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The Morning Hammer: Post-Debate Happiness
The Mexican peso is up 1.7% this morning, which means Mr. Market thinks Hillary Clinton won last night’s steel cage match US Presidental debate. Meanwhile, the pound sterling is still falling in the wake of Friday’s flash crash. Crude oil is rising after Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said crude could hit $60 by year-end. OPEC recently announced a production cut, though market participants would certainly like more detail. European equities are up for the first time in 4 days on strength in automakers, throuhg banks are still looking weak. Deutsche Bank (DB) failed to announce a deal with the Department of Justice as some traders expected. China resumed trading after a week-long holiday, and the yuan dropped to a fresh 6-year low. Goldman Sachs says that US and European markets could stumble a bit into year-end due to political risks, a weak economy in Europe, and high stock prices in the US. The US dollar is still in bull market mode despite Friday’s slightly soft jobs report. Traders are pricing in a 64% probability of a December rate hike, though keep in mind, the pace thereafter what matters. According to some very smart folks I’ve spoken with, there’s an excellent chance the Fed is one and done. However, gold is catching a bid today, so I’d watch for a pop in the beaten down gold miners (GDX). Apple (AAPL) is up fractionally this morning on news reports that Samsung temporarily stopped production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone. The device was already recalled, but even replacement models are catching fire, which is a PR disaster. SPX futures are up about 11 handles this morning, so we’re starting the week off on a positive note. Biotech is catching a bid this morning — it’s been lagging to see if the weak trend breaks.
Continue Reading -->T3’s Take 3: Stocks Get Stuck in First Gear
Learn Dave Green’s Trading Secrets Click here to start speculating the SMART way… 1) Stuck in First Gear Stocks were stuck in first gear today following a downturn in Europe overnight. European banks fell hard after Deutsche Bank (DB) said the Department of Justice is seeking $14 billion to settle a legal case related to mortgage-backed securities. Bloomberg Intelligence had estimated the settlement would be in the range of $4 – $8 billion. The S&P 500 fell as low as 2131.20, but recovered some of its losses into the close and finished at 2139.09, down -0.4%. The Nasdaq outperformed due to strength in large-cap biotech names, notably Celgene (CELG), which reported positive study data. Crude oil declined again, sending energy shares down, with notable weakness in oil service. This morning, Intel (INTC) raised its third-quarter revenue and gross margin guidance on rebounding demand for PC’s. Intel shares rose 3.0%, but failed to significantly lift the broader semiconductor universe. 2) CPI Surprise! US economic data has been deteriorating since the July 29 Q2 GDP report, which had some traders losing faith in the Fed’s ability to hike rates this year. But the hawks got a small boost today with the better-than-expected August Consumer Price Index report, the last major economic data release before Tuesday’s Federal Reserve rate decision. The CPI rose 1.1% year-over-year, beating the 1.0% consensus, while the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.3%. The report had traders upping their rate hike bets, and Fed funds futures now imply a 55% chance of a December rate hike, up from 50% earlier today. 3) Traders Sell the Apple News Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone 7 went on sale today after a week of positive news, though they were not easy to find. In fact, demand is so strong that some iPhone models will not be delivered until November. Earlier this week, T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S) both said that iPhone pre-orders grew substantially from last year. iPhone 7 reviews have been very positive, and meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 – a key iPhone 7 competitor — has been recalled due to exploding batteries. That certainly tipped the iPhone vs. Galaxy debate in Apple’s favor. However, Apple shares saw a “sell the news” reaction to the actual release today as traders locked in profits after 4 days of strong gains. Monday’s Trading Calendar US Economics (Time Zone: EDT) 10:00 NAHB Housing Market Index (Sep): exp. 60 , prior 60 Global Economics 21:30 AUD Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes Earnings Before Open: None of Significance After Close: None of Significance
Continue Reading -->The Morning Hammer: Is Today a Big Day?
I thought yesterday would be a big down day for the market with yet another string of economic data misses, and I was wrong. Equities were pretty strong yesterday, with nice action in biotech and large cap tech. This morning is another story. Deutsche Bank (DB) said the US Department of Justice is seeking $14 billion to settle its MBS probe. DB is not willing to pay that much and the stock is taking a bit hit. That’s helping push European banks down -2.4% in the early going, while the broader Euro Stoxx 50 is off -1.4%. In analyst-land, Nicholas Smith of CLSA said he is “absolutely certain” that the Bank of Japan will stop buying Nikkei 225-based ETFs to boost equities. However, said the bank will not stop buying — they will simply shift their purchases to the Topix and JPX-400. SPX futures are taking a -0.4% dip this morning, following Europe down. Apple (AAPL) is up premarket as iPhone 7 goes on sale. Canaccord also raised its target price to $140 from $120. However, the big news today is the CPI report which hits at 8:30 a.m. ET. The market is split right down the middle on rate hikes. Fed funds futures imply a 50% chance of a December rate hike, down from 60% last week. Economic data has been slipping hard since the July 29 GDP report, and it seems like traders just started paying attention to this important trend. This CPI report will be the last major economic data release before the September 21 rate decision, so there’s a chance we end the week with a bang. The only problem is we can’t figure out what kind of bang. Yesterday, we got a huge batch of dove-supporting bad data and gold and US Treasuries still fell. And equities seem to be reacting randomly to Fed chatter and data too. So even if you gave me the numbers now, it still wouldn’t be easy to trade this CPI report. Near-term, I’d keep a very close eye on Apple (AAPL) and biotech because they’ve been holding up the market. Apple’s got a chance of a sell-the-news reaction today as we see 10 million news reports about iPhone sellouts. Biotech’s still a wild card because the whole sector is moving on takeover chatter surrounding individual companies. Today is also quad-witching options expiration, so get ready to hear everyone’s cockamamie theories on what it means for the action. (I think it’s completely random) I’d also keep an eye on oil. Good luck out there!
Continue Reading -->Scott Redler’s Chart Attack: AAPL, FB
Yesterday’s tactical plan for Apple (AAPL) to buy/test near the 8day was a good road map. Now we’ll see if $108.30ish holds and builds an upper floor to digest a nice post earnings move from $102.75 to $110.23. Some of my spreads expire this Friday. September will sit. Facebook (FB) has been digesting/lethargic since they sold the earnings report at highs. Yesterday could be a start as I nibbled at the 21 day which has been support. In order for it to get better, it needs to take out and close above $124.40 but the real area is $126. Positions Disclosure: Scott J. Redler is long AAPL call spreads, FB P.S. Want to get an edge in today’s algo/HFT-driven markets? Click here to learn about Rob Smith’s FREE Quant Edge Webinar
Continue Reading -->Scott Redler’s Chart Attack: SPY and AAPL
Quantitative Analysis is the future of trading. Rob Smith will show you why. Click here for more info. Apple (AAPL) AAPL has given nice opportunities post-earnings. Yesterday, I got out of the stock and turned my calls into spreads. If I see a pullback toward $108.50, I might nibble back on stock and calls. Bigger support is $107.50. SPY Yesterday, SPY broke the 8 day again. Now we’ll see what’s next. 21-day support is closer to $216.80ish. Disclosure: Position in AAPL call spreads
Continue Reading -->Crude’s Big Move… and 4 Other Thoughts on Today’s Action
Attention! On Thursday afternoon, T3 Live’s Dave Green is hosting a FREE trading webinar. Click here to learn how Dave crushes the market! 1) Crude Move Crude oil got a nice lift on this morning’s EIA inventory numbers. We saw a substantial builds in overall and Cushing, OK inventories, but massive draws in gasoline and distillate inventories. However, we’ve gotten other recent data (Saudi pumping levels, API data) that is bearish, and it’s now down a little. If crude oil can’t hold, it will embolden the bears. 2) Bio/Pharma Weakness Biotech and pharma are getting hit today on negative news from Eli Lilly (LLY) and Mylan (MYL), which is not good because health care is a key bull driver However, they’ve rocketed off post-Brexit lows so it’s fair to accept some consolidation after big, dramatic moves. A move off the lows would be encouraging, though I wouldn’t count on it. 3) Sentiment The ISE Sentiment Index is reading 100 as of 10:30 a.m. ET, which is perfectly neutral. (100 calls bought for every 100 puts) However, there is opposing action between individual names and the index/ETF sides. On the index side, traders look pretty bearish. (just 35 calls for every 100 puts) In individual names, the reading is 155 (155 calls for every 100 puts). Meanwhile, the Investors Intelligence survey was released today, showing that 54.3% of newsletter writers are bullish. This is very close to II’s 55% danger zone. 4) Large Cap Tech Sagging Big tech names like Apple (AAPL) and Facebook (FB) are looking “saggy” today, for lack of a better term. Like the health care complex, they could use a little consolidation time after posting big gains. That said, traders may get discouraged of tech loses its leadership status, since it’s played a big role in keeping equities at all-time highs. 5) Still No Vol… Volatility is still nowhere to be found. So far today, the S&P has trade in a less than 5-point range, which is threatening to put me to sleep all over again. I still think we’ll get a volatility spike soon, but there’s no sign of it yet today. Look at oil. We’ve gotten a lot of news is the past 18 hours, and it’s still barely doing anything. Click here to check out Dave Green’s webinar this Thursday!
Continue Reading -->T3’s Take T3: Pop & Drop at the F.B. Corral!
By Michael Comeau 1) Lucky 13 for Facebook Yesterday after the close, social media giant Facebook (FB) delivered a massive earnings beat, sending shares as high as $133.91 in extended trading, or up 8.6%. The company is seeing significant growth in mobile, higher revenue from Instagram, and improving user engagement metrics, Facebook’s huge numbers weren’t exactly a surprise, since the company had beaten Wall Street’s earnings estimates for 12 straight quarters, making yesterday lucky number 13. This set the stage for a sell-the-news reaction, and Facebook finished well off the highs at $125.00 up 1.4% on the day. However, Facebook shares are still doing incredibly well in 2016 with a 19.4% year-to-date gain. 2) Jeff Cooper on Facebook’s Exhaustion Signal This afternoon, my buddy Jeff Cooper issued an interesting take on Facebook’s weakness: FB is poised to leave a large-range Gilligan sell signal if it closes at/near session lows. This is an exhaustion signal marked by a gap up to a new 60 day high with a close at/near session lows. AAPL is a different pattern as its earning’s gap was not a gap to new 60 day highs or 52 week highs or all time highs as is the case with FB. My takeaway is that institutions are scale-up sellers on pops. Tomorrow we get the reaction to two other FANG stocks (AMZN and GOOGL). If they react similarly to FB or don’t blow out expectations, there may be nothing left on the table to prevent a slide. 3) Another Day, Another Grind Given that crude oil is a major drive of equity market sentiment, I’ve been a bit surprised at how well equities have held up in the face of oil’s near-20% decline off the highs. And again today, we saw oil decline sharply… and stocks basically rolled their eyes. The S&P 500 went nowhere for the second day in a row, finishing at 2170.06, up 0.2%. In fact, the S&P hasn’t made a 1% move since July 8. Facebook and Apple’s (AAPL) small gains today helped the Nasdaq outperform. Biotechnology led the decliners’ column today, with the S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) falling -0.5%. Energy stocks were down on oil’s decline, with oil service names showing notable dips. P.S. My partner in crime Kurt Capra is hosting a FREE trading webinar after the close on Tuesday, August 2, 2016. Click here to sign up
Continue Reading -->T3’s Take 3: Apple Hulk-Smashes the Bears
Want to start trading like a pro? Then click here. Trust me. By Michael Comeau 1) Apple Wins, Bears Cry As I wrote yesterday, expectations appeared to be very low heading into Apple’s (AAPL) Tuessday night earnings report. The numbers confirmed that suspicion as Apple reported better-than-expected revenues, earnings, and iPhone unit sales. The company also delivered very strong revenue guidance, which indicates that iPhone sales are holding up much better than the bears have expected. Apple shares ripped 6.6% to $103.03 today, helping to push the Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 indices to within striking distance of all-time highs. And let’s give Warren Buffett some credit — he disclosed his stake in Apple in mid-May when Apple hit its 2016 low. 2) The Bull Returns… Sort of Equity markets were a little odd today. Apple set off a rally in the Nasdaq and the widely-watched biotechnology was very strong, but the S&P 500 barely budged. The index fell -0.1% to 2066.58 — not exactly a barnburner! Oil prices and energy stocks slumped on higher-than-expected oil inventories, and we also saw weakness in utilities, real estate, consumer staples, and transports. Overall, the action felt like run-of-the-mill digestion, though with a clearly bullish tinge. If biotech makes another run like this tomorrow, we could see the S&P hitting new highs and the Nasdaq finally making its own new record. 3) Fed Schmed As expected, the Fed left rates unchanged today and issued a somewhat hawkish statement. The Fed said that employment data points to an increase in labor utilization, and that near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished. Initially, gold fell and the dollar spiked, which are consistent with a more hawkish Fed. However, almost immediately, those moves reversed themselves and gold ended up 1.6% higher at $1,349/oz at the equity market close. And the dollar ended up at daily lows. Presumably, traders still believe the Fed will move very slowly as Fed Funds futures indicate that the next rate hike won’t happen until well into 2017.
Continue Reading -->3 Next Steps to Ultimate Victory for Apple
I was worried about Apple’s (AAPL) quarter the way everyone else was. But with very sour sentiment, I made a plan to buy if it could get and stay above $100-$101. I did that live on the VTF after-hours. Let’s take a look at the chart: Getting in was step 1. Now we’ll see if it can hold that area moving forward, and we’ll see what kind of levels the intraday action gives us. Step #2 is to reclaim the 200-day moving average around $103.75, and then hold above that for a few sessions. Step #3 would be to break the downtrend that has plagued the stock for well over a year. If that happens, Apple can turn into a tailwind for the next few months. I’ll continue updating you with key levels so we can effectively navigate the action together. If you’d like to trade with me live, take a FREE trial to the VTF.
Continue Reading -->The Morning Hammer: Apple Smashes Bears, Record Nasdaq Highs in Sight
Global markets are in a happy mood courtesy of Apple’s (AAPL) better-than-expected earnings report, and Japan’s signaling of more stimulus. Apple is up ~$6.50 in the early going after beating analysts’ earnings, revenue, and iPhone unit estimates, and offering strong forward guidance. Meanwhile, just as traders thought Bank of Japan stimulus was priced in (based on yesterday’s big rally in the yen), PM Shinzo Abe showed commitment to a $265 billion stimulus package. That’s pushing the yen back down, which is great for risk appetites. SPX futures are slightly green, while NDX futures are up 0.7%. If Apple generates some follow-through among other large-cap techs, we could see a new Nasdaq Composite all-time high above 5231.94. And the NDX may finally exceed its March 2000 high of 4816.35. Facebook (FB) reports after the close, and if it repeats another blowout, maybe we see those records fall by the weekend. In related news, Twitter (TWTR) dropped another guidance stink bomb last night and is getting smashed up. Meanwhile, Fiat Chrysler raised its forecast, and Comcast (CMCSA) and GlaskoSmithKline beat. Crude oil is down after the API showed a very small decline in crude oil inventories after the close yesterday. EIA data hits at 10:30 a.m. ET. Economists expect a 2 million barrel decline. We also have durable goods, pending home sales, and of course, the FOMC rate decision. Fed Funds futures show that traders are pricing in a mere 10% chance of a rate hike today. The forward outlook will be key. I would pay close attention to see if the Fed eases up on its concerns over the Brexit, given that global economic data has been generally strong as of late. Lately, I’ve been emphasizing that perception of the Fed, which impacts all financial markets, is incredibly volatile. Ths is especially true this year. 2 months ago, traders were pricing in a 74% chance of a December rate hike. That number dropped to 10% chance after the Brexit. Now those odds are back up to nearly 50%. And we act like Tesla (TSLA) is volatile… Now one thing I found really interesting yesterday was the action below the surface in biotech. IBB was red because of Gilead’s (GILD) weak earnings report and big decline. Yet XBI, which is much more diversified (GILD is 8% of IBB), was actually well in the green. So below the surface, biotech was strong (as was the Russell 2000) on an overall snoozer of the day. So pay close attention to biotech — if it turns out to be a coiled spring, the bulls might party like it’s 1999. And 1999 was a good year!
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