February 14, 2022

Markets:

Dow Jones futures were trading little changed early Monday, reversing from sharp overnight losses along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures, as Russia's foreign minister made some positive signals on the Ukraine crisis. The major indexes last week reversed lower from key resistance to undercut key support, raising fresh concerns about the stock market rally.

A hot inflation report and fears of an imminent Russia invasion of Ukraine spurred the stock market sell-off late in the week.

Early Monday, Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said while Nato responses on the Ukraine crisis are not satisfactory, he noted that the U.S. response was somewhat "constructive." He proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that talks continue, with Putin saying "all right" in response.

Meanwhile, Cisco Systems (CSCO) recently made a $20 billion-plus offer for data analytics and security software firm Splunk (SPLK), The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday. The two companies are not currently in talks, the WSJ said, but SPLK stock popped 8% early Monday.

Portfolio:

We enter today's new trading week only holding 4 positions, PBR, NOV, MARA, and holding itrm.  Market will be on its heels this week with Russian tensions mounting – although the news seems to dive these notions more than anything.  This does however provide monster trading opportunities and we are here for it!  Be ready and let's have a great trading week and session!