Trump Trade War

Hello traders everywhere. Stocks traded sharply lower earlier in the day on fears that a Trump trade war could take place after President Donald Trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Trump announced on Thursday that the U.S. would implement a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports next week. The news sent stocks reeling, with the Dow closing 420 points lower, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped more than 1 percent. It has also raised concern that other countries may implement retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports.

Trump Trade War

The S&P 500 traded 0.2% higher after falling more than 1% in early trading but has slipped back into negative territory losing .20%. The S&P 500 is down 2.6% for the week.

In volatile trading, The Dow Jones industrial average traded 70 points lower after falling as much as 391 points, but has since dropped back below a 200 pt loss on the day. Overall the DOW is down 3.4% on the week. Continue reading "Trump Trade War"

First Monthly Loss For Stock Market

Hello traders everywhere. The DOW and S&P 500 are both posting their first monthly loss in ten months. Although we seemed to be ending the month on a daily high note the trend of heading lower resumed this afternoon after the EIA reported that oil had a larger-than-expected build in U.S. stockpiles, which has pushed crude oil lower. Both indexes are down a little over 2% on the month and not quite able to erase the losses from the extreme volatility that we saw in February.

The NASDAQ has fared better only losing -.6%, but it is still posting its first monthly loss in the last seven months. The tech sector has been a standout in all of the market volatility, but it indeed hasn't been immune to it.

Monthly Loss

Looking Forward:

March could be a better month for stocks because when February ends lower, March performed best, averaging a 4.3% spring back in the S&P. One of those years was the tech bubble of 2000, when March was up 9.7%, the best performance since 1983. March 2009 was second best, with a gain of 8.5%. So we may just retest the all-time highers sooner than you think.

Key Levels To Watch Next Week:

Continue reading "First Monthly Loss For Stock Market"

Stocks Trading Sharply Higher

Hello traders everywhere. The stock market overall is trading at new three-week highs with the DOW, S&P 500 trading sharply higher for the third straight day triggering new green weekly Trade Triangles. The NASDAQ is trading higher as well, also triggering a new green weekly Trade Triangle.

Although the indexes are trading at three-week highs, they are still well off their all-time highs and have a lot of work to do to reach those levels again.

Do you think this correction is over, or we still due for a larger correction?

Stocks Trading Sharply Higher

Key Events Scheduled For This Week:

  • ECB President Mario Draghi speaks in Brussels on Monday.
  • Powell testifies before a House panel on Tuesday. He'll discuss the Fed's Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report and the state of the economy. Powell returns on March 1 before a Senate committee.
  • Companies announcing earnings this week include Vale, BASF, Standard Chartered, Bayer, Lowe's, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Peugeot, WPP, and London Stock Exchange Group.
  • U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May delivers a speech on Britain's relationship with the European Union after Brexit.
  • A barrage of data is expected out of Japan including retail sales and industrial production Wednesday, and capital spending Thursday.
    Bank of Korea has policy decision and briefing on Tuesday.
  • In China, the official and Caixin purchasing managers' indexes on Wednesday and Thursday respectively may show growth momentum slowed slightly in February, though the signal may be clouded by the holidays.

Key Levels To Watch Next Week:

S&P 500 (CME:SP500): 2,872.87
Dow (INDEX:DJI): 23,360.29
NASDAQ (NASDAQ:COMP): 7,501.58
Gold (NYMEX:GC.G18.E): 1,327.70
Crude Oil (NYMEX:CL.J18.E): 64.97
U.S. Dollar (NYBOT:DX.H18.E): 90.45
Bitcoin (CME:BRTI): 6,194.46

Every Success,
Jeremy Lutz
INO.com and MarketClub.com

Weekly Loss On Tap For Stocks

Hello traders everywhere. For the most part stocks are trading higher today led by tech, but overall the stock market is looking at posting a loss for the week after finishing higher last week. This has been an up and down week for stocks, with the major averages posting strong gains early in the week only to trade lower as the week progressed.

Weekly Loss Stocks

10-year U.S. Note Yield

The benchmark 10-year U.S. note yield hit a four-year high earlier this week after the Fed released its minutes from their January meeting showing that the central bank sees increased economic growth and an uptick in inflation as justification to continue to raise interest rates gradually. All eyes will be on the new Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony next week as he speaks for the first time.

The 10-year U.S. note yield traded below that four-year high, near 2.875% today.

Key Levels To Watch Next Week:

Continue reading "Weekly Loss On Tap For Stocks"

Bitcoin Mounts A Comeback

Hello traders everywhere. Bitcoin mounts a comeback and is on the rise for the ninth day in the last ten pushing through it's 50-day SMA where resistance had been located. Is this the new level of support? It's too soon to tell, but after rebounding off the 200-day SMA, it very well may be.

After a crash in January wiped out all of Bitcoin's gains from its record run in December it found support in mid-February at the 200-day SMA around the 7,800 level. Since then it has traded in a tight range before breaking out today and issuing a new green weekly Trade Triangle.

That drop coincided with statements by many analysts and market watchdogs that seemed to offer implied acceptance that the assets won't be regulated out of existence.

Still, until regulators gain a better grip on them, digital currencies will struggle for broader acceptance in mainstream finance and media.
Bitcoin Mounts A Comeback

Wal-Mart Disappoints

Wal-Mart (WMT) is experiencing its largest intraday percentage fall in more than two years. The move down comes as they reported a lower-than-expected profit and posted a sharp decline in online sales growth during the holiday period. Its shares slumped 9.4%.

Other retailers including Target (TGT), Kroger (KR) and Costco Wholesale (COST) fell between 1.3% and 3.7%, dragging the S&P consumer staples SPLICES index down 1.62%.

Key Levels To Watch This Week:

Continue reading "Bitcoin Mounts A Comeback"