Tech Talk - The Bottom Line U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday, capping off the worst week for the S&P 500 since early September, as creeping doubts about a December interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve helped interrupt a postelection rally. Earnings focuses this week are on Wal-Mart reporting on Tuesday and Nvidia reporting on Wednesday.

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line  All-time highs were recorded by broadly based U.S. equity indices following the election of Donald Trump as President. On Friday, the S&P 500 Index exceeded the 6,000 level and the Dow Jones Industrial Average exceeded 44,000. U.S. equity index futures are tracking their historic seasonal pattern following a U.S. Presidential election once […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Focus this week is on results from the U.S. election on November 5th. Consensus calls for a “dead heat” for election of the President and the House of Representative and a narrow win by the Republicans for the Senate. Chances are high that final results will not be determined this week. Multiple […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Key focuses this week are on third quarter results released by some of the largest U.S. companies including: Ford on Monday Alphabet, McDonalds and Pfizer on Tuesday Microsoft and Eli Lily on Wednesday Apple and Amazon on Thursday Exxon Mobil and Chevron on Friday Volatility in U.S. equity markets (measured by the […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Better than consensus third quarter results released last week by 14% of S&P 500 companies prompted North American equity indices to advance to all-time highs. Analysts were less convinced. They lowered third quarter consensus earnings estimates again. Frequency of quarterly corporate reports ramps up this week. Another 112 S&P 500 companies (including […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Focus this week is on September U.S. inflation reports. Consensus calls for a slight reduction for September CPI and September PPI on a monthly basis and year-over-year basis. Official launch of the third quarter report season starts on Friday when results by some of  the biggest U.S. banks are released. As noted […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Greatest influence on equity markets last week was the recovery in China after the Peoples Bank of China added monetary stimulus to the economy. Chinese equity indices, ETFs and individual equities listed on North American equity markets soared. Sectors influenced by a  recovery in China quickly caught the wave: North American gold, […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line All-time highs were recorded by the S&P 500 and TSX Composite Index following the FOMC’s decision to lower its Fed Fund Rate by 0.50%. Positive technical action following the decision contributed to strength. “Risk on” sectors (technology, materials, industrials and Consumer Discretionary) led the advance. History calls for a volatile/mixed trend for […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Focus this week is on the FOMC’s economic statement released on Wednesday at 2:00 PM EDT. Consensus calls for a 0.25% reduction in the Fed Fund Rate to 5.25%. Consensus for Earnings and Revenues for S&P 500 companies Source: www.factset.com A word of caution! Consensus for third quarter results calls for significantly […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Brutal technical action by world equity markets last week! Equity markets are following their historic pattern of moving lower in the month of September. Offsetting was a drop in bond yields that triggered strength in bond prices. The price of the long term Treasury Bonds iShares popped to a 15 month high.

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Look for relatively quiet North American equity markets this week. Traders are partially on holidays after returning from the Labor Day holiday weekend. Corporate news is quiet prior to release of third quarter results starting in the second week in September . Economic focus is on Canadian and U.S. August employment reports […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Responses to Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s Jackson Hole comments triggered significant buying in North American equity markets on Friday. According to Powell, “The time has come to adjust our restrictive monetary policy”. His comments implied that the FOMC likely will start to lower its Fed Fund Rate at its next meeting on […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Focus this week is news from the Jackson Hole Symposium starting on Friday. Federal Reserve chairman Powell is expected to offer an outlook on U.S. inflation rates, employment rates and timing of a possible reduction in the Fed Fund Rate. Consensus for Earnings and Revenues for S&P 500 companies Source: www.factset.com Quarterly […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Focus this week is on U.S. inflation and its impact on U.S. interest rates. Growth in Producer and Consumer Prices on a year-over-year basis continues to trend down, but at a lower rate. Traders will watch closely the July PPI report on Tuesday and the July CPI report on Wednesday. Second quarter […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line World equity markets recorded significant technical weakness last week. Weakness on Friday was extended by a disappointing U.S. July Employment report released at 8:30 AM EDT. Breakdowns below intermediate support levels were recorded by North American, European and Far East equity indices and their related Exchange Traded Funds. Best chart to demonstrate […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Focus this week is on the FOMC announcement on the Fed Fund Rate at 2:00 PM EDT Wednesday. Quarterly earnings reports released to date for the most part have been positive. Focuses this week are on reports by Amazon and Apple on Thursday. Seasonal influences during a U.S. Presidential Election year historically […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line North American equity markets experienced substantial rotation last week: Out of the technology sector and into other economic sensitive sectors such as Transportation, Banks and Biotech. Second quarter results released to date have been significantly higher than consensus.  According to www.FactSet.com 80% of reporting S&P 500 companies have released a positive earnings […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line The Summer Rally continues. All-time highs were set by broadly based equity indices including TSX Composite Index, S&P/TSX 60 Index, S&P 500 Index, Equal Weight S&P 500 Index, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Australia All Ordinaries and Nikkei Average! Equity markets are responding to encouraging second quarter results released by major companies and […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line The Summer Stock Market Rally from late June until at least the end of July has started. Corporate focuses this week are on second quarter results released on Friday by U.S. money-centered banks (including JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of New York Mellon): According to www.FactSet.com “Bank earnings season […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line The stage is set for the Summer Rally. See comments below Economic News This Week   June ISM Manufacturing PMI released at 10:00 AM EDT on Monday is expected to increase to 49.0 from 48.7 in May. May U.S. Construction Spending is released at 10:00 AM EDT on Monday. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Focus this week is on the May Core PCE Price Index released on Friday. This report is the FOMC’s most important indicator for inflation. A drop below the 2.8% annual rate set in April will signal easing inflation pressures and will set the stage for the traditional “Summer Rally” by U.S. equity […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Investors responded to encouraging U.S. economic news last Wednesday. Core May Consumer Price Index on a year-over-year basis dropped to 3.4%, extending an intermediate downtrend. U.S. equity indices moved higher on the news: the S&P 500 Index and the NASDAQ Composite Index jumped to all-time highs in anticipation of a lower Fed […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line Focus this week is on news following the FOMC meeting on Wednesday in response to the stronger than expected U.S. May employment report released last Friday: May Non-farm Payrolls and Average Hourly Earnings came in “hotter” than expected. Under these conditions a reduction in the Fed Fund Rate by the FOMC probably […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line North American equity markets responded favourably to the April core PCE Price Index report released on Friday. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.3% in March. Actual was an increase of 0.2%. On a year-over-year basis, the Index gained 2.8%, in line with consensus. This Index is the […]

Tech Talk - The Bottom Line The gain by one stock dominated performances by the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ Composite Index last week, the 15% price advance by heavily weighted Nvidia following release of its better than expected quarterly results. Other major U.S. equity indices were notably weaker: Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.33%, Dow Jones Transportation […]