Week of December 17th Stock Market Watch

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , ,

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.

graph

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

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

January 8, 2018 The Week Ahead

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , ,

The markets started 2018 with a bang, lead by the Nasdaq which gained more than 3% on the week. Even the S&P 500 posted one if its largest weekly gains in over a year.

The VIX closed at 9.22 on Friday, a sign that the market is optimistic and less fearful.

graph
Source: TradingView

Looking forward to the week, earnings will be kicking off on Friday, starting with some big financial firms like Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, and BlackRock.

Here is how some of the most popularly traded index ETFs performed over the week: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) +2.07%, iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) +0.69%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrials Average ETF (DIA) +1.83%, and PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ) +3.31%

Here is how some futures and commodity ETF’s performed over the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +2.84%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.75%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +2.02%

Below you’ll find what is else is on the schedule for the week:

Economic Releases:
10 Jan 2018- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
11 Jan 2018- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET; PPI 8:30 AM ET
12 Jan 2018- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET; Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
8 Jan 2018- HELE
9 Jan 2018- VOXX
10 Jan 2018- LEN, KBH, MSM, SVU
11 Jan 2018- FCEL
12 Jan 2018- JPM, BLK, PNC, WFC, INFY

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

April 20, 2017 Market Wrap Up

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , ,

Stocks were strong today, as all major indices saw gains. Leading the way were financials, with strong performances out of Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs Group.

Earnings are dominating headlines in the stock market, here are some names that reported today: Verizon Communications (VZ) -1.1%, Quest Diagnostics +6%, and Visa (V) +4.3%

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -0.75%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.39%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +0.19%.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Jones Energy (JONE), which traded 97.5 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Chicos FAS (CHS), which traded 75.7 times normal option volume.

Here is what is left for tomorrow:

Key Economic Data:
21 April 2017- PMI Composite Flash 9:45 AM ET; Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
21 April 2017- GE, HON, COL, KSU, IPG, MAN, SLB, SWK, WBC

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

April 9, 2017 Market Wrap Up

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , , ,

Most major indices sold off a little bit over the week, however; given the political headwinds (US launching missiles against Syria) it was a rather slow week of trading. Here are how some of the most popular ETF Indices performed: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) -0.23%, iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) -1.43%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrials Average ETF (DIA) +0.02%, and PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ) -0.31%

The VIX did move higher on the week, closing at 12.87, a rise of 1.34 points from the previous Friday close.

ETF Performers: United States Oil Fund (USO) +3.01%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +0.21%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +0.62%.

The markets will be closed on Friday, in observance of Good Friday. However, earnings kick off on Thursday, which could bring some volatility into the markets. Companies that will be announcing on Thursday include the likes of Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.

Outside of that, this shortened week could be slow, with potential outliers coming from political and geopolitical headlines.

Check out the dates below for a detailed look at the weekly schedule.

Key Economic Data:
12 April 2017- EIA Petroleum Status 10:30 AM ET
13 April 2017- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET; PPI 8:30 AM ET
14 April 2017- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET; Retail Sales 8:30 AM

Key Earnings:
11 April 2017- OZRK
12 April 2017- FAST, PIR
13 April 2017- APOG, C, JPM, WFC

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

January 9, 2017 The Week Ahead

Education, Trading , , , , , , , ,

The stock market closed at all-time high levels on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrials nearly touching 20k intraday. For the most part, trading volumes were light during the first four days of the new year. One should expect trading volumes to pick up as we enter earnings next week. Specifically, we’ll be hearing from some of the bigger names in the banking sector.

Interestingly, fear in the market has nearly disintegrated, as the VIX closed at 11.32 on Friday.

Crude oil futures closed the week on a 3-day winning streak, but ended up nearly unchanged overall. With that said, prices are near their 52-week highs.

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -0.34%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +1.61%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +1.32%.

It appears that bank earnings will be one of the more important events, which will happen on Friday. We’ll be hearing from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan.

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

Key Economic Data:
11 Jan 2017- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
12 Jan 2017- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
13 Jan 2017- PPI-FD 8:30 AM ET, Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings Release Dates:
9 Jan 2017- CUDA, APOL, GPN, VOXX
10 Jan 2017- LW
11 Jan 2017- KBH, SVU
12 Jan 2017- FCEL, TSM
13 Jan 2017- BAC, BLK, INFY, JPM, PNC, WFC

Key Conferences:
9 Jan 2017- ICR Exchange Consumer Conference (runs till 1/11); JPMorgan Healthcare Conference (runs till 1/13).
10 Jan 2017- Needham Growth Conference (runs till 1/12)

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

October 9, 2016 The Week Ahead

Education, Trading , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 closed the week slightly lower on below average trading volume. However, things should pick up as earnings season kicks off on Tuesday with Alcoa. Also, we’ll be getting eps numbers out of some big banks including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan.

Some other big events for the week include the release of the FOMC Minutes and an OPEC Meeting.

Despite the market selling off a little… the VIX didn’t move much, closing the week at 13.48.

Crude oil futures prices rose more than 3% on the week. As mentioned earlier, OPEC will be meeting October 9 to 13th at World Energy Congress. It wouldn’t be a surprise if volatility increases surrounding this event.

Moving on, gold futures prices slipped more than 4% on the week. In addition, T-bond futures prices sold off 5-straight days and closing nearly 2% lower.

Here is what else is on the schedule for the upcoming week:

Key Economic Data:
12 Oct 2016- FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM ET
13 Oct 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET; EIA Petroleum Status Report 11:00 AM ET
14 Oct 2016- PPI 8:30 AM ET, Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
11 Oct 2016- AA, FAST, CUDA, HAWK, VOXX
12 Oct 2016- CSX
13 Oct 2016- DAL, LNN, MAR, PGR, AMD, KMG, FRC
14 Oct 2016- C, JPM, PNC, WFC

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

April 10, 2016 The Week Ahead

Education, Trading , , , , , , , , ,

The S&P 500 finished the week lower, however; we’re only 1.32% off our yearly highs heading into earnings season. With that said, several names in the financial sector will be reporting. This includes JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citi to name a few.

The VIX closed the week more than two points higher from last Friday, at 15.36. It didn’t stick in the 13-range for too long.

Crude oil finished the week higher, more than 6% as they inch back near $40 per barrel. Part of the help came from the EIA Petroleum numbers, which indicated greater than expected draws in supply.

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

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

Key Earnings:
11 April 2016- AA
12 April 2016- FAST, CSX, ADTN
13 April 2016- JPM, PIR
14 April 2016- BAC, BLK, DAL, PGR, TSM, WFC, AMD, CHKE
15 April 2016- C, RF, SCHW