Schwab Network

While the SPX closed lower on Thursday's session, Kevin Green notes the index held compression, a signal of strength in an otherwise down day. He also analyzes the options flow and explains how an influx of calls shows expectations for Fed chair Jerome Powell to hit the bullish mark in his Jackson Hole speech. The U.S. dollar has also gained traction while Fed Funds futures have fallen. ======...

Nancy Vanden Houten breaks down the labor market and Fed policy ahead of Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole. She sees jobless claims as a "noisy" data point, but notes if the current level of claims persists, it could signal labor market softening. She expects Powell to acknowledge inflation concerns and potential downside risks to the labor market. She also discusses the risks o...

Fed Chair Powell's Jackson Hole speech looms large for markets, with investors keenly awaiting his take on the economic outlook and the framework review. Brian Jacobsen expects Powell to strike a balanced tone, acknowledging labor market "fractures" while maintaining a hawkish bias on inflation. Jacobsen sees a 75% chance of a September rate cut, with the potential for two more cuts...

What will markets focus on as earnings season comes to a close? It's the question Ted Weisberg poses to investors, noting that the current period of sector rotation tailing the season is always a difficult time for investors to navigate. He sees big pharma serving as one corner of the market to benefit as some investors move away from tech. Ted still sees opportunity in Meta Platforms (META),...

Jenna Stauffer and Odeta Kushi weigh in on the state of the U.S. housing market. Despite challenges with affordability, they see glimmers of hope in recent trends. Stauffer notes that while the housing market remains in "gridlock," there are signs of a more normalized and healthier market on the horizon, including a more modest pace of price appreciation, homes sitting on the market for...

June 2025 saw the highest M2 levels ever, something Rebecca Walser considers an economic alarm. She gives an extensive explanation into rising debt and stock valuations creeping higher as major headwinds for the Fed's interest rate cutting cycle. As the Trump administration pressures the FOMC to cut rates, Rebecca sees accelerated cuts backfiring against consumers. ======== Schwab Network ====...

Nick Patience says Palantir's (PLTR) price-to-earnings ratio is "quite out of whack." He thinks the recent stock pullback was beyond warranted and makes the case that Palantir isn't the "game changer" it portrays itself as. Nick notes strong competition from the Mag 7 and other software companies serving as a critical headwind against Palantir. ======== Schwab Network =...

Meta Platforms (META) makes a sharp shift in its aggressive hiring spree by suddenly ending it. Dozens of people were recruited for the Meta's "Superintelligence" team and received pay packages worth millions of dollars. Sam Vadas guides investors through the latest headlines and explains how the Mag 7 aims to "steer the ship" in the A.I. industry. She thinks Meta may now t...

Ahead of Ross Stores (ROST) earnings report, Likefolio's Andy Swan examines sentiment around the retailer, citing high tariff exposure risk and a challenging consumer landscape. With TJX Companies (TJX) setting a high bar with its recent earnings beat, Swan says Ross Stores will need to "come out guns blazing" to impress investors. ======== Schwab Network ======== Empowering every in...

Walmart (WMT) shares took a hit after its mixed quarterly report, but Jacob Aiken-Phillips sees it as a "good buying opportunity" despite a messy quarter. He notes that the company's e-commerce and digital businesses continue to accelerate, and its supply chain strength will help it navigate ongoing tariff pressure. Bea Chiem adds that Walmart's scale gives it a significant buffe...

While Prosper Trading Academy's Charles Moon questions some of the recent market behavior, he maintains conviction in today's Big 3. He sees Applovin (APP) making an upside run if it holds $420, Texas Instruments (TXN) continuing post-earnings "bullish behavior," and Bullish (BLSH) making a breakout back to its IPO highs. Rick Ducat runs through the key levels he believes are imp...

Roy Behren isn't surprised to see more mergers and acquisitions under the Trump administration. He talks about how his firm's merger arbitrage investment strategy to capitalize on those deals. He explains how the method removes significant volatility while avoiding downside risk. ======== Schwab Network ======== Empowering every investor and trader, every market day. Subscribe to the Marke...

Workday (WDAY) beat on earnings over its last four quarters. Can it do it for a fifth consecutive time after the bell Thursday? Sam Vadas notes the company's efforts to integrate A.I. into its platform but makes the case it needs to show more of a competitive moat for the stock to run higher. She points out the cloud sector's underperformance compared to tech peers as a reason for concern...

Steven Dickens says Zoom (ZM) needs to capitalize more on A.I. if the stock is to get anywhere near its pandemic highs. He adds that if Zoom builds a platform similar to Microsoft's (MSFT) Teams or Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google suite, it can become an outperformer in the agentic A.I. space. Steven later turns to Oracle (ORCL), which he is "absolutely bullish" on due to its growth pos...

A.I. hopes shined bright in a pair of upgrades to start Thursday's session. H.C. Wainwright upgraded CoreWeave (CRWV) to buy from hold and has a price target that's nearly double the stock's current price, while Morgan Stanley upgraded HP Enterprise (HPE). One of the steepest down arrows came from Coty Inc. (COTY), hitting 4-year lows when investors saw blemishes in the beauty brand&#3...

All sectors in the SPX started Thursday's trading session in red after Walmart's (WMT) earnings created some concerns in the market. He also turns to volatility and how investors are beginning to show signs of mid-term fear. On tech, Kevin turns to technicals showing the industry's fall and potential rebound as it nears a key resistance level. ======== Schwab Network ======== Empowerin...

Charles Schwab's Liz Ann Sonders says the "wattage turned up" on retailers and tariffs. She notes Thursday's Walmart's (WMT) earnings and Home Depot's (HD) report earlier in the week to explain the divergence on tariff impact and the added focus investors are placing on the industry. On A.I., Liz Ann adds that we're still early on in the tech's development. She sa...

Walmart (WMT) was under pressure after its earnings Thursday when it showed a rare earnings miss. However, as Jenny Horne notes, the company raised its full-year outlook. She talks about Walmart's extensive report and the signal it issues for the retail space and markets as a whole. On the A.I. front, Jenny explains Meta Platforms' (META) hiring freeze after it shelled out millions of doll...

The European Union is inching toward a trade deal with the United States with a 15% price tag on tariffs. Kevin Hincks talks about the bright spot it offers in the one of the most intensive ongoing discussions. Meanwhile, China is pinning pressure on Nvidia (NVDA) on reports that it is restricting sales of its H20 A.I. chip. Kevin later turns to Jackson Hole as the symposium starts to get underway...

Palantir (PLTR) is at a potential "tipping point" on the charts, says Rick Ducat. Shares of PLTR have dipped for 6 straight sessions, to which Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has stated it remains one of his favorite tech names to own. Rick points to recent areas of support as shares slide lower. Later, Tom White composes a neutral to bullish example options trade for PLTR. ======== Schwab Netw...

Nic Puckrin hops on Morning Movers to walk through the "many factors" driving Bitcoin (/BTC) price action. He says uncertainty on the macro side ahead of Jerome Powell's speech in Jackson Hole have weighed on crypto investors. In terms of Ethereum (/ETH), Nic says treasury companies looking to add the crypto asset - taking a cue from Strategy's (MSTR) Bitcoin treasury framework -...

Matt Tuttle says we're in a thematic market, pointing to A.I. and agentic A.I. as the leading area for tech stocks. For Workday (WDAY), he believes the company needs a "Nvidia 2023 type of announcement" that could catalyze investor interest. Matt discusses the significance of agentic A.I. to the company's outlook. In terms of the cloud space, he likes Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle...

"Let the price action dictate where we go from here," says Kevin Green. With this week's selling pressures in tech stocks ahead of Friday's Jackson Hole speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, KG examines the S&P 500 (SPX) performance and current technical levels to keep an eye on. On a sector basis, he's keeping an eye on financials and specifically consolidation patterns f...

Nvidia (NVDA) shares have fallen this week, but one analyst has hiked its price target on the chipmaker ahead of next week's earnings. UBS lifted its target to $205 from $175 while reiterating a buy rating on shares. Kevin Horner examines the recent technical range in Nvidia's stock, highlighting levels at $168 and $184 as areas of support and resistance respectively. Zooming out to a 2-ye...

You've likely seen a Labubu at some point scrolling through social media, and all that attention drew investors to parent company Pop Mart (PMRTY). Lee Munson says that while "no fad is sustainable," the craze's international attention has brought in a notable amount of revenue for the company. However, Lee says a lot of that revenue came from "blind box" gambling. He g...