August 17, 2022
Markets:
Stock futures fell on Wednesday as a rally that has propelled equity prices higher since mid-June appeared poised for a respite.
At the same time, further uncertainty remains in the market as the Federal Reserve plans to continue raising rates and shrinking the size of its balance sheet.
Traders on Wednesday continued to comb through corporate earnings from the retail sector. Walmart and Home Depot reported Tuesday, while Lowe’s and Target posted earnings Wednesday morning.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond surged more than 30% in premarket trading as the revival of the Reddit-fueled meme craze showed no signs of slowing down. Bed Bath & Beyond has already seen five days this month with moves of at least 20%. The stock is up nearly 300% for August as of Tuesday’s close.
The Federal Reserve will release minutes from its July 26-27 meeting, with markets looking for hints on what is coming in September. The meeting summary will come out at 2 p.m.
As part of the ongoing effort to beat back inflation, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted to increase interest rates by 0.75 percentage point for the second consecutive time. That took the Fed’s benchmark borrowing rate to a range of 2.25%-2.5%.
Chairman Jerome Powell said at his post-meeting news conference that the Fed likely will slow the pace of rate hikes after policy tightens further, and markets took that to mean that the central bank could dial back its moves soon.
Portfolio:
We enter today's new trading session holding positions in TELL, GEO, CVE, WEN, and ITRM. Another great day for us yesterday and we continue to crush the month of August. No concerns technically and we will be patiently waiting for the Fed release today and the price activity to generate from the release. Stay patient. Remember, typically the first move after the release has been the wrong move for the market. Allow price to materialize and then we attack the opportunity. Let's have a great session and be ready for further updates and a potential trade alert.