September 5, 2023

Markets:

Stock futures slipped Tuesday to start a holiday-shortened week.

The moves follow an upbeat week for Wall Street, with the Dow and the Nasdaq notching their best performances since July. The 30-stock Dow and the Nasdaq added 1.4% and about 3.3% for the week. The S&P 500 gained 2.5% to register its best week since June.

Traders last week weighed new signs of a slowing economy and easing pricing pressures. The latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report showed the unemployment rate rose to 3.8% in August, reaching its highest level in more than a year. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected it to remain at 3.5%. Average hourly earnings also increased 4.3% on a year-over-year basis, less than the 4.4% increase expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.

Investors could also be looking at a challenging month ahead for stocks. September is historically the weakest month for equities, and investors will be sifting through economic reports—including fresh inflation data—ahead of the Fed’s September policy meeting. Central bank policymakers will have a two-day meeting starting Sept. 19 and announce their interest rate decision Sept. 20.

Still, some technical indicators gave investors hope last week. In a sign of positive short-term momentum, the major indexes broke above their respective 50-day moving averages this past week.

Portfolio:

We enter the new trading week and new month holding set-ups in COUR, CVE, and VST. So much excitement for this month but also this week. We begin to see the start of returning traders and volume. Queue is super active this morning and as the morning progresses, we should continue to see volume coming in. Love this time of year and the opportunities in front of us as we look to end 2023 with a monster period. Be on high alert this week and let's pinpoint every opportunity. Loved how we ended last week. Let's keep it going!