On Tuesday, markets gapped lower to start the day.  SPY gapped down 0.76%, DIA gapped down 0.84%, and QQQ gapped down 1.12%.  However, from that point, all three major index ETFs ground sideways along the opening levels.  With a modest rally the last 30 minutes of the day.  This action gave us gap-down Hammer candles in all three major index ETFs.  The SPY and QQQ printed white-body Hammers, while the DIA printed a black-body hammer.  All three gapped down through their T-line (8ema) and never came close to retesting it.  This all happened on roughly average volume (with SPY the weakest of the three in that sense).

On the day, nine of the 10 sectors were red as Energy (+1.28%) was far and away the strongest (and only green sector).  Meanwhile, Healthcare (-1.60%) and Consumer Cyclical (-1.45%) were by far the weakest sectors and led the way lower.  At the same time, SPY lost 0.63%, DIA lost 0.94%, and QQQ lost 0.86%.  VXX gained 2.51% to close at a still low 13.47 and T2122 pulled back to the center of its mid-range at 51.13.  10-year bond yields spiked again to 4.353% and Oil (WTI) rose another 1.96% to $85.34 per barrel.  So, Tuesday was a gap-down day where essentially all of the move happened at the open.  The rest of the day was just treading water as markets start off Q2 similarly to the way they started off Q1…full of fear and uncertainty.  Still, we know how Q1 ended up (the strongest quarter in 5 years).  So, the bulls have not given up hope or anything of that sort.

The major economic news scheduled for Tuesday included February Factory Orders, which came in stronger than expected at +1.4% (compared to a forecast of +1.1% and especially compared to the -3.8% in January).  At the same time, February JOLTs Job Openings were slightly lower than predicted at 8.756 million (versus a forecast of 8.760 million but still up from January’s 8.748 million reading).  After the close, the API Weekly Crude Oil Stocks report showed a larger-than-expected drawdown of 2.286 million barrels (compared to a forecast of -2.000 million barrels and far down from the prior week’s 9.337-million-barrel inventory build). So, overall, the economy still shows as strong with better-than-expected factory orders and a large number of job openings.

In Fed speak news, Cleveland Fed President Mester said she continued to expect rate cuts this year.  However, Mester indicated that the bigger risk (to the FOMC) is still in cutting rates too soon rather than too late.  She said, “with labor markets and economic growth both being very solid, we do not need to take that risk.”  Mester continued, “If the labor market deteriorates, we can move rates down sooner and more quickly than in our baseline. Rather than view this as a normalization, the intention would be to return to an accommodative stance of monetary policy to support the economy.”  Later, San Francisco Fed President Daly said she still expects three rate cuts in 2024.  Still, she said, there isn’t enough convincing data yet to warrant starting the cuts. Daly said, “three reductions this year is a very reasonable baseline.”  However, she quickly added, “Three rate cuts is a projection, and a projection is not a promise.” … “We’re getting there, but it’s not going to be tomorrow, but it’s (also) not going to be forever.”

After the close, CALM reported beats on both the revenue and earnings lines. However, PLAY missed on both the top and bottom lines.

In stock news, on Tuesday, TSLA revealed its Q1 vehicle deliveries fell 8.5% from Q1 of 2023.  However, this was also down 20% quarter-on-quarter from Q4 2023.  (This was TSLA’s first year-on-year decline since Q2 2020.)  Later, SLB announced it will acquire competitor CHX for $7.75 billion.  (CHX shareholders will get $40.59 per share, which is a 14.6% premium on the Monday closing price.)  At the same time, UBS announced a new $2 billion share buyback program (up to half completed by the end of Q2).  Later, TM reported a huge 20% increase in Q1 auto sales in the US.  (TM sold 565,098 in Q1 2024 compared to 469,558 in Q1 of 2023.)  In contrast, GM reported that Q1 sales fell 1.5% versus Q1 of 2023 (594,233 in Q1 2024 versus 603,208 in Q1 2023).  At the same time, BABA announced it had bought back $4.8 billion of its stock in Q1 as part of its planned $25 billion buyback through Q1 2027.  Later, Bloomberg reported that HON is considering selling its COVID protective gear business unit in a deal reportedly more than $2 billion.  Elsewhere, APO (owner of Yahoo) announced Yahoo had acquired the AI-driven news platform Artifact for an undisclosed sum.  At the same time, GE announced it has completed its three-way breakup (into GE, GEV, and GEHC).  Later, the USW union representing employees of X announced it would not support the takeover agreement of Nippon Steel for roughly $14.1 billion.  The union said Nippon Steels job protection pledges were “meaningless” because of the open-ended wording that would allow the company to skirt promises to both workers and retirees.  After the close, the largest investor of DIS (Vanguard) announced it had cast its votes in support of management’s (CEO Iger’s) slate of directors in Iger’s fight with activist investor Peltz.  Also after the close, the Washington Post reported that the US Cyber Safety Review Board is expected to release its report into lapses by MSFT that allowed hackers to hack State Dept. and Dept. of Commerce email addresses last year via MSFT’s Exchange mail servers.  Meanwhile, INTC disclosed an increasing and now $7 billion operating loss from its chip-making unit for 2023.  (This is up from $5.2 billion loss from the same unit in 2022.)

In stock legal and governmental news, on Tuesday, it was announced that recreational pot will be on the November ballot in the state of FL.  (This led to a spike in pot stocks like TLRY, ACB, and CGC.)  Later, the FDA announced that it has approved an ABT heart valve repair device.  This comes months after the FDA approved a rival product from EW.  At the same time, DUK filed a rate increase request with the Florida Public Service Commission, looking to pass $820 million in costs onto 1.97 million FL residents it serves.  Later, the FDA said some dosages of LLY’s Mounjaro diabetes drug will be in short supply the rest of 2024 due to soaring demand.  (This is one of the drugs approved for weight loss under a different brand name.)  At the same time, the Biden Administration announced it had responded to offers from the makers of the 10 highest priced drugs covered by Medicare.  These include BMY, MRK, JNJ, ABBV, AMGN, LLY, NVO, and AZN.  At the same time, Reuters reported that the US Dept. of Justice will meet with the families of victims of the two BA 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. The DOJ is evaluating whether BA violated the terms of its January 2021 agreement to avoid criminal prosecution then. Later, several anti-smoking groups sued the FDA, demanding the agency ban menthol-flavored cigarettes.  This comes after an August final decision was pushed back to March and again missed amidst lobbying by MO and BTI (both of which get more than 20% of their revenue from menthol brands).  At the same time, the FDIC announced it is considering a plan to push BLK, STT, and Vanguard back into passive roles in the banking system.  At the moment all three own more than 10% of many FDIC-regulated banks, including JPM, BAC, WFC, and C. Later, MBGAF (Mercedes Benz) workers in AL filed for a unionization vote with the NRLB.  (The vote could happen within days.)  After the close, C filed motions with a federal judge urging the dismissal of a suit brought by the Attorney General of NY, alleging the company failed to reimburse fraud victims and coercing them into giving up legal remedies before summarily dismissing their claims.  C urged the dismissal based on a Uniform Commercial Code standard that excuses banks from doing so if it had taken “commercially reasonable” security measures to verify customer identities.

Overnight, Asian markets were red across the board.  South Korea (-1.68%), Australia (-1.34%), and Hong Kong (-1.22%) led the region lower.  India (-0.08%) and Shanghai (-0.18%) held up much better than other exchanges.  In Europe, the picture is much greener at midday with only three of the 15 bourses in the red.  The CAC (+0.23%), DAX (+0.27%), and FTSE (-0.37%) lead the region on volume in early afternoon trade.  In the US, as of 7:30 a.m., Futures are pointing toward a down start to the morning.  The DIA implies a -0.07% open, the SPY is implying a -0.22% open, and the QQQ implies a -0.34% open at this hour.  At the same time, 10-year bond yields are up to 4.365% and Oil (WTI) is up another seven-tenths of a percent to $85.75 per barrel in early trading.

The major economic news scheduled for Wednesday include March ADP Nonfarm Employment Change (8:15 a.m., March S&P Global Services PMI and March S&P Global Composite PMI (both at 9:45 p.m.), March ISM Non-Mfg. Employment, March ISM Non-Mfg. PMI, and March ISM Non-Mfg. Price Index (all at 10 a.m.), and EIA Weekly Crude Oil Inventories (10:30 a.m.).  We also hear from Fed members Bowman (9:45 a.m.), Fed Chair Powell (12:10 p.m.), and Fed Vice Chair Barr (1:10 p.m.).  The major earnings reports scheduled for before the open are limited to AYI.  Then, after the close, BB and LEVI report.

In economic news later this week, on Thursday, we get Weekly Initial Jobless Claims, Weekly Continuing Jobless Claims, Feb. Exports, Feb. Imports, Feb Trade Balance, and Fed member Mester speaks.  Finally, on Friday, March Avg. Hourly Earnings, March Nonfarm Payrolls, March Private Nonfarm Payrolls, March Participation Rate, March Unemployment Rate, and Feb. Consumer Credit are being reported.

In terms of earnings reports later this week, on Thursday, CAG, LW, RDUS, and RPM report.  Finally, on Friday, we hear from GBX.

In EV adoption news, on Tuesday, Reuters reported that electric vehicles are on track to outnumber petrol vehicles by the end of this year or early 2025 at the latest in Norway.  (Nine out of every 10 cars sold in Norway during Q1 was electric.)  This is an extremely interesting nugget for two reasons.  First, obviously Norway is located far to the North in a cold climate…and batteries do not perform as well in cold temperatures.  Secondly, Norway has huge oil reserves relative to the population. Logically, you might think this should mean gasoline and diesel are cheaper there. You’d be wrong. Norway has among the highest fuel taxes in the world, Norway has small refining capacity, and the Norwegian Krone is a very weak currency (making the oil commodity relatively expensive).

In commodity news, the White House said Tuesday that it is open to ending the current temporary pause in LNG exports if that would help get Ukraine aid passed.  (There is a current pause on approval of NEW LNG export projects while climate impacts are studied.)  This White House proposal comes after House Speaker Johnson (from LA, a major LNG exporting state) told FOX Sunday that reversing the “Biden pause” could make it easier for his party to support a Ukraine aid package.

In mortgage news, the national average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate, conforming mortgage fell slightly to 6.91% from the prior week’s 6.93% rate.  Loan origination points also fell slightly from 0.60% to 0.59%.  As a result, applications for loans to refinance a home fell 2% week-on-week and were 5% lower than the same week in 2023.  However, applications for new home purchase loans slipped only 0.1% from the prior week, but were 13% lower than the same week in 2023. 

With that background, it looks as if markets are modestly bearish in the early session. All three major index ETFs gapped a bit lower to start the premarket. However, they’re all also putting in small, white-bodied, indecisive candles up to this point this morning. The SPY, QQQ, and DIA are all below their T-line. So the short-term trend is bearish. Meanwhile, the mid-term remains bullish with the notable caveat that QQQ is consolidating in a choppy sideways action. Long-term, it has been and remains all Bulls all the time. In terms of extension, none of the major index ETFs are too far away from their T-line and the T2122 indicator is smack in the center of its mid-range. So, both sides have plenty of room to run if they can find traction. It may also be worth noting that all three major index ETFs are at or near a potential area of support. In terms of those 10 big dog tickers, eight of the 10 are in the red. However, only INTC is getting hammered hard (on last evening’s reveal of a $7 billion loss from their chip foundry unit). Unfortunately, the dog swinging the biggest sticks (NVDA and TSLA) are in that group of eight. So, expect a down start unless morning news causes a major turn-around.

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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