Tag: S&P 500 (CME:SP500)

The US-China trade tension has once again peaked its head out and put pressure on an already skittish market. Earlier in the week, the Senate passed a bill that would make it more difficult for Chinese companies to list on US stock exchanges. That in itself wasn't enough to curb the weekly rally for the major indexes that will see the DOW, S&P 500, and NASDAQ post weekly gains of +2.8% or better, bouncing back from last weeks losses.

On a daily level, the market will end the week on weak trading heading into the long holiday weekend. Part of the muted market action today is due to China releasing drafted legislation overnight that shows new national security measures in Hong Kong after last year's burst of anti-government protests in the city. That law is expected to increase Beijing's hold over Hong Kong. China also opted against setting a GDP target for 2020 as the coronavirus batters the second-largest economy in the world. Continue reading "US-China Trade Tension Mutes Market" →

Stocks are looking to end the week lower after a dismal retail sales number was released Friday morning. Retail sales plummeted a record -16.4% in April, which was much worse than the -12% plunge expected by economists. March retail sales were revised to a decline of -8.4% from the previously reported -8.7% decrease. Core retail sales, excluding the volatile auto and gas components, tumbled -16.2%, following a decline of -2.8% in the prior month. Economists were predicting a -7.6% drop in core retail sales for the month.

Within core components, consumer spending online rose +8.4% and fell -13.2% at grocery stores in April. Retail sales at department stores sank -28.9%, furniture stores saw a -58.7% drop in spending, sporting goods sales fell -38%, sales at electronics stores tumbled -60.6%, and spending at clothing retailers plummeted the most at -78.8%. Continue reading "Retail Sales Plummet Pressuring Market" →

Even with the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression the stock market continues to claw it's way higher. Is the worst behind us?

The Labor Department released its jobs report Friday morning, showing that a record 20.5 million jobs were lost In April and that the unemployment rate jumped to 14.7% from just 4.4%. However, those levels were lower than what was expected by most economists who were expecting a loss of 21.5 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 16%.

That marks the highest unemployment rate since the US Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking the monthly data in 1948, and it's on par with levels of joblessness not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930s, for which the BLS has compiled annual estimates.

But the stock market seems to take solace in the fact that most of these layoffs are seen as temporary and that moving forward, most of the out of work people will resume their jobs as the economy reopens. With the recent market action in mind, is the worst behind us? Continue reading "Is The Worst Behind Us?" →

While the stock market is coming off one of it's best months in over 30 years, I can't get the idea of the "flattening the curve" out of mind. Yes, the S&P 500 gained +12.7% for April, its third-biggest monthly gain since World War II. The Dow gained +11.1%, its fourth-largest post-war monthly rally, and its best month in 33 years. Not to be outdone, the NASDAQ outpaced both the DOW and S&P 500 by posting a monthly gain of +15.5% for April, that's its biggest one-month gain since June 2000.

All of that sounds great, right? But even with these big monthly gains, we are still roughly -16% off the record high for the S&P 500, and if you take a look at the weekly charts, you'll see that the stock market is flattening the curve.

On a weekly level, all three indexes will post weekly losses, for the second week in a row. Talk about stumbling across the finish line. Clearly, all the gains were made in the early part of April before the earnings season ramped up. Continue reading "Flattening The Curve" →

Crude oil was the determining factor for market direction all week. It all started four days ago when crude oil traded into negative territory for the first time ever, trading down negative $37.63 a barrel, a decline of some 305%, or $55.90 a barrel. That drove the stock market down early in the week.

However, as crude oil tried to bounce back the rest of the week, it failed to wipe out its early week losses, but it wasn't enough to end the week in the green for crude oil or stocks for that matter. Continue reading "Crude Oil Dominates Market Action" →