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(Updates with earnings. See bold font section below). Good morning contrarians! It is Friday, July 22. Stocks rallied again yesterday, led by the Nasdaq (again), which was up 1.4%. But the mood saw an abrupt turn after the close, as Snap ($SNAP ) reported disappointing second-quarter results and announced plans to slow hiring. Investors dumped the stock and other social media companies along with...

( Updates with earnings news, unemployment claims. See bold text below). Good morning contrarians! It is Thursday, July 21, about 0615. Stocks rallied yesterday, led by tech, with the Nasdaq up 1.6%. The S&P 500 ($SPY ) gained 0.6%. The Nasdaq has now been up four out of the last five days and is up almost 4% so far this week. Seems just like the good ol’ days! State of Play As of 0615 it looks li...

Good morning contrarians! Stocks managed to hold on to modest gains yesterday, with only the Russell 2000 flashing red, down 0.8% on the day. The JOLTS report came in hotter than expected, with quits and layoffs little changed from the month before, but the market was mostly blah over that. It was the third straight day of gains for the S&P 500. State of Play Today as of 0620, the risk-on mood loo...

Good morning contrarians! It’s the last day of the second quarter and the last day of the first half of 2022. It’s been a tough six months — worth first half of the year since 1970 — but at least now you know what a bear market looks like. Yesterday stocks returned to treading water, finishing mostly flat. The one outlier was the Russell 2000 which tracks small caps. That gave up 1% on the day. To...

Good morning contrarians! Yesterday saw a reversal, with stocks selling off late and finishing significantly lower on the day. The Nasdaq dropped 3%, with the S&P 500 declining by 2%. The catalyst appears to have been the latest consumer sentiment survey, which came in at a 16-month low and well below economist estimates (so much for this survey not moving markets, as was attested to yesterday in...

Good morning contrarians! This briefing was made free after being sent to (paid) premium subscribers on the morning of Monday, June 13, 2022 There is nothing in terms of economic data releases on the calendar today. The only earnings worth mentioning is Oracle (ORCL) after the close at 1600. Fed Week This week will be all about the Federal Reserve, which starts its two day policy meeting tomorrow....

Good morning contrarians! Stock futures are not doing much as of 0630. Tech is down a bit, with the Nasdaq pointing to a loss of 0.3% at the open. S&P 500 futures are flat and Dow Industrials are up about 0.2%. Bonds are flat. The 10-year yield is trading around 3% whilst the 2-year is at 2.86%, both roughly unchanged. Commodities aren’t doing much either. WTI crude oil is up about 0.5% to trade a...

Good morning contrarians! Welcome to June! June 1 marks the official start of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening, or QT, when the Fed starts to reduce its balance sheet. You’ve likely heard a good deal about this already. It’s hard to see how it hasn’t been priced in for a while — with the caveat that there could still be secondary effects that nobody has anticipated. More on this in th...

Good morning contrarians! Stock futures are a bit higher as of 0625. Tech is leading things out, with the Nasdaq up 0.5% and other U.S. indexes up a little less. Some positive earnings reports after yesterday’s close helped risk appetite overseas, with Alibaba (BABA) up 14% to help boost shares in Hong Kong. Bonds are continuing to see bids as well, however. The yield on the 2-year is down about 3...

Good morning contrarians! Today’s briefing and podcast were made available for free several hours after paid subscribers received it. Sign up here to receive it every morning by 0700 ET State of Play Stock futures are up as of 0615. Small caps are leading things, with the Russell 2000 up 1.2%. S&P 500 futures are up about 0.8%, roughly the same as Nasdaq and Dow Industrials. All indexes were up mo...

Good morning contrarians! Stocks suffered a major selloff yesterday after disappointing earnings from Target (TGT) added to the same (inflation-based) concerns that came out of Walmart (WMT) earnings the day before. The Nasdaq dropped close to 5% and S&P 500 4%. Dow Industrials had their worst day since 2020 and finished at their lowest level since March 2021. Today’s briefing and podcast are free...

Good morning contrarians! It’s Friday, May 13. Great day for a meltdown. As of 0615, stock futures are pointing to a higher open however. Tech stocks are leading things out, with the Nasdaq up 1.6%. S&P 500 futures are up 1% with Dow Industrials up a little less. Among individual stocks, Twitter (TWTR) is getting dumped, down more than 20% after Elon Musk said his deal to take over the social medi...

Good morning contrarians! Yesterday was another rough day on Wall Street. After an initial rally, stocks sold off into the close. Tech once again saw the worst of it, with the Nasdaq dropping 3%. S&P 500 declined 1.7% to inch closer to a bear market. State of Play As of 0630 0330 (somebody got his time zones crossed and woke up at 1am PT to record this) stock futures are pointing to yet more selli...

Good morning contrarians! Stocks are looking to rally a day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted modest gains. As of 0630, tech stocks are leading things higher with the Nasdaq up 1.2% in the pre-market. S&P and Dow Industrials are up a little less. Individual stocks making moves include Nucor (NUE), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), and Las Vegas Sands (LVS), all up 4%. Paycom Soft (PAYC) is down almost 5% Com...

Good morning contrarians! Yesterday was yet another day of heavy selling on Wall Street. Stocks plummeted for the third session in a row to their lowest level of the year so far. Tech once again saw the worst of it as the Nasdaq dropped 4.5% on the day. The S&P 500 fell by 3% to dip below the 4,000 level for the first time in more than a year. The S&P is now 17% off of its all-time high. Another d...

Good morning contrarians! Stock futures are pointing to another lower open on Wall Street. As of 0500 tech stocks are once again seeing the worst of it, with the Nasdaq down 1.6%. S&P 500 futures are off about 1.4%. Bonds are continuing to sell off as well, with the yield on the 10-year up 5 basis points to 3.18% whilst the 2-year is up 2bps to 2.72%. Those are fresh multi-year highs for both inst...

Good morning contrarians! At risk of summoning memories of a certain 1980s wrestler , yesterday was a brutal sell-off on Wall Street. All of Wednesday’s gains were given back and then some as the Nasdaq plunged 5%. The S&P 500 dropped by 3.5% as stocks had their worst day since June 2020. Amazingly, the S&P is still positive for the week. State of Play This morning as of 0630, futures are down a b...

Good morning contrarians! Stock futures are dropping a day after a big rally on Wall Street. The Fed hiked interest rates by 50 basis points as expected but effectively said that a 75bps rate hike was off the table. A major relief rally ensued. The Nasdaq was the major winner, gaining more than 3% on the day, with S&P 500 and Dow Industrials close behind. State of Play As of 0540 this morning, sto...

Good morning contrarians! Stock futures are up a bit after indexes notched modest gains yesterday. The Nasdaq and Dow Industrials added 0.2% as the S&P 500 gained about 0.5%. As of 0620, S&P and Dow futures are up about 0.4%, with the Nasdaq up a little less. Among individual stocks, AMD (AMD) and Starbucks (SBUX) are two of the biggest gainers among S&P names, both up about 6% in the pre-market....

Good morning contrarians! Stocks are flat in the pre-market after a nice rebound yesterday. There was some sustained buying into the close with the Nasdaq the biggest winner, up 1.6%. Today as of 0550, major U.S. indexes are right around the break-even point. Notable individual stocks making moves include Devon Energy (DVN), up 5%, and Hilton Worldwide (HLT), down 2.5%. Those are both due to earni...

Good morning contrarians! Stock futures are gaining a bit after a brutal sell-off on Friday. Tech stocks once again saw the worst of it, with the Nasdaq giving up more than 4%. As of 0640 this morning, major indexes in the U.S. are trying to rebound, each up about 0.5%. Commodities are dropping, with WTI crude oil down 3% to $101/barrel. Industrial metals are selling off as well with copper down a...

Good morning contrarians! Stocks are selling off a bit after a big rally yesterday. Tech led the rebound with the Nasdaq gaining 3%, with other U.S. indexes up a little less in a hectic Thursday session that only intensified after the close. State of Play Today as of 0500 the Nasdaq is seeing the worst of the selling, down 0.9%. It was down more earlier in the overnight session. The catalyst was d...

Good morning contrarians! Stock futures are looking to rebound a day after another reversal saw major U.S. indexes finish roughly flat. As of 0550 this morning, tech stocks are leading the resurgence with the Nasdaq up over 2%. Meta Platforms né Facebook (FB) surged overnight after the company reported earnings that beat analyst estimates. Qualcomm (QCOM) is also gaining after its earnings. Bonds...

Good morning contrarians! Today’s briefing and podcast are free for all subscribers. Become a subscriber by clicking on the link below: Stock futures are rising a day after a brutal sell-off on Wall Street. Tech saw the worst of it yesterday, with the Nasdaq down 4% to slip deeper into bear market territory. Other U.S. indexes were down 2%-plus. State of Play As of 0620, stock futures are looking...

Good morning contrarians! Stock futures are lower a day after posting losses. Stocks reversed course yesterday after Fed chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was likely to raise interest rates by 0.5% at its meeting next month. Tech once again saw the worst of it, with the Nasdaq selling off 2% whilst the other U.S. indexes were down a little less. State of Play Today as of 0630, major U.S. i...