March 1, 2023

Markets:

Stock futures rose Wednesday, the first day of March, as traders tried to recover their footing following a losing month.

Sentiment got a boost after the release of much stronger-than-expected data out of China. The country’s National Bureau of Statistics said its official manufacturing PMI rose to 52.6 in February — a high not seen since April 2012.

February’s slide dragged the Dow into negative territory for the year, while the other two indexes are still holding onto their gains.

The decline marked a turn from January’s rally and was prompted in part by the bombshell jobs data that came in the first week of the month, according to Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 517,000 in January, according to the report, which crushed the 187,000 estimated by economists polled by Dow Jones.

Investors will watch for economic data on construction and manufacturing coming after the market opens Wednesday.

Portfolio:

We enter the new trading session of a new month filled with so much excitement for the opportunity to end this outstanding first quarter in a Monster way.  Technically, we are still in a beautiful range / potential breakout.  We enter the session holding positions in FLNG, NU, TNK, UNG, and VKTX.  Expect a few swings today but expect updates and possibly booking a profit or two today.  Let's have a great month!