Morning Brief

Headline News:
Equity futures point to a slightly higher open this morning, following yesterday’s action that saw mega-cap and tech names push the major averages to fresh record highs.
Earnings reports have ramped up, with roughly one-third of all S&P 500 names set to report this week. Investors are currently receiving a hefty batch of reports this morning, though they will not see any mega-cap reports until tomorrow.
Tomorrow also brings forth the October FOMC meeting, at which the market largely expects a 25-basis-point rate cut, which has served as an additional tailwind.
Until then, investors had a wide swath of earnings to peruse, as well as the 10:00 ET release of the October Consumer Confidence Report (Briefing.com consensus: 94.2).
On the trade front, President Trump has reiterated his belief that his Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi will go well.
(Michael Gibbs, Managing Director, Lead Portfolio Manager )
Markets:
The S&P 500 surged to another new all-time high, closing at 6,875.16, and now sits entirely above the upper Bollinger Band—an indication that the index is overextended in the short term. This positioning makes it difficult to attract additional buyers today. Up volume accounted for only 65% of total volume, suggesting limited participation, while the RSI has yet to confirm the new price high.
Today’s trading could remain subdued as investors await the outcome of the FOMC meeting, with the interest rate announcement scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. There is no defined overhead resistance, and initial support could emerge near 6,870.11.
We are currently Intermediate-term cautious and short-term bullish.

John N. Lilly III CPFA
Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor℠
Accredited Asset Management Specialist℠
Portfolio Manager, RJFS
Partner, DJWMG
Windsor Wealth Planners & Strategists
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 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 averages are used for short-to-medium-term timeframes, while the 150-day and 200-day moving averages are used for medium-to-long-term ones. Signals can be derived from overbought/oversold levels, crosses above/below 50%, and bullish/bearish divergences.
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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.
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The Russell 2000 Index is a stock market index that measures the performance of the 2,000 smaller companies included in the Russell 3000 Index. It is managed by London’s FTSE Russell Group and is widely regarded as a bellwether of the U.S. economy because it focuses on smaller companies that focus on the U.S. market.



