Wednesday traded like an opposite day with better than expected retail sales numbers bringing out the bears, and then the bulls went to work when the FOMC confirmed a more hawkish Fed ready to raise rates.  However, par for the course in this down-trending volatile price action still has significant overhead resistance despite the recent relief rally.  Expect more of the same today with a bevy of earnings reports, with economic data including housing starts, jobless claims, and the Philly Fed. 

During the night, Asian markets closed mixed but mainly higher though gains were relatively modest.  European markets traded mixed this morning, weighing the geopolitical tensions as Russia adds more troops to the Ukraine border.  Ahead of a busy day of data, U.S. futures point to a lower open after a mixed after the bell reaction to tech earnings.

Economic Calendar

Earnings Calendar

We have another busy Thursday with nearly 200 companies listed on the earnings calendar.  Notable reports include WMT, AFLYY, EADSY, AAWW, AN, BAX, BJRI, BRC, CIM, CHUY, ED, DLR, GPC, GMED, IDCC, KEYS, LBTYA, LKQ, MATX, MERC, OGN, PLTR, PK, POOL, RDFN, ROKU, SEE, SHAK, SWI, SO, RUN, SKT, TSEM, UEIC, WFRD, WST, AUY, & YETI.

News & Technicals’

Nvidia reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday.  Datacenter sales rose 71%.  Nvidia has boosted as cloud providers and enterprises turn to graphics processors the company makes for artificial intelligence applications.  The U.S. government’s “dithering” has left the country “well behind” China in the race to build out 5G technology, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.  Schmidt and co-author Graham Allison, a Harvard professor, urged the Biden administration to make 5G a “national priority”; otherwise, “China will own the 5G future.”  The authors said 5G development is key as applications could “advantage a country’s intelligence agencies and enhance its military capabilities.”  Amazon and Visa agree to end the global dispute over credit card fees.  The deal means Amazon customers in the U.K. can continue using Visa credit cards, as previously announced by the two companies.  Amazon will also drop a 0.5% surcharge on Visa credit card transactions in Singapore and Australia, introduced last year.  Amazon has been piling pressure on Visa to lower its fees, signaling growing frustration from retailers over the costs associated with major card networks.  Treasury yields declined Thursday morning, with the 10-year falling to 2.0015% and the 30-year declining to 2.3211%. 

Wednesday traded began with slightly more robust than expected retail sales, but the bears continued to apply pressure until the FOMC minutes confirmed rates are going up next month.  The bulls took that as a reason to rally, recovering early losses closing the indexes essentially flat on the day.   Tech earnings after the bell had some mixed reviews from investors with CSCO indicated higher at the open, but NVDA is indicated slightly lower despite its upbeat report.  Geopolitical concerns continue to hang a dark cloud over the market, with NATO reporting that Russia has added more troops to their Ukraine border activities, keeping uncertainty high.  Today we will turn our attention to housing numbers, jobless claims, and the Philly Fed numbers, along with another busy day of earnings data to keep the price volatility challenges.  Also, keep an eye on the comments from Jame Bullard today as one of the most hawkish Fed members; his words could move the market at 11 AM eastern today.  Although we have seen a slight relief in the selling, technically, not much has changed in the charts, so keep a close eye on the overhead resistance levels for entrenched bears. 

Trade Wisely,

Doug