August 20, 2018 The Week Ahead

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Stocks were mixed during the week as attention remains on the ongoing currency crisis in Turkey as well as, trade negotiations between the US and China. The number of earnings reports are declining and trading volumes are starting to come in as the summer drags along.

Stocks in play during the week included: WMT +8.51%, TSLA -14.06%, CGC +19.47%, SWCH -26.79%, and JWN +12.55%

Here are how some of the most widely traded index ETFs performed over the week:
Powershares QQQ ETF (QQQ) -0.37%, SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) +0.67%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) +1.27%, iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) +0.49%

The VIX closed at 12.60 on Friday.

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Here are how some futures and commodity ETFs performed over the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -2.77%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +0.27%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -2.23%

Economic Releases:
22 Aug 2018- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET; FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM ET

23 Aug 2018- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET; PMI Composite Flash 9:45 AM ET; New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
20 Aug 2018- EL, BHP, FN

21 Aug 2018- COTY, KSS, TJX, TOL, KEYS, LZB, URBN

22 Aug 2018- LOW, TGT, ADI, SMRT

23 Aug 2018- BABA, ADSK, INTU, LB, ROST, SNPS, SPLK, VEEV

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August 18, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 crept higher for the second straight session, pushing to us to nearly flat on the week now. Earlier in the day, earnings out of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) was taken well as the stock closed at 74.30, touching 52-week highs.

Stocks in play today include: Corrections Corp of America (CXW) -35%, The Geo Group (GEO) -40%, Harley-Davidson (HOG) -1.7%, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) -2.7%

The VIX closed lower, and now trading below 11.50, closing at 11.43.

Crude oil futures continue to ascend higher, now up over 8% on the week, and not incredibly far from the 52-wk highs, closing above $48 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Amphenol Corp (APH), which traded 4 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Chicos Fas (CHS) at 2.8 times normal options volume.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Earnings:
19 Aug 2016- DE, EL, FL, MSG

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August 14, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 closed the week nearly unchanged, holding on to record high levels. Earnings have been fairly decent across the board as we head into next week. Despite the market being near all-time highs, it hasn’t really been met with too much excitement as witnessed by the below average trading volume.

The VIX didn’t really change much from the previous Friday’s close, still trading below 12 at 11.55.

Crude oil futures prices gained more than 6% on the week. OPEC is set to meet next month, earlier in the week, the Saudi Oil Minister made comments that they’d be willing to work with other OPEC nations to stabilize prices.

Moving on, gold futures prices were relatively unchanged. In addition, T-bond futures prices gained nearly 1%, and are now about 2.5% off their 52-week highs.

Earnings season is slowing down, but we’ll be hearing from big retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Home Depot (HD), Lowe’s (LOW), Target (TGT), and WalMart (WMT) just to name a few.

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

Key Economic Data:
16 Aug 2016- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET, Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET, Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET
17 Aug 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET, FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM ET
18 Aug 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philly Fed Survey 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
15 Aug 2016- SYY
16 Aug 2016- AAP, COTY, DKS, HD, TJX, CREE, URBN
17 Aug 2016- AEO, LOW, SPLS, TGT, A, CSCO, NTAP
18 Aug 2016- BONT, WMT, AMAT, GPS, ROST, DV
19 Aug 2016- DE, EL, FL, MSG

Key Conferences:
15 Aug 2016- Enercom Energy Conference (runs till 8/18)

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November 30, 2015 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 closed the day relatively weak, as traders came back from Thanksgiving break. With that said, we still finished the month higher. On the other hand, energy, the United States Oil Fund (USO) finished the month down more than 12%. In addition, gold, the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) was down nearly 7% on the month.

There was a decent amount of attention on retail names, stats for Black Friday and Cyber Monday were hitting the tape. Unfortunately, Target (TGT) had issues with their website today, the stock price was down 1.3%. Here’s how other retailers fared: Wal-Mart (WMT) -1.6%, Gap (GPS) -2.3%, Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) -3.8%, and Amazon (AMZN) -1%.

The VIX finished the day a point higher, closing the month at 16.13.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in ADT (ADT). We also saw massive put buyers in Urban Outfitters (URBN), which was down over 5%.

Here’s what is going for the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
01 December 2015- ISM Manufacturing 10:00 AM ET
03 December 2015- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
04 December 2015- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET, International Trade 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
01 December 2015- BMO, BOBE
02 December 2015- AEO, AVGO, ARO, VMEM
03 December 2015- EXPR, G, SHLD, AMBA, BKS, FIVE, ULTA
04 December 2015- HOV

Key Events:
30 November 2015- Credit Suisse Industrial Conference (runs till 12/3), Credit Suisse Tech, Media, Telecom Conference (runs till 12/3)
01 December 2015- Citigroup Basic Materials Conference (runs till 12/2), Cowen 4th Annual HealthCare Conference, Cowen 5th Annual Ultimate Energy Conference (runs till 12/2), Goldman Sachs Metals & Mining Conference (runs till 12/2), Piper Jaffray HealthCare Conference (runs till 12/2)
03 December 2015- Wells Fargo Boston Gaming Forum
04 December 2015- American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting

October 15, 2015 Market Wrap Up

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October 15, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 exploded today, closing the day 1.5% higher. The SPDR S&P (SPY) is now 11.5% above our 52-week lows.

It almost seems like we’ve fallen back to the ol’ bad news is good… and good news is good. A win-win for the market. We’ve shaken off bad earnings from GS, NFLX, and HCA. Not to mention, lowered expectations out of Wal-Mart (WMT).

With that said, the VIX got smoked. It was down more than 10% and is now at 16.05.

The energy sector was relatively flat; however, the United States Oil Fund (USO) is more than 20% off its 52-week lows.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Zoetis (ZTS) and bearish put buying in Seagate Technology (STX).

This evening we got earnings from Wynn Resorts Limited (WYNN) -7.5%

Here’s what’s on tap tomorrow:

Key Economic Data:
16 October 2015- Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET

Key Earnings:
16 October 2015- GE, HON, KSU