Tag: S&P 500 (CME:SP500)

Hello traders everywhere. March was a month of weekly ups and downs with two weeks to the positive and two weeks to the negative, but at the end of the month, the stock market will end in positive territory with the exception of the DOW. In fact, it will close out a strong first quarter to start the year.

Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 will post monthly gains for +2.4% and +1.54% respectively, meanwhile, the Dow will post a monthly loss of -.3%. On a quarterly level, all the indexes will post gains for the first quarter of 2019. The S&P 500 checks in with a gain of +12%, the Dow +10%, and the NASDAQ will post the biggest quarterly gain of +16%. Quite a start to the year.

After starting off the year slowly losing -.49% in January the U.S. dollar bounced back with consecutive monthly wins gaining +.90% in March. The two winning months pushed the dollar to +1.1% gains for the first quarter of 2019. Continue reading "March Was A Month Of Ups And Downs" →

Hello traders everywhere. The benchmark 10-year rate traded at 2.36% and hit its lowest level since late 2017. Investors are keeping an eye on rates after the 10-year fell below the 3-month rate last week for the first time since 2007. It is a development that investors call an inverted yield curve and is seen as an early indicator of a recession.

The U.S. Treasury yield curve has inverted before each recession in the past 50 years and has only offered a false signal just once in that time, according to data from Reuters.

Yields fell on Wednesday after Stephen Moore, who is expected to be nominated to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, called for the central bank to cut rates by half a percentage point. Moore made his remarks in an interview with The New York Times, noting he is not a "dove" or a "sycophant" for President Donald Trump.

Key Levels To Watch This Week:

Continue reading "Falling Treasury Yield Pressures Market" →

Hello traders everywhere. The move lower started early Friday in Europe when IHS Markit said that manufacturing activity in Germany dropped to its lowest level in more than six years in March. In France, manufacturing and services slowed down to their lowest levels in three months and two months, respectively. For the eurozone as a whole, manufacturing fell to its lowest level since April 2013. This data sent the German 10-year bund yield to their lowest level since 2016, briefly dipping into negative territory.

Once trading opened in the U.S. we got news that the spread between the 3-month Treasury bill yield and the 10-year note rate turned negative for the first time since 2007 - thus inverting the so-called yield curve - according to Refinitiv Tradeweb data. An inverted yield curve happens when short-term rates surpass their longer-term counterparts. This is considered a trustworthy indicator of a recession coming in the near future.

These moves come after U.S. central bank surprised investors by adopting a sharp dovish stance on Wednesday, projecting no further interest rate hikes this year and ending its balance sheet roll-offs. Market sentiment was boosted by the Fed's updated outlook on interest rates, but the reasons behind it caused some concern.

Key Levels To Watch Next Week:

Continue reading "Stocks Drop On Fears Of An Economic Slowdown" →

Hello traders everywhere. The DOW closed lower for the first time in five days Tuesday, led by declines in Apple, all because investors were puzzled over conflicting reports over the progress of U.S.-China trade negotiations.

The index lost 26 points. The S&P 500 ended the day just below breakeven, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.1% higher. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose as much as 0.7%, while the Dow traded nearly 200 points up at its session high before heading lower for the day.

Stocks headed lower after Bloomberg reported that U.S. officials are worried China may be pushing back against U.S. demands in the countries' ongoing trade talks. The report also said Chinese negotiators are worried they have not received assurances that tariffs imposed on Chinese goods would be lifted once a deal is struck. Continue reading "Stock Market Takes A Breather" →