December 4, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000 all closed the week lower after posting several weeks of impressive gains. It’s too early to tell whether this is the beginning of something more significant or simply just a pull back from record highs. One things for sure, there isn’t much on the schedule in terms of domestic economic events and earnings.

In respect market volatility, the VIX closed at 14.12 on Friday.

With that said, traders will closely be watching the ECB Policy Meeting, as well as comments out of President-Elect Trump. He’s made some recent comments on potentially taxing domestic businesses that leave the U.S. and try to sell their products back into the country. Of course, this could impact some publicly traded companies dramatically.

Crude oil futures responded well following the OPEC meeting. Crude oil futures prices rose more than 12% and are not to far off from 52-week highs. Energy related companies also saw huge bid as well.

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +11.3%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -1.01%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -0.42%.

Here are some important events worth watching during the week:

Key Economic Data:
6 Dec 2016- International Trade 8:30 AM ET
7 Dec 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
8 Dec 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
5 Dec 2016- COUP
6 Dec 2016- AZO, BMO, BOBE, HDS, MIK, TOL, PLAY, SIGM
7 Dec 2016- LULU, XRX, COST, HRB, UNFI
8 Dec 2016- CIEN, FRED, HOV, VNCE, AVGO, FNSR
9 Dec 2016- MTN

Key Conferences:
5 Dec 2016- Barclays Discretionary Conference (runs till 11/6); Goldman Sachs European Industrials Conference (runs till 11/7); KeyBanc Consumer Conference (runs till 11/7); UBS Media Communications Conference (runs till 11/7); Raymond James Technology Conference (runs till 11/7)
6 Dec 2016- Cowen Energy & Natural Resources Conference (runs till 11/7); Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference (runs till 11/7)
7 Dec 2016- Barclay’s Technology Conference (runs till 11/8); Citigroup Healthcare Conference (runs till 11/8)

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November 27, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 closed the week on record highs on a shortened trading week. However, stealing some spotlight has been the Russell 2000, which is now running on a 15-session winning streak. It’s up an impressive 20% on the year. The Nasdaq also performed well, gaining nearly 1% on the week, however; it was on very light trading volume.

Market participants will closely be watching the retail sales numbers that come out of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There are also a decent amount of retailers reporting earnings as well. You can find the earnings schedule below.

In other news, OPEC will meeting on November 30th. Per usual, these meetings are such wild cards, there is no use in trying to predict how they will turn out. One thing we should expect is greater volatility in the energy stocks and futures.

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +2.02%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.34%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -3.07%.

Here are some important events worth watching during the week:

Key Economic Data:
29 Nov 2016- GDP 8:30 AM ET
30 Nov 2016- Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
1 Dec 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, ISM Mfg Index 10:00 AM ET
2 Dec 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
28 Nov 2016- VNET,
29 Nov 2016- TIF, MNK, DSX, ADSK, FSC, GWRE, SPLK
30 Nov 2016- AEO, TITN, BOX, BV, GES, LZB, NQ, PVH, SMTC
1 Dec 2016- CIBC, DG, EXPR, KR, AMBA, ASNA, GII FIVE, SWHC, ULTA, WDAY, ZUMZ
2 Dec 2016- BIG, FRED

Key Conferences:
28 Nov 2016- Bank of America Merrill Lynch Leveraged Finance Corporation Conference (runs till 11/30); Credit Suisse Tech, Media and Telecom Conference (runs till 12/2)
29 Nov 2016- Citigroup Basic Materials Conference (runs till 12/1); Jefferies Energy Conference (runs till 11/30); Piper Healthcare conference (runs till 11/30); FBR Investor Conference; FBR Investor Conference
30 Nov 2016- Credit Suisse 4th Annual Industrials Conference (runs till 12/1); JPMorgan Financial Tech & Speciality Forum
2 Dec 2016- Bank America Auto Dealer Day Conference

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November 23, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500, Dow, and Russell 2000 closed on record highs today. Of course, volume was light ahead of Thanksgiving. The big economic news was the release of the FOMC minutes. At the moment, the market is pricing in a rate hike for the December meeting. In addition, the dollar index saw its highest close in over a decade.

The VIX was relatively unchanged as it closed at 12.43.

Crude oil futures were relatively unchanged, all eyes will be on next week’s OPEC meeting. Overall, crude oil futures are up on the week in hopes that the meeting results in some type of production cut.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in ON Semiconductor (ON), which traded 13.8 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Waste Connections (WCN), which saw 9.9 times normal options volume.

The markets are closed tomorrow for the Thanksgiving holiday and will be open till 1 PM ET on Friday. With that said, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
25 Nov 2016- International Trade In Goods 8:30 AM ET

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November 22, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 closed the day higher, and is now up nearly 1% on the week. With that said, we’re sitting right around 52-week highs. The Dow traded above 19000 for the first time ever, and the Russell 2000 is now up 13-straight days. This is a shortened week for the markets, there will be no trading on Thursday for Thanksgiving, and Friday will be a shortened day as the markets close at 1 PM ET.

Expect volumes to die down. However, the FOMC minutes will be something closely watched tomorrow by traders.

The VIX continues it’s decline and is now trading below 12.50, today it closed at 12.41.

There has been a ton of headline news surrounding crude oil futures, with the OPEC meeting set for later this month. At this point in time, it’s hard to believe any rumors, so we’re in a wait and see mode. Crude Oil futures caught a bid on Monday in hopes of a production cut.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Autoliv (ALV), which traded 23.1 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Titan Machinery (TITN), which saw 41.9 times normal options volume.

Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
23 Nov 2016- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET, FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM
25 Nov 2016- International Trade In Goods 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
23 Nov 2016- DE

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November 20, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 is up nearly 5% over the last two weeks and is now sitting around 52-week highs. Although the markets have seem to have embraced a Trump Presidency, a large portion of the country appears divided. Despite protests going on throughout the country, volatility in the market is rather low as witnessed by the VIX, which closed at 12.85 on Friday.

Now, the Russell 2000 has outshined both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The Russell 2000, was up nearly 3% on the week and is up more than 8% on the month. On the other hand, the Nasdaq is actually down on the month, but it did gain more than 1.3% on the week.

Here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +5.63%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.98%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -1.67%.

It should be a pretty slow week, the markets are closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, and are partially open on Friday. One bit of information that market participants will be closely following is the FOMC minutes which will be released early in the week. Even with that event, one should expect volumes to be relatively low.

Here is what the shortened week looks like:

Key Economic Data:
22 Nov 2016- Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET
23 Nov 2016- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET, FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM
25 Nov 2016- International Trade In Goods 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
21 Nov 2016- JACK, PANW, VIPS, BRCD
22 Nov 2016- BKS, BURL, CBRL, CPB, DLTR, SIG, GME, HPE, HPQ, UBRN, VEEV, NMBL
23 Nov 2016- DE

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November 13, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 bounced back from last week, rising more than 3.5% during a very eventful week in the U.S. Early on Wednesday, it was declared that Donald Trump would become the 45th President of the United States of America. Early signs point to his presidency having an inflationary impact on markets. Certain sectors related to infrastructure and banking have performed well early on.

The Russell 2000 has outperformed the S&P 500, while the Nasdaq was relatively flat on the week.

The VIX was trading above 22 just a week ago, now it’s back to trading around 14. On Friday it closed at 14.17.

Crude oil futures price sold nearly 2% on the week, closing below $44, and are now roughly 16% off the 52-week highs. On the other hand, gold futures prices slid heavily over the week. When the dust settled, gold futures prices were down more than 6% on the week.

Key Economic Data:
15 Nov 2016- Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET
16 Nov 2016- PPI 8:30 AM ET, Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:300 AM ET
17 Nov 2016- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET, Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
14 Nov 2016- INFO, ZOES, AAP, AR,
15 Nov 2016- DKS, HD, JD, MBLY, TEVA, VOD, ZBRA, SSYS, TJX, ARMK, BZH, A
16 Nov 2016- TGT, LOW, CSCO, NTAP, LB
17 Nov 2016- BBY, HP, SPLS, WMT, AMAT, CRM, GPS, INTU, MRVL, NUAN, POST, ROST
18 Nov 2016- ANF, BKE, FL

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July 12, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 is now at record levels, as earnings season is freshly upon us. Not only that, but the Russell 2000 is up around 10% over the last ten days, as we’re seeing investors gain a stronger appetite for risk.

Stocks in play today include: American Airlines Group (AAL) +11.26%, Amazon (AMZN) -.89%, Stone Energy (SGY) +23.45%, and Netsuite (N) +10.7%.

Despite all major indices advancing, the VIX actually didn’t move much…closing the day at 13.55.

Crude oil futures gained more than 4% today closing slightly below $47 per barrel. With that said, crude oil is about 9% off its year to date hights.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Etsy (ETSY), which traded 63.2 times normal volume. We also saw a ton of bearish bets being placed in Cracker Barrel (CBRL), which traded 5.8 times usual volume.

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

Key Economic Data:
13 July 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
14 July 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, PPI-FD 8:30 AM ET
15 July 2016- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET, Retail Sales 8:30 ET, Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET

Key Earnings:
13 July 2016- CSX, YUM
14 July 2016- BLK, JPM, PGR, AMD
15 July 2016- C, WFC, USB, FBR, PNC

February 16, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The equity markets started the week off with a strong start, up more than 1.5% in the S&P 500. In addition, the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 posted gains greater than 2% respectfully. The gains held from last night’s session, as the Shanghai Index gained more than 3% along with a boost in crude oil futures prices.

The gains in oil came after an announcement that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Venezuela agreed “freeze” output. However, those gains faded as the news was not as bullish sounding as a production cut.

Despite the risk on appetite, the VIX only dropped about 5% and closed above 24.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Chegg Inc (CHGG). In addition, we saw heavy put buying in CPI Card Group (PMTS), about 51.2 times usual options volume.

Stocks in play included: Gogo (GOGO) -29%, Community Health Systems (CYH) -22% and ADT (ADT) +49%.

We also saw a ton of SEC filings from funds, updating their status on new and old positions. For some stocks, these have the potential to move stock prices. For example, after the close, Berkshire Hathaway announced a stake in Kinder Morgan (KMI), which popped more than 6% higher in the after hours session.

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

Key Economic Data:
17 February 2016- Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET, PPI 8:30 AM ET, Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET, FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM ET
18 February 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philly Fed Survey 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 11:00 AM ET
19 February 2016- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
17 February 2016- DPS, GRMN, TMUS, PCLN, SHOP, BLMN, HST, BRCD, CF, CYH, GDDY, JIVE, MAR, MRO, NTAP, NVDA, SPWR, WMB, PKD
18 February 2016- CAB, DAN, DISCA, DUK, HOT, LNG, MGM, MPEL, WM, WMT, PCG, AMAT, JWN, SAM, WAGE
19 February 2016- DE

Key Conferences:
15 February 2016- CAGNY Conference (runs till 2/19)
17 February 2016- Barclay’s Industrial Conference (runs till 2/19)