News:
Welcome back from the long weekend!
On Friday, markets ended a choppy day with a rally. All four indexes closed the day up about 1%.
Each of the 11 sectors closed positive too. Utilities was the best performer, followed by Consumer Discretionary … Technology came in last but still green.
Photo by Kateryna Babaieva from Pexels
One piece of notable economic data came from the ISM Manufacturing report:
- Activity grew for a 25th consecutive month
- But the reading was the “lowest … since June 2020.”
- Your takeaway … manufacturing activity is slowing.
The victims of the crypto crash continue to pile up…
- Mark Cuban-backed Voyager suspended trading/deposits/withdraws on Friday.
- Peter Theil-backed Vauld followed suit yesterday.
- Despite the bad news, Bitcoin^ is holding just under $20,000
Over the weekend, markets were given something to look forward to … According to “people familiar with the situation … President Biden is expected to roll back some tariffs on Chinese imports soon.”
Futures this morning slipped from green to red. At writing, markets are pointing to a negative open.
Technicals:
Indicators were mostly neutral after Friday’s close.
The put-to-call ratio and RSI levels provided no signals one way or another.
On Friday, we specified a resistance level near $380 for the SPY. The index did close above that key level … but not in a meaningful way.
And the VIX is still not breaking down, as you can see in today’s chart…
VIX Daily Candles – Chart via thinkorswim
The ascending wedge forming points to strength for the bears.
If the VIX breaks down below 25. Or, if the market stages a rally today, our bear theory will be invalidated.
Timing:
The four-day week could still bring some strong action…
- The market is subject to elevated volatility after the July 4th holiday
- June’s FOMC minutes will be released on Wednesday
- The June jobs report drops on Friday
Remember, July is traditionally the strongest of the summer months … But summer rallies are historically the weakest rallies.
Watchlist:
*Low Float
^Open Position
*TOUR has resistance at $1.40
*FNKO has support at $22
^CBIO has support at $1.60
CHEF has support at $38
ALT has resistance at $12, support at $11
OPTN has support at $3.25, resistance at $4-ish
LI has support at $37.50
CD has support at $8
SGEN has resistance at $180