NASDAQ Breaks Through Key Technical Support

Hello traders everywhere. The NASDAQ has broken through a key technical support level at $7649.58 where the 50-day moving average stands trading -1.3% lower on the day. The fall lower comes on the heels of a lackluster Friday trade where we saw the NASDAQ fall -1.5% to close out the week. We'll have to watch and see if the index continues lower or if it will bounce off support and head higher having tested the 50-day MA twice in the last two months before bouncing off it and heading higher. Will the third time prove to be different?

Key Technical Support

The reason for the sharp sell-off can be directly attributed to the FAANG stocks as they continue to be put under selling pressure. The leader of the tech sell-off continues to be Facebook Inc (FB) as it sheds another -3.7% on the day continuing its historic three-day drop. Not to be outdone though Netflix Inc. (NFLX) is down -4.7%, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) -1.6%, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) -1.5% and Apple Inc. (AAPL) -.6%. Continue reading "NASDAQ Breaks Through Key Technical Support"

DOW Triggers New Monthly Trade Triangle

Hello traders everywhere. Close to the end of the trading day on Wednesday the DOW finally triggered a new green monthly Trade Triangle at $25,402.83 letting it join both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ on the long/bullish side of the market. However, the DOW still has some work to do to break out of the sideways trend that it has been trapped in.

The last time we got a new green monthly Trade Triangle was on December 5, 2016, at $19,225.29 and that uptrend stayed in place hitting an all-time high of 26,616.71 on January 26, 2018, before falling a new three month low of $23.344.52 and triggering a new red monthly Trade Triangle signaling that the long bull run had run its course. But as you can see the monthly Trade Triangle can be a powerful signal when it changes. Are we set for another long run to the upside?

Monthly Trade Triangle

On the flip side, Facebook Inc. (FB) is having the worst trading day in its history losing nearly 20% a day after its quarterly revenue missed expectations. Global daily active users, a key metric for the social media giant, also disappointed investors. Additionally, Facebook said it expects its revenue growth rates to slow down from last year. Facebook's earnings per share, however, topped Wall Street estimates. Continue reading "DOW Triggers New Monthly Trade Triangle"

Alphabet Pushes NASDAQ To Record High

Hello traders everywhere. The NASDAQ posted yet another record high for the year hitting $7,928.79 after Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) reported stronger-than-forecasted quarterly results sending the stock price to a record high of $1,275.00 at the open before it back off a touch. The outstanding earnings report from Alphabet helped to propel the FAANG stocks higher as well with Facebook (FB) climbing over 2%, Amazon (AMZN) gained 1.6%, Apple rose 0.8%, while Netflix (NFLX) inched up 0.3% before slipping back into negative territory.

The earnings season is off to a strong start, according to data compiled by FactSet. Of the 21.4% of S&P 500 companies that have reported, 80.6% have topped analyst expectations for second-quarter earnings. Meanwhile, 74.1% of those companies have surpassed revenue estimates.

Alphabet

Crude oil is on the rise as U.S. inventories continue to shrink and to get close to setting new three year lows for the product. Oil futures opened trading early in the am hitting a new three day low before reversing course and gaining a high of a little over 1.5% on the day so far. A U.S. government report is forecast to show a 3.1 million-barrel decline in commercial stockpiles when it's released on Wednesday, according to a Bloomberg survey. Continue reading "Alphabet Pushes NASDAQ To Record High"

Earnings Outweigh Trump's Trade Remarks

Hello traders everywhere. Solid earnings results for the likes of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Honeywell International Inc. (HON) have helped to offset the latest round of tough trade war talk from President Trump.

President Donald Trump said he’s "ready to go" with tariffs on $500 billion of Chinese imports, saying the U.S. has been taken advantage of for too long.

"I'm not doing this for politics. I'm doing this to do the right thing for our country," Trump said in a CNBC interview with Joe Kernen on "Squawk Box" that aired Friday. "We are being taken advantage of and I don't like it."

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) was rising 2% on Friday after the software giant posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on the surging strength of its cloud computing business. Microsoft reported adjusted earnings of $1.13 a share in the quarter, topping forecasts of $1.07. Revenue in the period rose 17.5% to $30.09 billion and also beat analysts' estimates. Driving the earnings beat and the revenue jump in the fourth quarter was a 93% increase in sales for Microsoft's flagship Azure clouding computing business, and solid growth for its productivity and business processes unit, which includes its Office 365 suite, where sales rose 13.1% to $9.67 billion.

Trumps Trade Remarks

Honeywell International Inc. (HON) reported better-than-expected results for second-quarter 2018. Adjusted earnings in the reported quarter came in at $2.12 per share, outpacing the analysts' estimate of $2.01. The bottom line also improved 18% year over year. This upside primarily stemmed from the company's stellar operational performance during the quarter. Revenues of $10,919 million in the second quarter surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10,776 million. The top line also grew 8% year over year. Organic revenues improved 6% on an annualized basis. Continue reading "Earnings Outweigh Trump's Trade Remarks"

S&P 500 Hovers Near Five Month High

Hello traders everywhere. As we hit the middle of July and the doldrums of summer the S&P 500 is hovering near a new five-month of 2,835.96, presently trading at the 2,815.00 level and up roughly 3.5% on the month. The move higher has been propelled by a positive earnings season, for the most part, led by the big banks. Morgan Stanley (MS) rounded off earnings from big banks, gaining 3% after its profit topped analysts' estimates on gains in fixed income and equities trading businesses.

The DOW remains to trail the S&P needing to get to above 26,306.70 to hit a new five-month high. However, it does lead the S&P 500 with a monthly gain of 3.78% on the month so far. But the real leader of the bunch remains to be the NASDAQ, which is trading near all-time highs at the 7,800 level and looking to head higher with a monthly gain over 4.4% at the moment.

Can the S&P 500 catch the NASDAQ this month as the tech sector stumbles?

Key Levels To Watch This Week:

Continue reading "S&P 500 Hovers Near Five Month High"