October 27, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 closed the day lower, making it the third straight losing session. Earnings continues to dominate the headlines. Thus far, earnings have been relatively mixed, giving some traders the belief that we might be in for a rate hike possibly in the NOV or DEC FOMC meeting.

In the after hours we got earnings out of Amazon (AMZN), which posted much smaller than anticipated profits. In addition, Alphabet (GOOG), topped the Street’s 3Q forecasts.

Stocks in play today included: Community Health Systems (CYH) -50%, GNC Holdings (GNC) -25%, Ocwen Financial (OCN) +16.5%, and Level 3 Communications (LVLT) +10.4%

The VIX sold gained nearly 9%, closing the day above 15, at 15.36.

Crude oil futures prices bounced a little bit, snapping a 3-day losing streak and gaining nearly 1% on the day.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Iconix Brand (ICON), which traded 6.4 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Osiris Therapeutics (OSIR), which saw 9.8 times normal options volume.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Earnings:
28 Oct 2016- ABBV, AN, CVX, CBOE, HSY, MA, NWL, PSX, SNY, SHPG, TEN, WY, XOM, XRX, SIMO

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October 23, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 closed the week slightly higher snapping a two week losing streak. About one third of the S&P 500 will be reporting in a heavy earnings week. With that said, we’re not that far off all time highs. Some earnings to watch include Apple, Amazon, Google, Coca-Cola, Exxon, and Tesla.

With earnings thus far not that awful and the likelihood of a Hillary win increasing, we saw volatility come in, closing the week at 13.34.

Crude oil futures prices rose about 1% over the week, closing above $50 and not too far off 52-week highs.

Moving on, gold futures prices rose four out of the five trading days and gained more than 1.2%. In addition, T-bond futures prices rose four out of the last five trading days, gaining nearly 1%.

Over the weekend we got news that AT&T would be buying Time Warner for $107.50 per share, or $85.4 billion dollars. It will be interesting to see if we start to see if regulators have any issues with this deal and what it means for the industry.

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

Key Economic Data:
26 Oct 2016- International Trade in Goods 8:30 AM ET; New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET; EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
27 Oct 2016- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET; Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
28 Oct 2016- GDP 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
24 Oct 2016- BEAV, CYOU, EXP, KMB, PETS, SOHU, TMUS, VFC, AGNC, AVB, CDNS, ISIL, KN, RE, RMBS, SONC, SWFT, V, ZION
25 Oct 2016- AKS, AMTD, BAC, BHI, CAT, CIT, CVLT, EAT, FCX, GLW, GM, JBLU, JNS, KEY, LLY, LMT, MAS, MDSO, MMM, MRK, NLSN, PG, R, S, SHW, TRU, UA, UTX, VLO, WAT, WHR, AAPL, AKAM, CAKE, CB, CHRW, CMG, COF, DFS, ESRX, IRBT, JNPR, NBR, NCR, P, PNRA, T, VRTX
26 Oct 2016- ALLY, BA, BEN, BIIB, BSX, CMCSA, EVER, FCAU, GRMN, GRUB, HBAN, HES, KO, LH, LUV, NOC, OC, PAG, SC, SPG, STT, WM, AXS, BWLD, GRPN, FFIV, INFN, NEM, NXPI, ORLY, SFLY, TSLA, VMW, WDC, TXN, WLL
27 Oct 2016- AET, ALXN, AMT, APD, BMY, BOFI, BWA, BX, CAB, CELG, CL, CLF, CME, COP, DB, DOW, DPS, F, GNC, HACA, IP, LAZ, LLL, MJN, MO, MPC, NOK, NOV, PENN, POT, PX, SIRI,SWK, TMO, TPH, TPX, TROW, UPS, VW, WWE, AIG, AMZN, BIDU, CA, CBI, CRUS, CY, DLR, ELLI, EXPE, FLEX, FTNT, GOOGL, HIG, MCK, PFG, STRZA, SYK, SYNA, TWTR
28 Oct 2016- ABBV, AN, CVX, CBOE, HSY, MA, NWL, PSX, SNY, SHPG, TEN, WY, XOM, XRX, SIMO

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October 18, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 was off to a solid start gaining more than .6% on below average volume. We got strong earnings reports out of Goldman Sachs, Netflix, and UnitedHealth. However, there were some companies that didn’t fare as well like IBM and Johnson & Johnson.

Stocks in play today included: Banc of California (BANC) -29.05%, Netflix (NFLX) +19.07%, Harley-Davidson (HOG) +9.03%, and Domino’s Pizza (DPZ) +4.89%

The VIX sold off nearly 6% and closed at 15.28.

Crude oil futures prices paired off yesterday’s losses and continue to trade above $50 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Iamgold CytRX Corp (CYTR), which traded 41.4 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Progressive Corporation (PGR), which saw 5.4 times normal options volume.

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

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

Key Earnings:
19 Oct 2016- ABT, CP, DOV, GPC, HAL, MS, RAI, STJ, STX, SVU, TUP, USB, AXP, EBAY, CTXS, HNI, GGG, MAT, PKG, SLM, STLD, URI, XLNX
20 Oct 2016- BK, DAN, DGX, DHR, FITB, KCG, NUE, PH, PHM, PPG, TRV, TXT, UNP, VZ, WBA, WBC, AMD, ATHN, EFTC, KLAC, MSFT, MXIM, N, PYPL, RCI, RS, SLB, SWN
21 Oct 2016- GE, HON, IPG, MCD, SYF, SAP, STI, MAN

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June 28, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 caught its first bounce after the Brexit announcement, as it closed up more than 35 points, a gain of nearly 1.8%. Not only that, but the VIX came under attack as it dropped more than 20% and closing below 19.

Stocks in play today include: comScore, Inc (SCOR) $23.83 (-18.96%), Dow Chemical Company (DOW) $48.50 (-2.04%), PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $35.24 (+3%), and Splunk, Inc. (SPLK) $53.34 (+4.65%).

Despite the anemic volume, the VIX actually grinded up, closing at 14.64.

Crude oil futures closed about %3 higher at $47.85.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Travelport Worldwide Limited (TVPT), which traded 8.1 times normal volume. We also saw a ton of bearish bets being placed in Clovis Oncology Inc (CLVS), which traded 2.2 times usual volume.

Here’s what’s left for the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
29 June 2016- Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
30 June 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
01 July 2016- ISM Mfg Index 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
29 June 2016- GIS, MON, PIR
30 June 2016- CAG, DRI, LNN, STZ, MU, MKC

Key Events:
JPMorgan Media & Telecoms CEO Conference (runs till 6/29)

May 5, 2015 Market Wrap Up

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May 5, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 saw continued selling pressure, closing down over 1%. Many market pundits believe the move was attributed U.S. international trade data, implying the economy might be weaker than expected.

Another possible answer to today’s decline was the weakness out of China. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped over 4%.

With that said, the VIX surged over 11%, closing at 14.31.

On bright spot is the energy market; crude oil futures closed the day relatively strong; the United States Oil ETF (USO) settled in at $20.75, good for a gain of over 2%.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Vale SA (VALE), SalesForce.com Inc (CRM). Bearish option bets were made in Viacom Inc (VIAB).

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

Key Economic Data:
7 MAY 2015- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
8 MAY 2015- Employment Situation 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
6 MAY 2015- CHK, LAMR, SODA, WEN, HAIN, GSK, ATML, ATVI, CF, FOXA, MET, MRO, TRIP, TSLA, WFM
7 MAY 2015- APA, APO, BABA, GOOG, LEAF, PCLN, SN, CBS, CYBR, NUAN, OLED, OUTR, SFM, TSO