January 31, 2022

Markets:

Stock futures were mixed in early morning trading Monday as investors braced for the final trading day in what could be the worst month for the S&P 500 since March 2020.

The moves came ahead of a big week for economic data and some important earnings reports from some of the market’s biggest tech names.

Friday will see the December nonfarm payrolls report, which the White House warned Friday could be hit by the omicron surge at the end of 2021. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the report to show a gain of just 178,000 with the unemployment rate holding steady at 3.9%.

There also will be several Federal Reserve speakers Monday, including Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, who will appear on CNBC around 3 p.m. ET.Last week, the Fed indicated that it is likely to raise interest rates for the first time in more than three years in order to combat historically high inflation. Markets are now pricing in five quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes in 2022.

The Dow, off by 4.4% this month, is heading for its worst month since October 2020 and the small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 is in a bear market.

Portfolio:

We enter the last trading session of the month holding positions in LCID, MRO, DDD, BITO, and ITRM.

We now begin to prepare, for what we believe, will be an incredible period ahead with outstanding trend patterns and technical set-ups.

Be ready today.  We expect a roller coaster of a session to end the month as traders position themselves for the new month ahead.    Expect updates and a new trade today!  Let's have a great session.