The bulls went to work on Thursday, with the tech giants enjoying the majority of the buy-side activity that finally produced a nice relief rally with very anemic volume.  That raises some uncertainty on the conviction of the rally and if it can produce enough buyer momentum to deal with the technical and price resistance levels above.  With the Employment Situation report before the bell, we will have to see if it continues to inspire the bulls or if the bears will become reengaged at resistance heading into the uncertainty of the weekend.

Asian markets traded mixed to close the week with muted gains and losses in reaction to the shooting death of PM Shinzo Abe.  European markets trade mainly bullish this morning, trying to finish the week on a positive note.  U.S. futures have fluctuated between slightly bullish to slightly bearish as we wait on the Employment Situation report, likely to create some premaket volatility as we finish this short trading week. 

Economic Calendar

Earnings Calendar

We have no confirmed earnings reports for today.

News & Technicals’

Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan, died Friday after being shot.  The former prime minister was shot while delivering a speech in the city of Nara, near Kyoto.  The incident has sent shockwaves through Japan, where gun violence is extremely rare.  Crypto lender Celsius artificially inflated the price of its digital coin, failed to hedge risk, and engaged in activities that amounted to fraud, a lawsuit alleges.  Former investment manager Jason Stone sued Celsius on Thursday as pressure continues to mount on the firm amid a crash in cryptocurrency prices.  Stone alleges in the lawsuit that Celsius was running a “Ponzi scheme.”  Shares of Twitter fell after markets closed on Thursday following a report from The Washington Post that said billionaire Elon Musk’s deal to buy the company is in jeopardy.  The deal was already uncertain since Musk had demanded more information on the percentage of spam accounts on the platform.  Twitter held a virtual briefing with reporters earlier on Thursday to explain which accounts on its platform are bots or spam accounts.  GameStop has fired its Chief Financial Officer, Mike Recupero.  It’s making staff cuts across departments as part of an effort to turn around the videogame retailer.  CEO Matt Furlong explained the changes in the memo to employees and said the company has to take bold steps as it invests in its digital future.  Johnson resigned as Conservative Party leader on Thursday, finally bowing to immense political pressure after an unprecedented flood of government resignations and a Cabinet revolt.  Political analysts believe most potential party leaders have secretly planned their campaigns for several weeks.  Likely contenders include former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi, former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.  Treasury yields dip slightly in early Friday trading though the 2/10 remains inverted with the 2-year at 3.00%, 10-year at 2.99%, and the 30-year trading at 3.18%.

Thursday finally delivered a nice relief rally but did so on extremely light volume, raising questions of conviction as the indexes approach overhead resistance.  Again, the tech giants lead the rally as traders hope with a dose of speculation that earnings from the tech leaders will perform despite the inflation-stressed consumer.  This morning we will turn our attention to the Employment situation number consensus expects a payroll number to decline.  However, there is still confidence it will not show signs of recession.  We will soon find out with the release before the bell with some fed speaks from John Willams tossed in for good measure.  Finally, the T2122 indicator says we still have room for some upside price action, but the question is will it be enough to overcome the technical and price resistance levels as we slide into the weekend?  So, get ready; the show is about to begin!

Trade Wisley,

Doug