Morning Brief
Headline News:
The S&P 500 futures are up five points and are trading 0.2% above fair value. The Nasdaq 100 futures are up 42 points and are trading 0.2% above fair value. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 19 points and are trading 0.3% above fair value.
A reassuring earnings report and outlook from Oracle (ORCL) provided a nice distraction from recent selling efforts. ORCL is up 12% in pre-market action. That has helped the futures trade, but the real catalyst for the uplift in the futures market is the significant weakness seen since last week.
The S&P 500 is down 10.0% from its intraday high last Monday while the Nasdaq 100 is down 11.8%. The scope of those losses has stirred some hope that the market could be poised for a rebound effort, although talk of a potential “profit recession,” uncertainty about the ultimate impact of the Fed’s aggressive rate-hike approach, and unruly bond markets have curtailed buy-the-dip interest.
Separately, the Fed is now expected to raise the target range for the fed funds rate by 75 basis points on Wednesday versus a previously expected 50 basis points. This can be seen in the fed funds futures market, which is assigning a 95.3% probability to such a move, versus just 3.9% a week ago. The sudden shift in expectations follows yesterday’s Wall Street Journal report that suggested a 75 basis point increase would likely be under consideration given the impact of the May CPI report.
(Michael Gibbs, Director of Equity Portfolio & Technical Strategy)
Markets:
The S&P 500 sold off sharply for the fourth day closing at 3749.63 and below two support levels. The trading came with 3,078,880,000 shares traded, and 98% of that was down volume. The last three trading days have seen 90% down volume days, a sign of intense selling and possible capitulation. The RSI index moved lower in support of the selling, closing at 32.10, just above the oversold zone. The index also closed below the Fibonacci 38% retracement level. Potential support could now come in at 3789.54 and then 3588.11. We feel both of those levels will possibly be taken out, and the index could test the 200-day moving average at 3503.03 soon.
We are currently Intermediate-term bearish and short-term bearish.
John N. Lilly III CPFA
Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor℠
Accredited Asset Management Specialist℠
Portfolio Manager, RJFS
Partner, DJWMG
Windsor Wealth Planners & Strategist
Futures trading is speculative, leveraged, and involves substantial risks. Investing always involves risk, including the loss of principal, and futures trading could present additional risk based on underlying commodities investments.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI), developed by J. Welles Wilder, is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and changes of price movements.
The advance/decline line (A/D) is a technical indicator that plots the difference between the number of advancing and declining stocks on a daily basis. The indicator is cumulative, with a positive number being added to the prior number, or if the number is negative it is subtracted from the prior number.
The A/D line is used to show market sentiment, as it tells traders whether there are more stocks rising or falling. It is used to confirm price trends in major indexes, and can also warn of reversals when divergence occurs.
The percentage of stocks trading above a specific moving average is a breadth indicator that measures internal strength or weakness in the underlying index. The 50-day moving average is used for short-to-medium-term timeframes, while the 150-day and 200-day moving averages are used for medium-to-long-term timeframes. Signals can be derived from overbought/oversold levels, crosses above/below 50% and bullish/bearish divergences.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), commonly known as “The Dow” is an index representing 30 stock of companies maintained and reviewed by the editors of the Wall Street Journal. The Russell 2000 Index measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index, which represent approximately 8% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index.
The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index of 500 widely held stocks that is generally considered representative of the U.S stock market. Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Keep in mind that individuals cannot invest directly in any index, and index performance does not include transaction costs or other fees, which will affect actual investment performance. Individual investors’ results will vary. Opinions expressed are those of the author John N. Lilly III, and not necessarily those of Raymond James. “There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions, or forecast provided herein will prove to be correct. “The information contained was received from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy is not guaranteed. Investing always involves risk, and you may incur a profit or loss. No investment strategy can guarantee success. The charts and/or tables presented herein are for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered as the sole basis for your investment decision. International investing involves special risks, including currency fluctuations, different financial accounting standards, and possible political and economic volatility. Investing in emerging markets can be riskier than investing in well-established foreign markets.
This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any company’s stock mentioned above.
US government bonds and treasury bills are guaranteed by the US government and, if held to maturity, offer a fixed rate of return and guaranteed principal value. US government bonds are issued and guaranteed as to the timely payment of principal and interest by the federal government. Bond prices and yields are subject to change based upon market conditions and availability. If bonds are sold prior to maturity, you may receive more or less than your initial investment. Holding bonds to term allows redemption at par value. There is an inverse relationship between interest rate movements and bond prices. Generally, when interest rates rise, bond prices fall and when interest rates fall, bond prices generally rise.
Fibonacci retracement levels—stemming from the Fibonacci sequence—are horizontal lines that indicate where support and resistance are likely to occur.
Each level is associated with a percentage. The percentage is how much of a prior move the price has retraced. The Fibonacci retracement levels are 23.6%, 38.2%, 61.8%, and 78.6%. While not officially a Fibonacci ratio, 50% is also used.
The indicator is useful because it can be drawn between any two significant price points, such as a high and a low. The indicator will then create the levels between those two points.