September 11, 2023

Markets:

Stock futures rose to begin trading for the week on expectations the Federal Reserve could keep interest rates on hold, with inflation continuing to slow.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that there was a consensus among Fed members to not raise rates when the central bank meets next week. Fed futures trading early Monday now put the chance of the Fed staying on hold on Sep. 20 at 93%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Whether the Fed hikes again this year is undecided, the WSJ report said.

Shares of Tesla gained 6% in premarket trading after a big call out of Morgan Stanley, which upgraded the shares and predicted a significant rally ahead because of breakthroughs with its autonomous software. Qualcomm shares jumped more than 8% after the semiconductor company said Monday it will supply Apple with 5G modems for smartphones through 2026.

All three major indexes posted losing weeks last week. The tech heavy Nasdaq Composite suffered the biggest loss, down nearly 2% on fear of higher rates.

Investors are looking forward to key inflation data in the week ahead after a string of stronger-than-expected economic data points last week had renewed worries that the Federal Reserve could raise rates more than previously expected.

Wednesday and Thursday bring the latest consumer price index and producer price index readings, respectively. Investors are hoping for low readings, although both are expected to jump due to energy cost pressures.

Retail sales data is also expected Thursday and the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Survey will be released on Friday, which should give insight on how well spending could hold up for the rest of the year.

Apple will also hold its product event on Tuesday, dubbed “Wonderlust,” during which the company is widely anticipated to unveil the iPhone 15.

Portfolio:

We enter this monster week of data / news holding set-ups in TSLL, WW, and CXM.  TSLL could hit our target early on so please be ready.  Queue is rocking this morning and began to do so into the close Friday.  We love to see this activity and look forward to an active few weeks ahead filled with opportunity.  Last week not much to get excited with as we were range bound.  Right now, could be breaking out of current range which will trigger exciting opportunities in a number of sectors / names.  Be on high alert this week!  Let's continue to build on the last few weeks of monster performance!  Booking VST into the close Friday was nice, but now let's start this new week in monster fashion.