News:
Yesterday markets opened lower and with good reason…
The European Central Bank (ECB) surprised the markets with a 0.5% boost to its lending rate.
- Traders expected a 0.25% increase
- This is the first rate increase for the ECB in 11 years
And new unemployment claims jumped to a new 8-month high with 251,000 filings.
Image from Wikipedia
But by the end of the day, the bulls showed more resilience and more strength … All the indexes closed in the green for the second day in a row.
- The Nasdaq led with a gain of 1.4%.
- The Dow and Russell 2000 had a solid showing gaining 0.5% each.
It was a busy day in the news cycle, so let’s hit the headlines…
Headlines
Shares of Telsa (TSLA^) rose nearly 10% after reporting quarterly earnings.
- The energy company broke a string of record quarterly profits but still managed to top profit estimates.
- Its slowed profits were driven primarily by the Covid-19 shutdowns at its Shanghai plant.
The SEC charged three people with connections to Coinbase (COIN) with insider trading.
- An employee alleged, “tipped the timing and content of upcoming listing announcements” to his brother and friend.
- The trio made “over $1.1 million in illegal profits,” according to the SEC’s press release.
- This is the first such insider trading charges related to cryptocurrencies.
Shares of Snap (SNAP) cratered after dismal earnings.
- At writing, shares are down 29% in premarket trading.
- The smaller social media platform “confirmed fears” that ad spending is slowing, according to one analyst.
- The company reiterated its metaverse position, saying, “we remain … committed to [the] AR business.”
Sector Update
9 of 11 sectors close the day in the green.
- Consumer Discretionary was on top
- Healthcare came in a strong second
- Notably, Amazon (AMZN) acquired 1Life Healthcare (ONEM) for almost $4 billion—about a 70% premium to the stock’s previous close
- Energy underperformed, falling nearly 2% after Russia resumed the flow of natural gas to the EU
- This morning Bitcoin^ is trading above $23,000—holding most of its gains for the week.
Technicals:
Trends are breaking.
Let’s look at two charts today … First, the S&P 500:
SPY Daily Candles – Chart via thinkorswim
The downtrending channel that it’s been stuck in since late March has been broken.
On to the VIX…
VIX Daily Candles – Chart via thinkorswim
The VIX closed at its lowest level since mid-April.
Both charts show bullish signals.
Timing:
Twitter (TWTR^) is reporting earning premarket today.
Next week will be busy for both earning and macro news…
We will have an overview for you on Monday morning.
Watchlist:
*Low Float
^Open Position
*TBLT is on watch
*^FNKO has support at $22, resistance at $25
CLNN has support at $4, resistance at $5
SMR is on watch
^CBIO has resistance at $1.80
TH has support at $12
VERV hassupport at $30
SIGA has resistance at $15
CELH support at $80
MREO has resistance at $1.80, support at $1.50
RYTH has support at $12
NCNA has support at $1.50
VUZI has support at $7.50
VERU has support at $16
GOSS has support at $11
CNK has support at $19
PAYO has resistance at $5.75