Earnings, Earnings, Earnings

Hello traders everywhere. The stock markets opened little unchanged for on Monday holding just above the record levels set on Friday. The reason for the slow start? Earnings. That's right, it's earnings season and we're kicking off a big week of earnings with Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), which reports after the close today.

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If you're looking for a place to find a full listing of earnings dates look no further. I use Yahoo! Finance's earnings calendar.

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "Earnings, Earnings, Earnings"

Indexes Hover Around All-Time Highs

Hello MarketClub members everywhere. As the trading week comes to an end, the DOW and S&P 500 are hovering around their all-time highs with the S&P 500 surpassing that mark as I write this. Weak economic data has also dimmed the chances of another rate hike this year, while lukewarm forecasts by J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo have limited gains.

EDIT: Shortly after I posted this video the NASDAQ triggered a green weekly TT. Your key level to watch next week is now 6,081.96. A move below that level would issue a new red weekly TT.

Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) fell 1.3%, Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) was down 1% and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) fell 1.8%, despite their quarterly profits beating analysts' expectations.

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Gold and crude oil are both posting weekly gains of 1.3% and 5.2% respectively.

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "Indexes Hover Around All-Time Highs"

Trump Jr. Emails Spook Wall Street

Hello MarketClub members everywhere. Stocks were sent for a wild ride today as traders weighed the impact of emails released by Donald Trump Jr. via Twitter.

The Dow initially fell 100 points on concerns that the Russia controversy that’s plagued President Trump’s presidency will worsen. However, the major averages recovered about half an hour later. The Nasdaq and Dow are now in the green while the S&P 500 remains in the red.

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Key levels to watch this week: Continue reading "Trump Jr. Emails Spook Wall Street"

Stronger-Than-Expected Employment Data Spurs Markets

Hello MarketClub members everywhere. After a tumultuous week stocks are ending on a high note with the labor department reporting that the U.S. economy added 222,000 jobs in June. Economists had been expecting an increase of 179,000. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent.

However, wage growth, which is viewed as a measure of inflation, rose by just 0.2 percent.

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Crude oil is heading lower for the third straight day as OPEC said it might be considering putting a limit on how much Nigeria and Libya can produce.

Key levels to watch next week: Continue reading "Stronger-Than-Expected Employment Data Spurs Markets"

OPEC Deals Have Effectively Collapsed

Robert Boslego - INO.com Contributor - Energies


When OPEC announced its agreement 30 November 2016, it pledged to bring its collective ceiling to 32.5 million barrels per day (mmbd), effective 1st of January 2017. At the time, that ceiling included Indonesia, which was in the process of withdrawing from the cartel. The adjusted ceiling, therefore, became about 31.76 mmbd, excluding Indonesia’s 740,000 b/d output.

The deal was extended at the end of May for an additional nine months through March 2018. At the press conference, OPEC president and Saudi energy minister, Khalid Al-Falih, answered a question about the rising production in Libya and Nigeria. He responded by saying that other OPEC members would adjust their output accordingly to allow, for their increases.

But data throughout 2017, and most recently June, reveal no such adjustments have been made. According to Reuters, June production averaged 32.57 mmbd, about 820,000 b/d above its ceiling, as adjusted.

And Libyan production has continued to rise, topping 1.0 mmbd at month’s end. Nigerian exports are scheduled to reach at least two mmbd in August, 500,000 b/d higher than in the cartel’s base month (October 2016).

OPEC’s output in October was around 33.7 mmbd (including Indonesia). And so June’s production of 33.3 mmbd (including Indonesia) is only about 400,000 b/d lower.

Based on the above expectations for rising output in August, the OPEC deal is effectively dead. OPEC production will be back to about where it was in October. Continue reading "OPEC Deals Have Effectively Collapsed"