Stock Market Retreats Into Weekend

Hello traders everywhere. After opening slightly higher for the day, the stock market has once again retreated into negative territory. The S&P 500 and DOW are both posting losses of over 4% on the week while triggering new red weekly Trade Triangles. The NASDAQ is heading for a 5% loss on the week.

The recent volatility over trade turmoil has turned gold's "good week" into a great week as traders flock to the haven. Gold is up 1.6% on the day and 2.7% on the week, making it the best weekly gain in over a month.

Stock Market

Crude oil is looking to close out a great week with a 4.8% gain, its best weekly gain in ten weeks. Oil has maintained the $60 a barrel level as OPEC and its partners have trimmed inventories, helping crude stockpiles in the U.S. tick below the five-year average mark.

Bitcoin is going to post a weekly gain of 7.8% for the week after two consecutive weeks of losses. However, the push to break its 200-day MA has come under pressure as Bitcoin retreated from that level. The RSI also remains below the 50 level indicating that a bearish move could still be in play. Keep a close eye on Bitcoin as it tries to fight off the potential death cross.

Key Levels To Watch Next Week:

Continue reading "Stock Market Retreats Into Weekend"

Crude Oil Rises Alongside Stocks

Hello traders everywhere. Crude oil climbed to its highest level in six weeks, a 2.6% gain to $65, after inventories in the U.S. dropped for the first time in a month, catching traders many off guard.

Refiners and brokers pulled more than 2.6 million barrels of crude from American storage facilities last week as many analyst and traders were expecting an increase. The withdrawal occurred amid speculation that the U.S. may intensify sanctions against Iran, OPEC's third-largest supplier.

Check our Robert Boselgo's updated 2018 crude oil outlook that we posted this morning.

Crude Oil Rises

The stock market is anxiously awaiting Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's news conference this afternoon at 2 pm where it is widely expected that he'll announce a rate hike after wrapping up the FOMC's two-day meeting. The expectation is for a 25 basis-point bump in rates.

Investors will also look for clues about the Fed's tightening trajectory for the rest of 2018.

Key Levels To Watch This Week:

Continue reading "Crude Oil Rises Alongside Stocks"

Facebook Data Woes Pull Down Tech Sector

Hello traders everywhere. Facebook's decline of over 7% today has put pressure on the entire stock market, especially the tech sector. Facebook fell after reports surfaced that the political analytics firm Cambridge Analytica was able to collect data on 50 million people's profiles without their consent. It begs the question, should the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Snap be under some form of federal regulation?

This drop by Facebook is the most significant drop in its stock price in 16 months. The fall is more than 10% below its all-time high set on Feb. 1 and it also pushed the price below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, two key technical levels.

Facebook

Key Events On Tap This Week:

The Fed decision and Powell's news conference come on Wednesday.

The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates and its asset-purchase program unchanged on Thursday. Attention will be on language and the odds for a May hike.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House this week as part of a U.S. visit.

Company earnings scheduled for this week include Tencent, FedEx, Porsche, Hermes, PetroChina, Nike, Enel, and Oracle.

Key Levels To Watch This Week:

Continue reading "Facebook Data Woes Pull Down Tech Sector"

All Eyes On Bitcoin's Death Cross

Hello traders everywhere. Technical traders and the market in general, are closely watching Bitcoin heading into next week. The reason for concern, a looming Death cross. As I noted earlier in the week, Bitcoin's 50-Day moving average has dropped to the closest proximity to its 200-Day moving average in nine months. The last time it crossed below that level was in 2015 where it remained for ten months before breaking out.

The "death cross" pattern occurs when the 50-Day moving average drops below the 200-Day moving average. The idea is that this cross marks the spot where a shorter-term decline is turning into a longer-term downtrend.

Death Cross

Bitcoin has come under growing pressure recently with Google announcing that they will not only ban all ads for cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and initial coin offerings (ICOs), they will also ban cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets, as it seeks to "tackle emerging threats."

Regulation is also becoming a growing concern for Bitcoin, and the cryptocurrency space as nations around the world are imposing stricter regulations on the use and mining of cryptocurrencies.

Key Levels To Watch Next Week:

S&P 500 (CME:SP500): 2,647.32
Dow (INDEX:DJI): 24,217.76
NASDAQ (NASDAQ:COMP): 7,084.83
Gold (NYMEX:GC.G18.E): 1,330.50
Crude Oil (NYMEX:CL.J18.E): 60.11
U.S. Dollar (NYBOT:DX.H18.E): 89.33
Bitcoin (CME:BRTI): 11,662.32

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

Trump Squashes Biggest Tech Deal Ever

Hello traders everywhere. Late Monday, President Trump signed an executive order blocking Broadcom’s $117 billion bid for the chip maker Qualcomm, citing national security concerns. This action indicates that he is willing to take extraordinary measures to remain on course with his administration’s increasingly protectionist stance.

The Broadcom acquisition would have been and was labeled as the most significant tech deal ever and would have made Broadcom the dominant supplier of chips used in smartphones. It would have also brought the company to the forefront of developing technology for the next generation of mobile network technology known as 5G.

Trump

The NASDAQ had opened at record highs before news of the block had sunk in, but once it did the NASDAQ soon retreated into negative territory on the day trading as low as .9% on the day.

Shares of Broadcom Limited (AVGO) are trading up on the day around 1% while shares of QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) are trading down about 4% on the day.

Overall the stock market has been waffling the last few days trying to get a grasp on inflation, the looming trade wars and the firing of Rex Tillerson today by President Trump.

Key Levels To Watch This Week:

S&P 500 (CME:SP500): 2,647.32
Dow (INDEX:DJI): 24,217.76
NASDAQ (NASDAQ:COMP): 7,084.83
Gold (NYMEX:GC.G18.E): 1,313.80
Crude Oil (NYMEX:CL.J18.E): 62.33
U.S. Dollar (NYBOT:DX.H18.E): 88.86
Bitcoin (CME:BRTI): 8,664.30

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