February 19, 2018 The Week Ahead

The markets have bounced back after experiencing one of the fastest 10% declines in history. Overall, the market is still up year to date, despite fears of inflation increasing.

Was last week a dead cat bounce or did we get the 10% correction we needed for the bull market to continue?

Investors should continue to monitor inflation data, as well as earnings. Some key names reporting include Walmart, The Home Depot, and Apache Corporation.

The VIX closed at 19.46 on Friday, a steep decline from the Feb 6 high of 50.41.

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Source: TradingView

Here are how some of the most widely traded index ETFs performed over the week:
Powershares QQQ ETF (QQQ) +5.68%, SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) +4.44%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) +4.10%, iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) +4.48%

Here is how some futures and commodity ETFs performed over the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +4.38%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +0.65%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +2.56%

It’s a short week due to President’s Day. Besides the FOMC Minutes being released, there isn’t much on the economic calendar.

Economic Releases:
21 Feb 2018- PMI Composite Flash 9:45 AM ET; Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET; FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM ET

22 Feb 2018- EIA Petroleum Status Report 11:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
20 Feb 2018- DUK, GPC, HD, MGM, NBL, SIX, WMT, BYD, CXO, DVN, EXR, NFX

21 Feb 2018- GRMN, LNG, WEX, CAKE, EVTC, P, FIVN, CAR

22 Feb 2018- APA, CHK, GOGO, CNP, HRL, MITL, PPL, SCG, W, WIN, HLF, GDDY, INTU, OLED, TTD

23 Feb 2018- COG, ETR, HUN, PEG, PNW, RY

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