tap for this shortened 4-day trading week:

Key Economic Data:
31 May 2016- Personal Income & Outlays 8:30 AM ET
1 June 2016- ISM Manufacturing Index 10:00 AM ET
2 June 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status 11:00 AM ET
3 June 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET, International Trade 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
31 May 2016- ASNA, NCS, TIVO, WDAY, ZOES, MDT
1 June 2016- KORS, VRA, BOX, LE
2 June 2016- CIEN, CONN, JOY, AMBA, AVGO, CMTL, FIVE, IDT, ZUMZ

Key Events:
31 May 2016- Deutsche Bank Financial Conference (runs till 6/1); KeyBanc Industrials & Auto Conference (runs till 6/2)
1 June 2016- Bernstein 32nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference (runs till 6/3); Bank America Global Technology Conference (runs till 6/2); Cowen 44th Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (runs till 6/2); DA Davidson 8th Annual Technology Forum; RBC Consumer & Retail Conference (runs till 6/2)

Lastly, for those observing, have a happy and safe Memorial Day.

April 17, 2016 The Week Ahead

April 17, 2016 tvcuser Education, Trading Alphabet, American Express, Crude Oil, Data, Earnings, Economic, Johnson & Johnson, McDonalds, Microsoft, Netflix, OPEC, S&P 500, Starbucks, VIX

The S&P 500 finished the week higher, actually near 3-month highs as earnings season picks up steam. On the menu this week: Microsoft, Netflix, Johnson & Johnson, American Express, Alphabet, Starbucks, and McDonalds just to name a few.

The VIX closed the week nearly two points lower from last Friday, at 13.62.

Crude oil finished the week slightly higher, however; it’s seeing heavy selling pressure Sunday night after OPEC’s Meeting this weekend. When countries came together this weekend, they were unable to come up with any form of resolution on a potential production freeze. With that said, Iran decided not to freeze output causing a standoff amongst members.

Here’s what’s on tap for this week coming up…

Key Economic Data:
19 April 2016- Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET
20 April 2016- Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
21 April 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
18 April 2016- HAS, JBHT, MS, PEP, BMI, IBM, NFLX
19 April 2016- EAT, GS, HOG, JNJ, KSU, PM, UNH, DFS, LLTC, ISRG
20 April 2016- ABT, ARMH, ASML, CHKP, EMC, CP, KO, HBAN, ITW, SAP, TUP, USB, AXP, CCK, CTXS, FFIV, MAT, NEM, QCOM, SYK, YUM, VMI
21 April 2016- ALK, BBT, BIIB, BK, CFG, DGX, DHI, FCS, FITB, GM, KCG, KEY, LUV, PPG, PHM, SHW, UA, UNP, VZ, AMD, GOOGL, MSFT, SBUX, SWN, V, SLB
22 April 2016- CAT, GE, KMB, MCD, SYF, STI

February 28, 2016 The Week Ahead

February 28, 2016 tvcuser Education, Trading Conferences, Crude Oil, Data, Earnings, Economic, OPEC, S&P 500, VIX

The S&P 500 finished the week slightly higher, adding to last week’s impressive gains. With that said, the VIX closed the week below 20, at 19.58.

Crude oil prices bounced, gaining nearly 10% on the week. We’ll have to pay attention if there is any news out of OPEC. Lately, OPEC related comments have had a huge weight on the price action in crude oil.

There are still a ton of earnings this week along with a decent amount of economic events.

Here’s what else is on tap:

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:
29 February 2016- AMC, BSFT, DDD, ENDP, HZNP, LL, NRG, NVAX, VRX, TASR, ATML, HTZ, JUNO, PTCT, WDAY, MBI, XON
1 March 2016- AZO, BCS, DLTR, JD, KATE, MDT, BOBE, ROST, VEEV
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), JMP Securities Technology Conference (runs till 3/1), Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (runs till 3/3)
2 March 2016- Simmons Energy Conference (runs till 03/4)