An unexpected jump in June Non-Farm Payrolls while positive reduces the possibility of the Fed cutting interest rates at their next meeting. Friday’s market saw SPY and QQQ end the day on the negative side of things while IWM closed strong in the green. Early Monday morning futures are indicating a lower market open. The good news was SPY, QQQ, and IWM finished all off their lows and near highs. This week we begin to see companies reporting their second quarter earnings. Be aware of your stocks and when they report. Next week reports really kick up. We are still amid a very strong stock market and expect this to continue. Manage your positions in accordance to plan and always be mindful of your open risk. Let’s see where this market wants to take us.
Earnings season is always a tricky part to trading. We have seen massive swings in stocks as they report and most times it is not inline with the general trend of the stock. Therefore, it is massively important to always know when a portfolio holding is reporting and whether you have proper cushion to hold a stock through its report. One thing we do not want to see is a 10% gain evaporate into nothing or worse. Know when your stocks are going to report and adjust accordingly. There is no special or secret sauce, but it does take some due diligence. Do your homework!
Circling to the FANG stocks we see FB nearing its 2019 high. The stocks is very rigid with how it moves, but has climbed back to April highs. The stock still sits below its 2018 all-time high, but for now has positioned itself to attempt another run. AAPL and AMZN are very similar in nature, but the slight nod goes to AMZN. Both stocks, much like FB have done a good job fighting off sellers. With earnings around the corner it will be fascinating to watch. NFLX too has done a solid job of consolidating. The stock has some overhead resistance to clear and with earnings coming up soon its something to keep an eye on. Then we have GOOGL. It has lagging its fellow FANG stocks and its price action leaves a lot to be desired. Interesting to see since these stocks were in such high demand.
No holiday to shorten trading this week and while we are in the middle of summer there are still opportunities to be had if you are doing the necessary work. We wish you the best of luck and have a great week!
Hi, I read through your post. I was hoping you could help me with something. I was wondering, I’m curious the difference between insider trading and a trading scheme. Do you know the difference? My brother in law is a stock trader and I’ve been worried because of the recent crack downs. Any help you could provide is greatly appreciated!
Hello Walker. This isn’t a topic that is relevant to me or any professional trader that I know. I do not know of anyone that speaks of a “trading scheme” so this is unchartered territory for me but I am 100% sure this is a non issue. Insider trading is legal if its reported to the SEC/FINRA. Insider trading via options is not but it happens all the time and has been happening since the dawn of trading/time so this is also a non-issue. I am also not sure of any recent crackdowns that you speak of and I can assure you its nothing to be worried about. Unless your brother-in-law is a gambler. Then, like all other gamblers, the game will take him out well before insider trading does. If there is anything to actually worry about it would be that. To sum it up, this is an irrelevant topic to every professional trader in this business and is only a relative topic to someone who is not initiated in the business. Aloha.