Market Direction: BULLISH alert
issued 2/15/2018
The BULLISH ALERT
is still alive 22 weeks and counting since the alert was first made. What do you think about the tariff wars going on? Leave a comment. Now for the news…
The economy
Wall Street advanced for the second week in a row, with the Nasdaq (+1.8%) touching a new record and the S&P 500 (+1.5%) hitting its best level since the big drop in early February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+2.3%) outperformed its peers, returning to positive territory for the year, but the small-cap Russell 2000 (-0.4%) struggled.
Stocks started the week on a positive note, rallying on Monday and Tuesday, but sold off on Wednesday after the White House escalated its ongoing trade dispute with Beijing, publishing a new list of tariffs. This round of duties is the largest yet, calling for a 10% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, but it won't be official for at least two months. As it did with earlier tariffs, China promised to retaliate.
Meanwhile, NATO leaders held a two-day summit in Brussels this week. President Trump dominated the headlines, criticizing Germany for approving a major gas deal with Russia and taking a hard stance on increased military spending. Member states recommitted to a military spending target of 2% of GDP by 2024, prompting Mr. Trump to verbally confirm his commitment to the alliance.
The U.S. president then jetted to the UK for a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May. Before the meeting, Mr. Trump suggested that Ms. May's Brexit plan may prevent the U.S. from entering a bilateral trade deal with the UK, but he walked back those comments in a latter press conference, reaffirming the leaders' "special relationship."
Back on the home front, West Texas Intermediate crude futures tumbled from a three-and-a-half year high on Wednesday, plunging 5.0% in their worst daily performance in over a year. Investors shrugged off a bullish inventory report -- which showed a huge drop of 12.6 million barrels for the week ended July 6 -- and instead focused on resurgent Libyan supply and increased June output for Saudi Arabia.
The energy sector, which is sensitive to crude prices, finished behind the broader market, but still added 0.8%. Eight of eleven spaces finished the week in the green, with information technology (+2.3%), consumer discretionary (+2.1%), and industrials (+2.2%) being the top performers. Utilities (-1.2%), telecom services (-1.6%), and real estate (-0.8%) were the three decliners.
In corporate news, big banks JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC) unofficially kicked off the second quarter earnings season on Friday with mixed results; JPMorgan and Citigroup beat earnings estimates, but Wells Fargo missed. The financial sector lost 0.5% on Friday, but still finished the week with a gain of 1.1%.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasuries moved lower in another curve-flattening trade this week, bringing the 2-10 spread down two basis points to 26 bps -- its lowest level in more than a decade. The yield on the benchmark 10-yr note ticked up one basis point to 2.83%, while the yield on the 2-yr note climbed three basis points to 2.57%.
$tockMarketDirection proprietary model is currently BULLISH. We strongly encourage you to monitor positions closely, exercise proper money management strategies and follow us at $tockMarketDirection for ALERTS we may issue advising a change in the current market direction. Stay tuned and follow us. If you have a testimonial or comment of how this website has helped you we would like to know, write us. Share with a friend.
By the numbers the weekly closing index numbers compared to the initial BULLISH recommendation closing numbers:
Stock Market Closing Numbers
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compared to Recommendation Numbers
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2/15/2018
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7/13/2018
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Difference
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25,200.37
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25,019.41
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180.96
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7,256.43
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7,825.98
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569.55
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2,731.20
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2,801.31
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70.11
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