July 30th Market Overview

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Happy Tuesday everyone. A lot of ER and policy news impacting the markets this week. I’ll have more detailed commentary as the earning reports come in and the Feds meetings end tomorrow.

Charts with commentary for premium subs will go out after ER reports this week. Premium for $4

Lets dig in…

Executive Summary

• Market Movement: S&P 500 dropped by 0.6%, Nasdaq pushed red -1.2%, while the Dow rose 104 points.

• Earnings Spotlight: Major tech firms reporting this week including -
  
  Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), Apple (AAPL), and Amazon (AMZN)
  
  NVDA going red into close by almost -6.5% but does not report earnings until next month, MSFT down -1.4% before after bell ER comes out.

• Fed Focus: The Federal Reserve’s ongoing policy meeting holds investors’ attention as a rate cut in September is widely expected….will see

• Market Volatility: Elevated volatility with increased bearish hedging by institutions suggests a choppy trading environment, not to mention elections are right around the corner!

Market Overview

Markets showed mixed performance as trade volume braced for pivotal tech earnings and the Fed’s policy decisions. Tech stocks dragged the Nasdaq lower, while the Dow managed modest gains. Highlight of the day is PYPL smashing their ER eps estimates by 20%!

Key Market Drivers

1. Earnings Reports: Mixed results from tech giants are causing cautious market behavior. Chip manufacturers worried about new gov’t policy’s by presidential candidates.

2. Federal Reserve Meeting: Anticipation of potential rate cuts is influencing trading volume and volatility. I’ll give commentary on this tomorrow when meetings conclude.

3. Increased Hedging: Rising put options indicate traders preparing for heightened volatility around key ER events and FOMC meetings this week.

Stock Spotlight

• Nvidia (NVDA): Experienced a 5.5% drop as traders positioned bearishly, dominated by strong put activity.

• Microsoft (MSFT): Fell 1.5% ahead of its earnings report; traders are cautious.

• Merck (MRK): Declined about 10% due to weak guidance despite strong quarterly results.

• CrowdStrike (CRWD): Dropped 11.5%, hit by ongoing issues from recent flight cancellations. Delta suing them….and likely isnt the last company to do so.

• JetBlue (JBLU): Soared nearly 20% after outperforming earnings expectations.

Other Magnificent 7 Updates

• Amazon: Shares decreased as negative sentiment looms before earnings report. Mainly neg sentiment brought on by NVDA chip fear imo.

• Apple: Seeing a decline, with traders holding their breath ahead of earnings.

• Meta: Ongoing legal issues and upcoming earnings have put pressure on the stock. Meta agrees to $1.4 billion settlement in Texas biometric data lawsuit over Facebook images

Other Notable Company News

• Procter & Gamble (PG): Dropped 5.6% due to disappointing demand in China, despite raising its dividend.

• Diageo (DEO): Plunged over 10% after reporting poor quarterly sales.

• Stanley Black & Decker (SWK): Jumped more than 7% on strong earnings and improved future guidance.

• F5 Inc. (FFIV): Surged nearly 14% on better-than-expected earnings and revenue.

Sector Watch (Trying something new here)

Bond Market

Nada noodle on bond news today…

Policy Watch

The Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting concludes on Wednesday, with investors hoping for hints on potential rate cuts in September amidst ongoing inflation concerns.

- JB

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Note: This newsletter is intended for informational purposes only.