April 1, 2024

Markets:

Stock futures rose slightly on Monday as Wall Street kicked off the second quarter following a strong start to the year, and traders weighed fresh U.S. inflation data.

The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy, released Friday during the market closure for Good Friday, showed inflation rose 2.8% in February, which is in line with expectations. The inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve also rose 0.3% from a month ago, the Commerce Department said.

The major averages are coming off a winning first quarter. The S&P 500 jumped 10.2% for its best first-quarter performance since 2019, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 5.6%. The Nasdaq Composite popped 9.1%.

Markets also wrapped up a winning March and their fifth consecutive positive month, with the S&P and Dow rising 3.1% and 2.1%, respectively. The Nasdaq edged up 1.8% for the month.

Those monthly and quarterly gains brought the Dow to within striking distance of 40,000. The 30-stock Dow closed Thursday’s session at 39,807.37.

Ongoing bets on artificial intelligence stocks and tailwinds from Nvidia have continued powering the market higher in the new year after a strong 2023. That comes alongside the expectation for the start of a rate-cutting cycle from the Federal Reserve later this year, with markets pricing in a cut as soon as June.

Portfolio:

As we step into the new trading day, marking the onset of the week, month, and quarter, our positions are set in NIO, BAC, IONQ, TSLL, IBIT, and PATH.  Today, we may witness a dip in trading volume as traders assess momentum and sector shifts. This pattern has persisted over the past year.

During the initial days of the quarter, there tends to be significant activity in contract trading, signaling anticipated movements for the quarter. This window of opportunity has proven beneficial for strategic positioning. Last week, we observed substantial bullish calls, particularly in NVDA, AMD, AAPL, and GOOGL, spanning over the next couple of years with their respective strikes.

Be patience today as we analyze movement. I firmly believe that Q2 will unveil some of the most lucrative trading prospects until the approaching election season in Q3/Q4. Time for us all to lock in and benefit from this cycle!