August 16, 2024

Markets:

Stock futures held around flat Friday morning as investors looked toward the end of a week that has ushered in a recovery rally.

The indecision comes after a strong day on Wall Street. The Dow gained more than 500 points on Thursday, rising more than 1% along with the broad S&P 500. The Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 2% as technology shares led the ascent.

Thursday marked the sixth straight winning day for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. With respective gains of more than 3% and 5% on the week, both are on track to notch their biggest weekly gains since November. The Dow has climbed more than 2% this week, which would also mark its best performance this year.

Retail sales data released Thursday came in much stronger than economists expected, while weekly jobless claims fell. Both offered evidence that recession fears, which helped spark a global sell-off earlier this month, were overblown.

These stats came after inflation readings released earlier this week bolstered hopes that a soft landing scenario was still possible. These data points also supported the expectation that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates at its next policy meeting in September.

Portfolio:

Great week thus far and we look to end it strong.  Really excited about the breakouts occurring, although earlier than we anticipated as we stated a few weeks ago.  We still believe there will be a monster year end cycle for traders but we welcome this move as well, especially after everyone was convinced the markets were in complete breakdown mode last Monday due to the Japan carry trade.  Now, we have monthly hammer everywhere!!  What a turn technically.  Retailers were the largest net sales sellers at the market bottom last Monday when institutions were net buyers.  The market now has a fascinating scenario working due to money on the sidelines that needs to come in.  This scenario and how it pushes the market further short term will be spectacular for traders.

No updates or adjustments needed with current open positions in VERI, SIRI, TSLL, and ZETA.  We expect this OPEX Friday to have some swings but would not be surprised to see a see-saw type of day before we move early on next week.  Be ready but especially come next week.  Stay patient today.