Weekly Wrap-Up + Market Forecast + Sector Watch: SPX, Nasdaq, FAS, FDN, TLT, GLD

The markets were very volatile last week.  On Monday, stocks opened higher, but, closed down.  On Tuesday, stocks opened lower, but, closed up.  On Wednesday, stocks jumped, but, could not break out on Thursday.  Friday was met with a steep sell-off.

In my Market Forecast last weekend, I said,

" This market has been flirting with the top of this trading range for a while now. It's difficult to say if it's got enough fuel to escape from the gravity of this trading range."

Indeed, it seemed that the market shared and showed my sentiment.  Buyers were unwilling to let the market break out with the earnings season just starting.  Instead, they shifted their focus to Greece, which is still struggling to come to agreement with the IMF and EU over economic reforms required by its lenders in order to unlock the remaining bailout fund.

Nevertheless, we had another nice week, and my Ecstatic Plays portfolio value continued to push higher:

Here are the closed trades for the week:

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For the week, the Dow was down 231.35 points; SPX fell 20.88 points; Nasdaq lost 63.77 points.  Oil (WTI) had a strong week and traded above $55/barrel.  Gold slid a bit, but, still closed above $1200/ounce.  At the time of this writing, Asian markets were mixed.  Here's how the US markets closed on Friday:

SPX

SPX fell 23.81 points to close at 2081.18.  Its daily MAs flattened and the MACD went down.

Nasdaq

Nasdaq dropped 75.98 points to close at 4931.81.  It closed below its daily MAs.

Both market indices seem to be testing their respective initial support levels.  For the new week, lots of earnings reports are piling in:

MON: (AM) HAL, HAS, MS, STI; (PM) IBM, PKG, SANM, STLD
TUE:  (AM) ATI, HOG, MLNX, EDU, PCAR, UA, UTX;
         (PM) AMGN, BRCM, CREE, FLXS, ILMN, ISRG, VMW, YHOO, YUM
WED:  (AM) ABT, BA, KO, MCD; (PM) ALGT, T, CAKE, CTXS, EBAY, FFIV, FB, LVS, QCOM, SKX, TXN, XLNX

THUR:  (AM) MMM, ALXN, AMAG, CX, LLY, DP, FCX, GM, NUE, OSTK, PEP, PG, LUV, WHR; (PM) ALRA, AMZN, P, GOOG, 

FRI: (AM) AAL, BIIB, COG, INFY, SPWR, STT

SPX has support at 2080.  Below that, the next support is between 2060-2050.  Resistance is still at 2100.  Both Gold and bonds are trading higher.  These are signalling that at least some investors are starting to bet against the market.  Financials fell quite a bit on Friday and will be tested again in the coming week.  Internet stocks also pull back, but, NFLX still traded higher.  Lots of bellwethers in this group are reporting:  YHOO, FB, EBAY, AMZN, GOOG, and P.

Sector Watch

GLD (gold)

GLD could be shaping up for a breakout.  It will have to get a pop above that $117 level.

TLT (bonds)

TLT popped on Friday and closed above its daily MAs.  If it goes above $132.5, this could rise to test $138 again.

FAS (financial)


FAS was rising higher, but, Friday's big drop took it back down again.  This is now neutral.  MS, STI, and STT are reporting in the coming week.  If this group goes higher, GS is probably the best one to play on the long side.

FDN (internet)

FDN went down on Friday with the broader market.  GOOG, AMZN, and FB all got hit pretty hard.  GOOG has been weak recently with EU's antitrust cloud hanging over its head.  This could be interesting.  AMZN should do well, and options are reasonable.  FB was shaping up nicely, but, Friday's drop kind of scrambled its charts.  We'll have to see how things play out ahead of earnings.

Good night and HappyTrading! ™

Posted to Ecstatic Plays on Apr 20, 2015 — 12:04 AM
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