February 26, 2017 The Week Ahead

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Week after week, the market continues to push through new all-time highs. Regardless, how hard the media tries to paint the picture that the new administration is a mess, the markets are telling us a completely different story.

How long with this dislocation last?

It’s really hard to say. However, on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrials managed to have its 11th straight record high close.

And you know what else?

The VIX continues to hangout below 12. On Friday, the VIX closed at 11.47. Looking forward into the week, traders will be watching GDP numbers along with earnings.

Moving on to gold and oil.

Crude oil futures closed the week higher, finishing up about 1.00%. In precious metals, gold futures prices finished the week higher, gaining more than 1.5%

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +0.44%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +2.00%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +1.37%.

Some key earnings include: Priceline, Hertz, Salesfore.com, and Costco.

Here is a list of some events that traders will be following:

Key Economic Data:
27 Feb 2017- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET
28 Feb 2017- GDP 8:30 AM ET, International Trade 8:30 AM ET
1 March 2017- Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET, ISM Manufacturing 10:00 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
2 March 2017- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET.

Key Earnings:
27 Feb 2017- AES, AFSI, AMT, BID, EMES, HZNP, SSTK, DGI, EXEL, EOG, HTZ, KND, OKE, PCLN, PRGO, THC, WDAY, CST
28 Feb 2017- AZO, CNP, DDD, ENDP, NRG, NLNK, PAH, QVCA, SEAS, SHOO, TGT, VRX, AMBA, BUFF, CRM, DAR, ETSY, EVHC, HALO, LOGM, PANW, TSRO, UHS, VEEV, WTW
1 March 2017- AEO, BBY, CROX, DLTR, DY, IEP, KERX, LOW, MYL, ODP, WIN, AVGO, BOX, KIN, SHAK, XON, VSI
2 March 2017- ANF, BKS, BUD, BURL, JD, JOY, KR, TD, ZEUS, COST, HABT, MRVL, SGMS, WING

Key Events:
27 Feb 2017- JMP Securities Technology Conference (runs till 2/28); Mobile World Congress (runs till 3/2); Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference (runs till 3/2)

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February 5, 2017 The Week Ahead

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Overall, the markets were relatively flat during the week. With that said, earnings thus far haven’t been really exciting. We got some positive results out of Apple and Facebook. However, Amazon disappointed some, but nothing bad where it caused a significant sell-off in other areas of the market.

In economic news, the FOMC meeting resulted in no changes to the key interest rate. However, they still have a plan for several rate hikes this year. One important change in their language was that they are now saying that inflation will rise vs. expected too.

Outside of that, a lot of the media attention is around the first 100 days of President Trump.

Despite all the protesting and the media trying their best to make the new regime appear toxic, the market thus far is not buying into any of it. With that said, the VIX closed at 10.97 on Friday.

Going into the week, traders will be mainly focused on earnings.

Moving on to energy.

Crude oil futures closed the week pretty strong, having 3 out of 5 winning days and ending up 1.21%. On the other hand, gold futures prices finished the week down more than 1.3%

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +1.23%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.31%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +2.33%.

Some key earnings include: Disney, Time Warner, Twitter, CVS, and Coca-Cola to name a few.

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

Key Economic Data:
7 Feb 2017- International Trade 8:30 AM ET
8 Feb 2017- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
9 Feb 2017- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM

Key Earnings:
6 Feb 2017- BWP, HAS, L, NEWL, TSN, CBOE, SYY, DO, FOXA, HMN, LYB, MAC, TSO, YRCW
7 Feb 2017- ADM, BP, CAH, CDW, EMR, FIS, GM, ICE, KORS, MNK, NOV, SABR, TDG, TEN, VMC, AKAM, BWLD, DIS, GILD, GNW, JIVE, LITE, MCHP, MDLZ, NUAN, ORLY, PAA, PNRA, PAGP, PXD, TCS, TDW, TTWO, TWLO, ULTI, YUMC, ZG
8 Feb 2017- AXTA, CTSH, EXC, GRA, GRUB, HUM, LPX, RIO, OC, SNY, TWX, VOYA, DNB, FISV, GLUU, IRBT, LVLT, MC, PAYC, SCSS, TRMB, TYL, WFM, ZEN
9 Feb 2017- BATS, BWA, BZH, CLF, COTY, CVS, DNKN, K, KKR, KO, LIVE, MAS, MHK, OXY, PTEN, RAI, TDC, TWTR, VIAB, VRTU, WWE, YUM, ATVI, CERN, CYBR, EXPE, INFN, JCOM, LPLA, MNK, NCR, MPWR, NVDA, NWSA, P, RICK, UBNT, VRSN, WU, YELP, ZAYO, ZNGA
10 Feb 2017- AXL, G, MT

Key Events:
6 Feb 2017- Credit Suisse Financial Services Forum (runs till 2/8)
8 Feb 2017- Cowen 38th Annual Aerospace, Defense & Industrials Conference (runs till 2/9)
9 Feb 2017- KBW Winter Financial Services Symposium (runs till 2/10)

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January 29, 2017 The Week Ahead

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Unless something drastic happens, the month of January will be another strong month for the stock market. However, how long can this low volatility environment continue? After all, it seems like there is one political protest after another in the US, with some uncertainty and concerns about the new President. With that said, the market is telling us something different from what the news is saying. It’s actually pretty wild if you consider that the VIX closed at $10.58 on Friday. Going into the week, traders will be watching earnings and what comes out of the FOMC announcement.

Moving on to energy:

Crude oil futures closed pretty flat on the week, having two out of five winning days. On the other hand, gold futures prices finished the week down more than 1.3%

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) 0.09%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.26%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -1.36%.

Some key earnings include: Apple, Amazon, Exxon, United Parcel Service, Visa and Mastercard to name a few.

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

Key Economic Data:
30 Jan 2017- Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET
1 Feb 2017- ISM Mfg Index 10:00 AM ET; EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET; FOMC Meeting Announcement 2:00 PM ET
2 Feb 2017- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM
3 Feb 2017- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings Release Dates:
30 Jan 2017- EPD, BAH, BOFI, GGG, GGP, PFG, RMBS, SANM
31 Jan 2017- ABC, AET, ALLY, CIT, CNX, COH, HCA, HOG, LLY, LYB, MA, MAN, NDAQ, NUE, PCAR, PFE, S, UA, UPS, VLO, XOM, XRX, AAPL, AMD, APC, CB, CHRW, EA, ILMN, OLN, X
1 Feb 2017- ANTM, ADP, BAX, D, IP, JCI, MO, MPC, MPLX, MTOR, TUP, WEC, AVB, CAVM, CRUS, FB, HOLX, IAC, LM, MAA, MET, MLNX, NXPI, QRVO, SFLY, SYMC, TSCO
2 Feb 2017- S, AZN, BSX, CME, COP, DB, EL, ETN, IP, MMP, NOK, NOV, PM, RDSA, RL, SIRI, VOD, WFT, AMGN, AMZN, CMG, DATA, CY, DATA, DECK, FEYE, FTNT, GIMO, GPOR, V
3 Feb 2017- AN, APO, HSY, WY

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January 22, 2017 The Week Ahead

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The weekend was highlighted by mass protests across the globe for Women’s March. Whether you’re into politics or not, a new regime was sworn into office on Friday, January 20, 2017. Given the love/hate relationship the new President has with the media, it’s caused him to be very active on social media. With that said, his tweets on specific sectors and stocks has already proven to add volatility. All of this could potentially lead to greater day trading opportunities.

Outside of that, earnings will be one of the key areas traders will be focused on during the week.

Crude oil futures closed up nearly 2%, having three out of four winning days. On the other hand, Gold futures prices finished the week on a two-day winning streak, gaining a shade under 1% on the week.

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -1.3%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -1.60%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +1.0%.

Some key earnings include: Yahoo, Alibaba, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Ford, Intel, Alphabet, Microsoft and Starbucks to name a few.

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

Key Economic Data:
24 Jan 2017- PMI Manufacturing Index 9:45 AM ET, Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET
25 Jan 2017- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
26 Jan 2017- International Trade in Goods 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings Release Dates:
23 Jan 2017- BOH, HAL, MCD, PETS, YHOO
24 Jan 2017- AKS, BABA, DD, DHI, EXP, GLW, JNJ, KMB, LMT, VZ, SAP, WAT, AA, COF, CREE, DFS, HA, NAVI, STLD, STX, SYK, TXN
25 Jan 2017- BA, EAT, FCX, HBAN, HES, PG, NSC, NVS, NYCB, PGR, ROK, SC, STT, TXT, UTX, CCI, EBAY, FFIV, LRCX, LVS, MCK, PUB, QCOM, URI, VRTX, WDC
26 Jan 2017- AEP, ALK, BHI, CAT, CELG, DGX, DOV, DOW, F, HP, JBLU, LEA, LLL, LUV, MJN, NOC, RCI, EFTC, FLEX, GOOG, INTC, JNPR, KLAC, MSFT, PYPL, SBUX, SYNA, SWFT, VMW
27 Jan 2017- ABBV, APD, BEN, CL, CVX, HON, UBS

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January 9, 2017 The Week Ahead

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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)

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January 2, 2017 The Week Ahead

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As many expected, volume was relatively light going into the last trading week of 2016. With that said, it should be noted that equities in general had a very impressive year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up roughly 13% on the year, the S&P 500 approximately 10%, and the Nasdaq was up more than 7%.

We enter a shortened trading week, however; it should be a busy month with the inauguration of President-Elect Trump happening near the end of the month.

Despite the volume output, the VIX managed to climb steadily the final week, closing 2016 at 14.04.

Crude oil futures had an impressive comeback in 2016, after hitting a low in February, they gained more than 100%, closed the year above $50 per barrel and right 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) +2.27%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +1.12%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) +1.88%.

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

Key Economic Data:
3 Jan 2017- ISM Manufacturing Index 10:00 AM ET
4 Jan 2017- FOMC Minutes 2:00 PM ET
5 Jan 2017- EIA Petroleum Status Report 11:00 AM ET
6 Jan 2017- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET; International Trade 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
4 Jan 2017- SONC
5 Jan 2017- MON, STZ, WBA, RT, HELE, PSMT, SCHN

Key Conferences:
4 Jan 2017- Citigroup Internet, Media, Telecom Conference (runs till 1/5)
5 Jan 2017- JPMorgan 15th Annual Technology Forum at CES; Stephens, Oppenheimer, RBC Capital at CES; CES (runs until Friday, the 8th)

December 26, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Russell 2000, and Nasdaq all managed to close the week higher. Keep in mind, volume was especially light due to the holidays. The only real question left: Will the Dow Jones Industrial Average close above 20k? It’s right there, on Friday, it closed at 19,933.81.

No surprise, with the VIX closing at 11.44 on Friday. As we enter the lightest schedule of the entire year. With just four trading days left, there are no major earnings to report or major economic announcements.

Equities are not the only market enjoying 52- week highs. In fact, crude oil futures prices finished near their 52-week highs on Friday.

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +0.09%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) +1.04%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -0.11%.

We hope everyone has been enjoying their holidays and with only four trading days left on the year, this is a great time to take a step back and review your trading. Ask yourself, what you’ve could have done to improve and what steps you’ll take to do it in 2017. If you feel like you’ve got weaknesses in your game, we’re here to help. With that said, we encourage you to check out our trading courses here.

The economic events for the week include:

Key Economic Data:
29 Dec 2016- International Trade in Goods 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET

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December 18, 2016 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq traded slightly lower on the week. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed to have its sixth straight week of gains. All in all, major indices are all hanging around 52-week highs as we approach the Christmas holiday.

Being that it is Christmas week, one could expect volumes to lighten and volatility to be relatively low. No surprise, with the VIX closing at 12.20 on Friday.

Crude oil futures prices were nearly 1% higher on the week, as they are not to far off 52-week highs. Sentiment has been bullish ever since Non-OPEC and OPEC members agreed to make production costs.

Now, here is how some of the other closely followed ETFs did on the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) +0.96%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.31%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -2.13%.

Here are some important events worth watching during the week:

Key Economic Data:
21 Dec 2016- Existing Home Sales 10:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
22 Dec 2016- Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET, GDP 8:30 AM ET, Philly Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Personal Income and Outlays 10:00 AM ET
23 Dec 2016- New Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
19 Dec 2016- LEN
20 Dec 2016- BBRY, CCL, DRI, FDS, GIS, KMX,NAV, FDX, NKE, SCS
21 Dec 2016- ACN, FINL, LNN, PAYX, CAMP, BBBY, MU, RHT
22 Dec 2016- CAG

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December 6, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 continued to chug along, and the Russell 2000 reached an intraday high during today’s session. All eyes are on the FOMC meeting next week. As of now, the market is pricing in a rate hike. With that said, trading volumes are expected to dry out as we approach the holiday season. For example, today was about half the volume we normally see in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

This can be seen with what’s been going on in the VIX. The VIX closed below 12, at 11.79 today.

Crude oil futures snapped a four-day winning streak, however; they’ve been on an absolute tear following the OPEC announcement last week, trading above $50 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Tableau Software (DATA), which traded 2.8 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in PharmAthene (PIP), which saw 9.8 times normal options volume.

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

Key Economic Data:
7 Dec 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
8 Dec 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
7 Dec 2016- LULU, XRX, COST, HRB, UNFI
8 Dec 2016- CIEN, FRED, HOV, VNCE, AVGO, FNSR
9 Dec 2016- MTN

Key Conferences:
Goldman Sachs European Industrials Conference (runs till 11/7); KeyBanc Consumer Conference (runs till 11/7); UBS Media Communications Conference (runs till 11/7); Raymond James Technology Conference (runs till 11/7)
Cowen Energy & Natural Resources Conference (runs till 11/7); Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference (runs till 11/7)
7 Dec 2016- Barclay’s Technology Conference (runs till 11/8); Citigroup Healthcare Conference (runs till 11/8)

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December 1, 2016 Market Wrap Up

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The S&P 500 closed the day lower, however; some sectors performed much better than others. For example, we saw a lot of weakness in tech stocks, the Nasdaq was down 1.36% on the day. While energy related names did fairly well off the momentum of yesterday’s OPEC meeting.

With that said, we saw a bid in the VIX, as it closed above 14, at 14.07.

Crude oil futures have been on an absolute tear over the last two days off the strength of the OPEC meeting. They’re now trading above $50 per barrel and just 5% off the year to date highs. Overall, crude oil futures are up more than 12% over the last two sessions.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Microsemi Corp (MSCC), which traded 2.4 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in McCormick and Co (MKC), which saw 15.9 times normal options volume.

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

Key Economic Data:
2 Dec 2016- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
2 Dec 2016- BIG, FRED

Key Conferences:
Credit Suisse Tech, Media and Telecom Conference
Bank America Auto Dealer Day Conference

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