Courtesy of Blain.
Last week was much like the ones we saw throughout 2017! Up, up, up nice and slow…. with little volatility. And new record highs. Market news was quiet in general despite “global trade tensions”. Really ….it was difficult to find much market moving news! (Insert crickets chirping hee)
For the week the S&P 500 closed up 1.6% while the NASDAQ added 1.2%. Some catch up from the S&P 500 after lagging the NASDAQ of late.
In economic data, U.S. factory orders fell by 0.8% in April, driven by a decline in commercial aircraft. Tuesday, ISM services surged to 58.6 in May from 56.8 – any reading over 50 signals expansion and this one is near 60! The U.S. trade deficit shrank 2.1% in April—before the Trump tariffs took effect—and tumbled to a seven-month low. But the gap is still on track to widen in 2018 to the highest level in a decade.
Here is the 5 day weekly “intraday” chart of the S&P 500 …via Jill Mislinski.
Elon Musk has launched a company to build tunnels underground. He is selling flamethrowers at $500 a pop to help fund said company. The first 1000 were sold last weekend. This is a real story. Seriously.
The devices, technically called “Not a Flamethrower” to skirt federal shipping regulations, shoot a two-foot flame.
The company had a good week even aside from that, surging 9.7% Wednesday, after Chief Executive Elon Musk told shareholders that the electric-car maker was “quite likely” to meet its production goal of 5,000 Model 3 cars a week.
The week ahead…
President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un will meet in Singapore on June 12; on the same day, the Federal Reserve will kick off its two day policy meeting. On Wednesday, the Fed has essentially telegraphed a rate hike to investors. The ECB is expected on Thursday to outline its plan for eventually winding down its purchase of monthly bond buys—a process many economists expect to be completed by the end of the year.
May retail sales Thursday are expected to hit at +0.3%.
Index charts:
Short term: The S&P 500 finally broke out of this range marked in yellow.
The Russell 2000 was the first to breakout and still looks strong albeit over extended.
The NYSE McClellan Oscillator remains in a positive spot.
Long term: Still very positive for the “buy and never sell” crowd.
Charts of interest / Big Movers:
Monday, Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) plunged 42% after “underwhelming” results from clinical trials of its cancer drugs in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s cancer drug Opdivo.
Twitter (TWTR) is joining the S&P 500 index! The stock reacted positively to the news Tuesday.
Thursday, Five Below (FIVE) jumped 22% after the discount retailer late Wednesday reported earnings that beat forecasts.
Furniture retailer Conn’s (CONN) jumped 21% Thursday after reporting earnings that topped forecasts.
Have a great week and we’ll see you back here Sunday!
