Market Direction Mid Week Update: Uber on Deck

The trading strategy this website uses as its signature tool is our bullish and bearish alerts. This indicator has effectively been used with accuracy since 2011. The website helps our followers stay in tune with the stock market and profits have been amazing. This post provides a mid-week update on how the stock market has preform. At the bottom of this post are the all-time numbers since the current alert was made.

Market Direction: BULLISH alert issued 1/10/2019

Can the stock market keep climbing higher?

Click the Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down in the upper right sidebar. 

Subscribe and share with friends.

The U.S. stock market switched direction toward the closing bell to finish mostly lower Wednesday as worries over U.S.-China trade talks lingered. The dramatic reversal extended losses by the S&P 500 and Nasdaq for a third straight session.

How did the benchmark indexes fare?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.01%  bucked the trend by edging up 2.24 points to 25,967.33. The S&P 500 SPX, -0.16% fell 4.63 points, or 0.2%, to 2,879.42, while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.26% dropped 20.44 points, or 0.3%, to 7,943.32.

On Tuesday, the Dow tumbled 1.8% to 25,965.09, suffering its largest percentage decline since Jan. 3, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.7%, to 2,884.05. The Nasdaq fell 2%, to 7,963.76. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw their biggest daily declines since March 22, according to FactSet data.

Read: The stock market is on pace for its worst month since December rout

What drove the market?

China-U.S. tariff tensions have buffeted assets perceived as risky, such as equities, and the belligerent tone from the White House caught many investors by surprise after having anticipated a tidy pact to the protracted talks coming to fruition soon.

See: How U.S.-China trade uncertainty could trigger a stock-market buy signal

On Wednesday, a notice in the Federal Register formally laid the groundwork to raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25% from 10% early Friday, following through on remarks Monday by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer regarding such a move. The prospect of higher tariffs was first raised Sunday by President Donald Trump, rattling investors who had anticipated better progress toward a near-term resolution.

Read: ‘China has chosen to retreat’ — the U.S. view as negotiations reach critical juncture

Trump once again weighed in on the negotiations via Twitter on Wednesday, saying that the Chinese are now “coming to the U.S. to make a deal,” implying they had previously been slow-walking the negotiations in the hope that Trump would be voted out of office in 2020.

Read: With Trump threatening to tighten the trade screws, here’s a look at what tariffs have done so far

Indeed, Beijing has said top trade envoys, including Vice Premier Liu He, will head to Washington on Thursday to resume negotiations.

China’s diplomatic contingent had attempted to revamp a nearly 150-page draft trade agreement, as they were reluctant to agree to signing new trade terms into law, raising the ire of U.S. negotiators, according to Reuters.

Adding to policy uncertainty, Iran said it may cease compliance with portions of a 2015 nuclear deal it signed with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that it would begin stockpiling heavy water and low-enriched uranium unless non-U.S. signatories take steps to shield the Iranian economy from Trump-administration sanctions that have been crippling its economy.

What were strategists saying?

“Some consolidation was to be expected, given the phenomenal start of the year,” for markets, said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank, adding that the recent U.S.-China trade drama provides an opportunity for taking profits.

He also warned investors the trade dispute is “a phenomenon where you can’t get an edge, because you’re just one tweet away from having your previous posture undermined.”

“Traders are in no mood to take a stand right now as the uncertainties regarding China and Iran take center stage,” wrote Bespoke Investment Group’s Paul Hickey in a note.

“The flight to safety has provided a big boost for Treasurys, re-flattening the yield curve closer to the inversion zone,” he added. “And to think, just three trading days ago, the S&P 500 was flirting with a record high close!”

Which stocks were in focus?

Lyft Inc. LYFT, -10.84% shares slid 11% after the ride-hailing company late Tuesday reported quarterly earnings for the first time since its initial public offering in March. The company reported first-quarter losses that were wider than expected, but revenue that topped expectations.

Opinion: Lyft stops providing key data after IPO, then insults investors’ intelligence

Shares of Coty Inc. COTY, -5.47% tumbled 5.5% after the company reported a narrower loss for the fiscal third quarter, ended March 31, than the previous three months, but revenue that fell 10.4%, below consensus expectations.

McKesson Corp. MCK, +4.79% stock rose 4.8% after the supply-chain management company reported first-quarter earnings above expectations.

Shares of Wendy’s Co. WEN, +3.95% gained 4% after the fast-food chain reported first-quarter profits and sales that surpassed Wall Street forecasts.

Nautilus Inc. NLS, -2.35% stock fell 2.4% after the exercise-equipment maker reported a first-quarter loss of 29 cents a share, versus analysts expectations of 3 cents a share, according to FactSet.

TripAdvisor Inc. TRIP, -11.41% shares sank 11% after the company posted first-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ expectations, but revenue that widely missed forecasts.

Qorvo Inc. QRVO, +3.39% shares rallied 3.4% after the radio-frequency component maker announced first-quarter sales and profits that beat Wall Street expectations.

Shares of Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK, +3.96% rose 4%, reversing premarket losses, after the oil and natural gas company reported a wider first-quarter loss and revenue that fell short of expectations. On the positive side, the company beat forecasts for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda), as production and prices were above projections.

How did other markets trade?

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, -1.12%  fell 1.1%, while the Nikkei 225 NIK, -0.47% , in its second day back from an extended holiday break, declined by 1.5%, following a similar drop on Tuesday. European stocks SXXP, +0.15%  were mostly higher.

Gold GCM9, +0.12% settled lower, while the U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.02% was mostly flat and crude oil CLM9, -0.19%  rose.

$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, email us. Share with friends.

The all-time highs since our initial recommendation to go LONG this market. Here is how the markets have performed:

Stock Market Direction Recommendation (1/10/2019)
Dow	up 2,694.06 points a 11.22% gain	4/23/19
Nasdaq	up 1,190.01 points a 17.03% gain	4/29/19
S&P 500	up 357.49 points a 13.77% gain	5/1/19

Related Link: http://www.stockmarket-direction.com/