February 14, 2025

Markets:

Stocks futures were slightly lower on Friday as investors weighed the latest on global trade after President Donald Trump held off on imposing new reciprocal tariffs.

On Thursday, Trump signed a memorandum on laying out a plan to impose levies on goods from countries with duties on U.S. products. The new tariffs on take effect immediately. Instead, Trump tasked Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick to lead studies on the appropriate levies for each country.

The lack of immediate tariffs boosted sentiment on Thursday, which saw equity markets move higher as investors also piled into technology stocks. Traders were also seemingly relieved after January’s producer price index, as well as the consumer price index report released earlier this week, that appeared to suggest a softer reading for the personal consumption expenditures price index. The PCE price index, which is due later this month, is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Friday after Wall Street rose overnight as President Donald Trump signed a reciprocal tariffs plan, but did not enact the levies immediately.

Mainland China’s CSI 300 Index ended the day 0.87% higher at 3,939. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded up 3.48% in its final hour, extending its gains from the previous session. The HSI is on track to its highest weekly gain since last October.

Portfolio:

Very nice week and we continue to build this monster runway that many refuse to see!  It's ok, we will lead the way!  We enter the session holding setups in SMR and S.   Queue is igniting with force and we will most likely be adding today so please be ready.  Markets are closed on Monday FYI.  

Be ready today.  New levels are now setting in and we will be watching flow and price activity very closely.  I'll be extremely interested in the closing prices and where we sit technically.