May 15, 2025

Markets:

U.S. stock futures declined Thursday after the S&P 500 notched its third consecutive gain, driven by optimism over a temporary pause in the trade tensions between the Trump administration and China.

Tech continues to lead the charge this week: Nvidia and Tesla are each up over 16%, while Meta Platforms has gained 11.3%. Amazon and Alphabet have climbed more than 8% apiece. The Nasdaq Composite is up 6.8% for the week, followed by the S&P 500 with a 4.11% gain, and the Dow up 1.9%.

Investor sentiment improved earlier this week after April's consumer inflation data came in cooler than expected. Core CPI (excluding food and energy) rose 0.2%, under the 0.3% consensus forecast.

Attention now shifts to Thursday’s slate of key economic data. Markets will be watching the producer price index, retail sales, and industrial production reports—all due before the opening bell. Weekly jobless claims are also on the docket.

Portfolio:

Great week so far and momentum is clearly on our side as we head into what could be a breakout summer for traders. We’re seeing some eye-opening price action and heavy upside call flow in select names and sectors—moves that could prove to be life-changing.

Now onto today: it’s a big data day, and we enter the session holding setups in CONL, GME, and QUBT. As we’ve been emphasizing for the past two weeks, NVDA and TSLA continue to look incredibly bullish. We believe new highs are coming for the overall markets when these two lead again.

From a technical standpoint, SPY pushing through the 590 level is critical. A clean break would likely set the stage for a run at 600 and a potential test of the 2024 highs. Any dip toward 580 looks buyable at the moment, though we remain mindful of the open gap down to 563 if the market decides to shake things out in the short term.

Be ready today.  Stay patient.  Allow the setups to emerge and then we attack.