June 11, 2017 The Week Ahead

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The markets ended the week mixed ahead of the FOMC meeting and announcement. On Friday, the market’s fear index, the VIX, hit a 23-year low during the trading session. Shortly after, Nasdaq stocks started to sell off aggressively.

The June futures in the Nasdaq 100 traded in a range between 5660.25 to 5898.75, closing down 2.46% on the day, at 5740.50.

It’s hard to say what exactly sparked the catalyst. It could have been caused by uncertainty leading up to the FOMC announcement.

Another possibility could have been cautious comments out of Citron Research on Nvidia Corporation calling it a “casino stock.” On Friday, shares of the stock traded in a range between $142.75 and $168.50, closing down -6.46%, at $149.60.

That volatility triggered other Nasdaq names like Apple (-3.88%), Alphabet Inc. (-3.41%), Amazon.com, Inc. (-3.16%), and Facebook Inc. (-3.28%).

The VIX end up modestly higher, closing at 10.70 on Friday, a gain of 5.31%

Here are how some of the most traded ETFs performed over the week: SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) -0.31%, iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) +1.26%, SPDR Dow Jones Industrials Average ETF (DIA) +0.36%, and PowerShares QQQ ETF (QQQ) -2.43%

Here is how some futures/commodity related ETF’s performed over the week: United States Oil Fund (USO) -3.75%, iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) -0.97%, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) -0.88%.

Below you’ll find what is else is on the schedule for the week:

Key Economic Data:
13 June 2017- PPI 8:30 AM ET
14 June 2017- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET; Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET: FOMC Meeting Announcement 2:00 PM EST
15 June 2017- Jobless Claims; Philly Fed Survey; Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET
16 June 2017- Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
13 June 2017- HRB
14 June 2017- JBL, LAKE, CRWS
15 June 2017- FNSR, KR

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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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November 1, 2015 The Week Ahead

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The S&P 500 finished the week relatively flat, however; it finished the month nearly 7% higher. In fact, the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) is less 2% off the all-time highs.

With that said, the VIX closed around 15, a signal that there isn’t much fear in the market at the moment.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up nearly 4% on the week, and flat for the month. We continue to see a divergence between the energy and equity markets.

On the earnings front we’ll see releases out of the likes of Disney, Facebook, Qualcomm, and Ralph Lauren to name a few.

Key Economic Data:
2 November 2015- ISM Manufacturing Index 10:00 AM ET
4 November 2015- International Trade 8:30 AM ET
5 November 2015- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
6 November 2015- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET
30 October 2015- Personal Income 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
2 November 2015- CLX, CTB, D, DO, EL, L, KBR, NBL, V, SYY, AIG, CAR
3 November 2015- DISCA, MOS, ZTS, TASR, SALE, EMR, ATVI, CBS, GRPN, X, ZNGA, HLF
4 November 2015- AGN, AVP, KORS, TWX, WEN, CF, FEYE, FB, QCOM, RIG, MRO, HOLX
5 November 2015- AMCX, AZN, CELG, COTY, DUK, GOGO, HFC, KATE, RL, TAP, ANET, CYBR, DATA, DIS, DWA, GLUU, NUS, SWKS, TRIP, WTW
6 November 2015- HUM, HZNP

August 20, 2015 Market Wrap Up

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August 20, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 got absolutely destroyed today; despite no real news. Nonetheless, we were down over 2% and the VIX exploding up over 25% and closing at 19.14.

We saw big sell-offs in Facebook -5%, Disney -6%, Twitter -6%, and Merck -4.5%.

Of course, all eyes will be on China this evening for indication of how the U.S. Markets will open up.

One big winner today, was the precious metal gold. The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), was up nearly 2%. Proving that during volatile markets, gold is still considered a safe haven. On the other hand, crude oil futures hit a multi-year low, down over 55% in 12 months.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Calpine Corp (CPN). We also saw bearish option activity in Splunk, Inc.

Tomorrow is August options expiration.

Here’s what else is going on:

Key Earnings:
21 August 2015- DE, FL