August 23, 2023

Markets:

Stock futures climbed Wednesday as investors awaited quarterly results from chip giant Nvidia. Traders also tried to regain their footing following a mixed session Tuesday.

Nvidia is slated to report second-quarter earnings after the bell. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect the company to report sharp year-over-year spikes in profit and revenue for the second quarter. Nvidia is the best-performing S&P 500 stock of 2023, up more than 200%, as investors cheer the company’s AI-related prospects.

Investors will look to the report for signs on whether the market can resume this year’s move higher, or if the August downturn will be prolonged. The S&P 500 is down more than 4% this month. On Wednesday, shares rose more than 1%.

Wall Street is coming off a mixed session, with the Dow and S&P 500 falling, while the Nasdaq Composite eked out a small gain. Weakness in retail and bank stocks weighed on the market Tuesday.

Beyond the earnings slated for Wednesday, investors will also be watching for economic data on new home sales and purchasing. They’ll also be readying for the start of a two-day Federal Reserve symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, beginning Thursday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to deliver remarks Friday.

Portfolio:

Nice session for us yesterday and we enter the new trading day holding set-ups in IOT, AEHR, COUR, NNDM, HPE, and CVE. The month of August is almost over, and August has always been the worst month of the year for traders historically. It's choppy, low volume and directionless. You try to position yourself for longer dated set-ups rather than quick trade set-ups. This is clearly defined historically but many retail traders continue to want to chase the day to day moves. Need to always be careful in August. September offers nice volatility and volume ramps up. October typically signifies a strong trend and follow through until the end of the year. Historically, October always starts the year end trend. Throw in election season beginning, and we have ingredients to have an epic last quarter of the year. I cannot stress that enough and truly hope folks see the opportunity they have to end this year. Be ready today and stay patient. A strong narrative is being built around Nividia's earnings tonight. Watching this closely for how we "respond" to it. Queue is beginning to ignite and we love to see it. Price / volume in lots beginning to pick up for Sep / Oct strikes. Be ready today.