October 11, 2024

Markets:

Stock futures were little changed on Friday morning, as investors looked ahead to a wholesale inflation reading and quarterly results from major banks.

The action follows a losing day for the major averages, with the S&P 500 and the 30-stock Dow pulling back from their records in Thursday’s session. The broad market index slipped 0.2%, while the Dow lost about 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite posted a slight decline of 0.05%.

Fresh data issued on Thursday raised investors’ fears that inflation wasn’t cooling off quickly enough. September’s consumer price index rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.4% from a year earlier. Those results topped the 0.1% monthly advance and 2.3% year-over-year gain economists polled by Dow Jones anticipated.

Fed funds futures trading suggests a roughly 87% likelihood that the Federal Reserve will dial back interest rates by a quarter point in November, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. However, central bank policymakers will keep a close eye on additional data, which will shape their course on rates.

Indeed, another catalyst awaits on Friday morning: the producer price index, a measure of wholesale prices. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect the PPI index to have risen 0.1% in September on a monthly basis. Excluding food and energy costs, they forecast a 0.2% advance.

JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are also slated to report quarterly earnings before the bell. The results could influence the market on Friday.

Portfolio:

Big Friday ahead with PCI on tap and the start – to us – of earnings season with big banks beginning to release. Next week really begins to ramp up Q4 earnings and we cannot wait for the opportunities ahead. This week we indeed saw lower volume as traders allow the markets to digest, consolidate, and prepare for the next move. This is extremely healthy! Very mechanical but healthy for the greater outlook and trend. One item to note and to show the strength of this market under the hood, take a look at the price action that has occurred all week between the last hour of trading. Momentum, positive upside call lots and buys, is all we see during this hour. Strategic positioning on lower prices. There are some fantastic looking charts out there that just need a bit more time for a large move. One chart to study, MSTR. This thing looks as if it is setting up for a MONSTER move. Look at the QQQ's..I know we continue to bring this up as a great indicator but the potential for blue skies ahead with the short-term island bottom to launch it is absolutely fantastic for traders. Again, no trigger yet, it's building. But the possibilities for this is just beyond exciting and provides an opportunity to make a ton of money which is what we are all here for! Stay patient. It's building!

We enter the last trading session of the week holding set-ups in NVAX, TSLL, and IONQ,  We are adjusting our stop on TSLL to 7.25. Another very nice week and October is rally off to a strong start for us considering the market just basing here and setting up for the next move. Although it's Friday and we typically are not a fan of adding on Fridays, queue looks too strong. Could see a few triggers. Be ready.