April 12, 2024

Markets:

Stock futures fell on Friday as major U.S. banks kicked off the corporate earnings season. JPMorgan Chase shares were down 2.2% after the banking giant posted its first-quarter results. The bank said net interest income, a key measure of what it makes through lending activities, could be a little short of what Wall Street analysts are expecting in 2024. CEO Jamie Dimon also warned about persistent inflationary pressures weighing on the economy.

Wells Fargo shares were flat after reporting its latest quarterly figures. Citigroup is slated to report.

The reports come a day after a sharp rebound for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite as tech shares led a comeback from Wednesday’s inflation-fueled sell-off. On Thursday, Nasdaq gained 1.68% to close at a record, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.74%. The 30-stock Dow inched lower by 0.01%, posting its fourth straight losing day.

Apple was among the Magnificent Seven names rallying Thursday. The iPhone maker jumped 4.3% after Bloomberg News reported the company’s plans to overhaul its Mac products with new artificial intelligence-focused chips. Apple had its best day since May 2023.

Portfolio:

Yesterday was the perfect example of once again this market trapping bears and just butchering them as the market continues to build. We stated a few sessions ago to pay attention to the QQQ and SPY charts and see what's developing. Unless you see a firm break in trend, I have no idea why anyone would step in front of this train and try to call it. No need to make a hero call, it's buried these folks over the last year. It'll be interesting to see how we close heading into the weekend. Fridays have been a wild card, so stay patient. Nice week for us and we want to continue to position ourselves for earnings season.

We enter the new session holding set-ups in SOXL, SMTC, HMY, BAC, TSLL, and IBIT. Hopefully they do not hold this one back. We might add a new trade, queue is igniting with force, but again, it's Friday and we want to be patient.