July 24, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 closed the week near record levels, making that the fourth straight week of positive gains. We now set up for one of the busiest earning weeks of the year, along with the FOMC meeting on Wednesday.

The VIX continued to decline during the week, closing on Friday at 12.02.

Crude oil futures prices fell about 4% on the week. On the other hand, gold futures prices dropped about 1%. T-bond futures prices closed relatively flat on the week.

As mentioned earlier, earnings season starts really pick up now. We’ll be hearing from Apple (AAPL), Coca-Cola (KO), Mcdonald’s (MCD), Amazon (AMZN), and ExxonMobil (XOM) just to name a few.

Here is what is on tap for this upcoming week:

Key Economic Data:
26 July 2016- New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET
27 July 2016- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET, FOMC Meeting Announcement 2:00 PM ET
28 July 2016- International Trade in Goods 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
29 July 2016- GDP 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
25 July 2016- COL, DHR, KMB, S, CR, ESRX, GILD, LVS, TXN
26 July 2016- AKS, ALLY, BAX, BEAV, BP, CAT, CHKP, CVLT, DD, FCX, DD, HOT, JBLU, JNS, KEY, KKR, LLY, MAS, MBLY, MCD, UA, UTX, VLO, VZ, WAT, AAPL, AKAM, APC, ASH, BWLD, CAKE, CAVM, ILMN, IRBT, JNPR, LLTC, PNRA, TWTR, X, ZION
27 July 2016- ARMH, ANTM, CMCSA, DB, DPS, GLW, GRMN, HES, HLT, IR, KO, LVLT, MDLZ, MO, NDAQ, NOC, ROK, SIX, STT, SVU, STM, AF, CA, CAKE, CRUS, GRPN, INFN, LM, MCK, NOW, PXD, ORLY, VRTX, WFM, XLNX
28 July 2016- APD, AZN, BWA, BMY, CAB, CELG, CL, CLF, CME, COMM, COP, DOW, ESV, F, GRUB, HOG, HSY, IP, LEA, LLL, MA, MJN, NOV, PENN, POT, WWE, AMZN, CBS, BIDU, CY, DECK, ES, EXPE, GOOGL, HIG, INVN, N, RSG, STRZA, WDC
29 July 2016- ABBV, AN, BUD, CBOE, CPN, CVX, LYB, MRK, NWL, PSX, SAVE, UPS, WG, XOM

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January 31, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 had its second straight positive week. It was a rough month for indices, with some of them seeing their worst monthly declines in over five years. Volatility may come in as the Chinese market will be on break to celebrate their new year, which happens in less than two weeks.

If you recall, weakness in the Asian markets was causing the heavy selling in January. Not to mention weakness in oil prices.

The VIX waited till Friday to sell-off hard. Overall, it closed lower, right above 20.

Crude oil prices are more than 10% higher than their monthly lows. Gaining more than 5% on the week and closing above $33 per barrel. Is it a dead-cat bounce or have prices finally started to stabilize?

Reporting this week: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Alphabet (GOOGL), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Yahoo (YHOO), Merck (MRK), and much much more.

Here’s what else is on tap:

Key Economic Data:
1 February 2016- Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET, ISM Mfg Index 10:00 AM ET
4 February 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
5 February 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET, International Trade in Goods 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
1 February 2016- AET, CAH, HAIN, SOHU, SYY, APC, GOOGL, TSO, MAT, GGP, AGNC
2 February 2016- ADM, ADT, ALLY, BAX, BEAV, CIT, DOW, EMR, KORS, LAZ, LYB, MNK, PFE, RCL, UBS, UPS, XOM, CMG, ILMN, YHOO, TDW, CHRW
3 February 2016- ADP, APO, BEN, CBG, CBOE, CMCSA, ENR, ETN, GM, IP, KLIC, MRK, NOV, BWLD, CCK, CDNS, GPRO, MET, NXPI, SFLY, YUM
4 February 2016- AZN, ABC, COP, COTY, DLPH, GRUB, ICE, OXY, PENN, RL, WFT, BMI, DATA, DECK, LNKD, LGF
5 February 2016- ATHN,CME, TSN, WY

January 20, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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It was another crazy day in the markets. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) opened the day at 185.03, hit a high of 188.06, and posted a low of 181.02. When the dust settled, it ended the day down 2.41 points or 1.28%. We’re close to being down 10% on the year.

The VIX continues to stay elevated, it closed above 27, however; it nearly hit 30 at one point during the session.

Crude oil futures prices are at decade lows, with no clear sign of support. We’re currently trading below $29 per barrel. Of course, this has taken a strain on the overall market. With that said, crude oil futures prices have suffered an even greater loss than equities so far this year.

Not only that, but we’ve gotten to the point where a gallon of gasoline is cheaper than a gallon of water and a gallon of milk.

Stocks in play included: Netflix (NFLX) -.45%, Exxon (XOM) -4%, Synaptics (SYNA) +27.3%, Twitter (TWTR) +5%

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Icici Bank (IBN). In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Stone Energy (SGY).

Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the week. Keep in mind, we’ve got an ECB decision tomorrow morning.

Key Economic Data:
21 January 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philly Fed Survey 8:30 AM ET
22 January 2016- Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
21 January 2016- ALK, CP, LUV, VZ, ISRG, JBHT, MXIM, SBUX
22 January 2016- COL, GE, KSU, LM, SAP, SYF

Conferences:
20 January 2016- World Economic Forum in Davos (runs til 1/23)

October 22, 2015 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 was on fire today, closing the day up near 2%. The SPDR S&P (SPY) is now up more than 6% on the month.

The market opened up strong after earnings from McDonalds posted better than expected earnings. The stock price closed the day up a little more than 8%.

The VIX continues to get leveled, it closed the day at 14.45, down more than 13%.

The energy sector was relatively flat; however, we did see some strength in some energy stocks in the likes of Exxon Mobil (XOM), which was more than 3%.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Vmware (VMW). Options that saw bearish put buying in AbbVie (ABBV).

This evening we got earnings from Alphabet (GOOGL) +9% , Amazon (AMZN) +9.7%, and Microsoft (MSFT) +8%.

Here’s what’s on tap tomorrow:

23 October 2015- AAL, PG

August 6, 2015 Market Wrap Up

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August 6, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 closed lower today, now making four out of the last five trading sessions. We’ve seen several companies in various sectors, specifically, media, technology, and healthcare report bad earnings.

We saw weakness in Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Time Warner, Starz, and Twenty-First Century Fox. In addition, the Ishares Nasdaq Biotech ETF (IBB) was down over 4%.

With that said, it was no surprise to see the VIX jump over 10%, closing the day at 13.77. Now, a 13.77 VIX is not exactly screaming panic, we would need a further sell-off for that to occur.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Diana Shipping Inc (DSX). We also saw bearish option activity in Broadcom Corp (BRCM).

The energy complex held up, considering the weakness we saw in other areas in the market. We saw some strength in XOM, CVX, and OXY to name a few.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Economic Data:
7 August 2015- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
7 August 2015- CVC