Wednesday brought more indecision and rest.  SPY gapped up 0.20%, DIA opened 0.18% higher, and QQQ opened up 0.16%.  From there, all three major index ETFs wandered back and forth across their gaps all day long.  This action gave us Spinning Top candles in all three, with SPY and QQQ both having white bodies and DIA having a small black body.  All three also remain above their T-line (8ema).  It also gave us a higher high, higher low, and higher close in SPY and QQQ while DIA got the higher high and higher close coming up a touch short on the low front. Yet again, this took place on well-below average volume in all three major index ETFs.

On the day, all 10 sectors were in the green as both Basic Materials (+1.48%) and Consumer Cyclical (+1.43%) were well out in front leading the others higher.  On the other side, Communications (+0.01%) and Energy (+0.04%) lagging well behind the other sector.  Meanwhile, SPY gained 0.35%, DIA gained 0.10%, and QQQ gained 0.47%.  VXX climbed 1.56% to close at 46.89 and T2122 climbed back up well into its overbought territory to close at 90.97.  On the bond front, 10-year bond yields fell to 3.801% and Oil (WTI) dropped another 1.85% to close at $71.82 per barrel.  So, again on Wednesday we had an indecisive, yet bullish day.  Perhaps it could even be seen as a pause or rest day.

The major economic news scheduled for Wednesday was limited to EIA Weekly Crude Oil Inventories which had a much larger-than-expected drawdown of 4.649 million barrels (compared to a forecasted 2.000-million-barrel drawdown and the prior week’s 1.357-million-barrel inventory build).  The Bureau of Labor Statistics also released the US Payrolls Benchmark.  While widely referred to as a revision of the Nonfarm Payroll data, it really is not.  It actually is the difference between two sets of data which are derived from completely different sources. At any rate, the release was a -818k number (compared to three of the last four benchmark releases, which were each +400k to +500k).  This release was interpreted as the Nonfarm Payrolls data released monthly having over-estimated job additions by 818k jobs this year.  Theoretically, this would mean that the job market started cooling much sooner than widely noticed and could give the Fed more evidence that a rate cut is needed.  (Side note: Bloomberg reported that at least three major foreign banks, MFG, BNPQY, and NMR obtains the report early by directly calling the BLS.)

In Fed news, on Wednesday, July’s Fed Meeting Minutes were released.  The minutes summarized the opinion of FOMC voters as leaning toward a September rate cut…if the data continues as it has been trending.  Specifically, the minutes said, “the vast majority of policymakers observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting.” The report also noted that “many participants” felt the current stance was restrictive and argued that if inflation data continued to show cooling, holding rates as they are would increase the drag on the economy.  It said that all the voters were on board with rates being held flat at the July meeting.  However, also saying “several” indicating recent inflation reductions and increases in joblessness “had provided a plausible case for reducing the target range 25 basis points at this (July) meeting or that they could have supported such a decision.”  Finally, the report noted a “dwindling camp” of FOMC members still feared that premature easing could rekindle inflation. 

After the close, BBAR, NDSN, SNOW, TBBB, URBN, and ZM all reported beats on both the revenue and earnings lines. Meanwhile, A, CAAP, and SNPS reported misses on revenue while beating on earnings. 

In stock news, on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported rumors that WMT plans to sell its #3.74 billion stake in JD.  At the same time, Reuters reported multiple analysts were telling clients that OXY had reached “Buffett Put” territory.  (In other words, OXY has fallen to a price, below $60, where BRKB has routinely bought millions of shares.) Later, Bloomberg reported that OKTGP is in exclusive talks and near a deal to acquire RILYN for undisclosed terms.  At the same time, Reuters reported that BN is working with UBS and BAC to arrange financing to acquire GRFS.  Later, after the close, HAL reported that it was hit by a cyberattack.  The extent and impact of the attack are not yet determined.  At the same time, TD announced the sale of 40.5 million shares of SCHW, which reduces its ownership of SCHW to 10.1%.  Later, MSFT reworked its business units and announced the changes at an investor presentation Wednesday.  MSFT lowered what it now called its “Intelligent Cloud” unit forecast by as much as $5 billion for 2024 (from a high estimate of $28.9 billion to a new low estimate of $23.8 billion).

Elsewhere, it is widely expected a lockout (or, if not, strike) will stop Canadian railroads as of today.  CNI and CP are both expected to participate in the shutdown.  This could have major impacts on many businesses such as CF, NTR, CHRW, GLNCY, MERC, as well as oil, coal, and automakers. (Update: The shutdown did take place. So, all Canadian rail transportation is offline. For anyone unfamiliar with Canada, this is the vast, vast majority of all freight movement in the country. Canadian population is heavily centered on a handful of cities with a relatively sparse road network between, but the vast distances crossed by rail. The fact that most of those cities are found at a seaport or near the US border also makes Canadian rail freight problematic for US companies.

In stock legal and governmental news, on Wednesday, India’s Commerce Minister Goyal accused AMZN of predatory pricing practices. However, he stopped short of announcing any investigation or charges.  (Many time in the past, Goyal has attacked AMZN and WMT-backed Flipkart of actions that are detrimental to India’s brick-and-mortar stores.)  At the same time, the NHTSA announced a new recall of 9,100 Model X sport utilities over a roof trim that could separate.  (This is the second such recall over the same issue since 2020.)  Later, Reuters reported that the UK’s competition watchdog has now shutdown its existing investigations of AAPL and GOOGL related to their app stores.  Sources told Reuters the agency is waiting on new UK laws covering digital markets. 

Meanwhile, C told Reuters it has added a new section to its SEC quarterly reports in response to SEC queries.  (The SEC fined C $136 million for a lack of progress in fixing its data management issues in mid-July.)  Later, after the close, TD announced it expects to finalize a settlement of both civil and criminal money laundering investigations by the end of the calendar year.  In anticipation of fines and other non-monetary penalties, TD says it will take an additional $2.6 billion provision in its Q3 results.  Also after the close, DB announced it had reached settlements with more than half of the plaintiffs who had accused the bank of underpaying them related to the acquisition of Postbank years ago. (Details of the settlements weren’t disclosed.)

Overnight, Asian markets were mixed but leaned toward the green side.  Only five of the 12 exchanges in the region were in the red as Shenzhen (-0.82%) was by far the biggest loser.  On the other side, Hong Kong (+1.44%) and Japan (+0.68%) led the gainers.  In Europe, a much rosier picture is taking shape with just two spots of red among the 13 green bourses at midday.  The CAC (+0.22%), DAX (+0.30%), and FTSE (+0.18%) lead the region higher in early afternoon trade.  In the US, as of 7:30 a.m., Futures are pointing toward a modest green start to the morning. The DIA implies a +0.07% open, the SPY is implying a +0.21% open, and the QQQ implies a +0.32% open at this hour.  At the same time, 10-Year bond yields are up to 3.829% and Oil (WTI) is up half a percent to $72.29 per barrel in early trading.

The major economic news scheduled for Thursday include Weekly Initial Jobless Claims and Weekly Continuing Jobless Claims (both at 8:30 a.m.), S&P Global Mfg. PMI, S&P Global Services PMI, and S&P Global Composite PMI (all at 9:45 a.m.), July Existing Home Sales (10 a.m.), and the Fed Balance Sheet (4:30 p.m.).  The Jackson Hole Symposium also starts at 8 a.m.  The major earnings reports scheduled for before the open include AAP, BIDU, BILI, BJ, CSIQ, IQ, NTES, PTON, TD, VIK, and WSM. Then, after the close, BMA, INTU, ROST, and WDAY report. 

In economic news later this week, on Friday we get July Building Permits, and July New Home Sales.  The Jackson Hole Symposium also continues.

In terms of earnings reports later this week, on Friday, we hear from GFI.

So far this morning, BILI, BJ, BWLP, PTON, TD, and WB all reported beats on both the revenue and earnings lines.  Meanwhile, BIDU and VIK missed on revenue while also beating on earnings.  On the other side, AAP and IQ beat on revenue while missing on earnings.  However, CSIQ and NTES missed on both the top and bottom lines.

With that background, we see some divergence in the premarket. DIA opened and has remained flat in the early session. Meanwhile, SPY gapped up slightly and has followed-through with a modest white-body candle in the premarket. However, the big mover was QQQ which gapped lower but was met with buying and has printed a large white-body candle without wick in the early session. All three remain well above their T-line (8ema) and the short-term trend is still strongly bullish. Meanwhile, the mid-term bearish trend is broken, though one could argue a new mid-term bullish trend has not formed yet (due to a lack of higher low in the strong run higher). In the long-term, we are now clearly back in a Bull trend. In terms of extension, as I mentioned all three are stretched to the upside relative to their T-line. The T2122 indicator has now back up in its overbought territory. So, again, the market needs a pullback or at least a rest to maintain a healthy trend. However, remember that the market can stay overextended a lot longer than we can stay solvent predicting a reversal. So, keep the mantra “follow, don’t lead, but also don’t chase” in mind. With regard to those 10 big dog tickers, nine of the 10 are in the green this morning, led by the biggest dog NVDA (+1.19%) while NFLX (-1.49%) is the lone laggard. It might be worth noting that NVDA has also traded five times the dollar-volume as the next largest trading stock this morning.

As always, be deliberate and disciplined…but don’t be stubborn. If you have a loss, admit you were wrong and take that loss before it gets out of hand. And when the price does move in your direction, always move your stops in your favor and take a little profit off the table. You have to keep the “Legend of the Man in the Green Bathrobe” in mind. In a winning situation, it is NOT HOUSE MONEY you’re betting, it’s YOUR MONEY! There is no reason to keep raising your bet (risk) size just because you’ve had a win. Finally, remember that trading is not a hobby, it’s a job. The gains are real and so is the risk. So, treat it that way. Do the work and follow the process. Stick to your trading rules, trade with the trend, and take those profits when you have them. Do the work!

See you in the trading room.

Ed

🎯 Mike Probst: Rick, Got CTL off the scanner today. Already up 30%. Love it.

🎯 Dick Carp: the scanner paid for the year with HES-thank you

🎯 Arnoldo Bolanos: LTA scanner really works $$, thanks Ed.

🎯 Bob S: LTA is incredible…. I use it … would not trade without it

🎯 Malcolm .: Posted in room 2, @Rick… I used the LTA Scanner to go through hundreds of stocks this weekend and picked out three to trade:  PYPL, TGT, and ZS.   Quality patterns and with my trading, up 24%, 7% and 12%…. this program is gold.

🎯 Friday 6/21/19  (10:09 am) Aaron B: Today, my account is at +190% since January. Thanks, RWO HRC Flash Malcolm Thomas Steve Ed Bob S Bob C Mike P and everyone that contributes every day. I love our job.

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