Stocks End Idle On Mixed Economic Data; Amazon Fails To Impress

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Thur pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Major U.S. stock indexes ended roughly where they began Thursday, despite investors having to work through a busy day of corporate earnings and two economic reports. The S&P 500 inched out a 0.05% gain, while the Dow and Nasdaq lost 0.02% and 0.04% respectively.

Homebuilder stocks slid and dragged the market lower after the government reported that new home sales sagged 8.1 percent last month. On the flip side though, the Labor Department reported weekly applications for unemployment aid dropped 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 284,000 claims. That’s the lowest reading since February 2006.

Corporate earnings announcements continued to roll in today and continued to be mostly positive, except for Amazon. Shares of Amazon (AMZN) plunged 10%, to $322.50, in after-hours trading when the company announced its wider-than-expected $126 million loss for Q2. Beyond the $126 million-loss, it said it expects to lose up to $810 million in the upcoming quarter — compared to a $25 million loss in the third quarter last year.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight edged higher with 9 of them gaining and 3 of them making new highs.

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S&P Moves To New High As Investors Remain Bullish On Earnings

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Wed pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

The S&P 500 topped previous record highs today, riding the wave of positive corporate earnings reports. 68% of earnings reports have topped analyst estimates so far, and according to a Thompson Reuters report, companies are on track to grow earnings 5.4% in the second-quarter.

For the day, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% to close at 1987.01, the Nasdaq gained 0.4%, but the Dow dropped 0.2% mostly dragged down by Boeing’s 2.3% drop.

Notable companies that exceeded earnings estimates today were PepsiCo (PEP), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Facebook (FB) and Apple (AAPL)

On the international front, major indexes across Europe inched higher after EU officials stopped short of imposing tough economic sanctions against Russia. However, geopolitical concerns remain high over the tensions in Ukraine and Israel.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight ended mostly higher with 5 of them gaining on the day; two of them made new highs.

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Stocks Gain On Solid Earnings Reports And Economic Data

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Tue pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Stocks generally trended higher today, mostly driven by some positive earnings announcements and economic data that showed the U.S. economy remains on track for positive growth. Housing data showed that existing home sales hit an eight-month high in June, and the U.S. Consumer Price Index also rose in June.

Chipotle (CMG) continued to steal headlines today after its big earnings announcement yesterday that boosted the stock up 12%. Today, many analysts altered their price targets given yesterday’s news. Some price targets are as high as $800, which would be a 21% gain from the current share price of $659. The average price target, according to Capital IQ, is $675 a share.

Other companies whose earnings reports topped analyst expectations today included Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Netflix (NFLX) and Verizon (VZ). With 23% of S&P 500 companies having reported results, 66.1% posted earnings that topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, above the long-term average of 63%.

While investors remain geared up for more corporate earnings, they are also keeping a close eye on international events in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight picked up steam with 8 of them gaining on the day; one of them made a new high.

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Investors Still Shaky On International Concerns; A Big Day For Chipotle

Ulli Market Commentary Contact

Mon pic

[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the Markets

Markets recovered from a steep drop early on during the trading day, but were unable to climb back up to break even by the closing bell as the chart above shows. The day’s losses were pretty broad, with nine of the 10 primary S&P 500 sector indexes ending in negative territory.

The buzz around most media outlets is that investors remain a bit concerned about numerous international conflicts, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East. Fighting continued between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas as the death toll from the Israeli offensive in Gaza grew.

Chipotle (CMG) made headlines today with its Q2 earnings announcement. Shares of the Mexican restaurant chain surged more than 9% in after-hours trading on Monday, up $54.57 to $644.85, upon the news that its second quarter same-store sales jumped 17.3% for the second quarter of 2014 compared to the second quarter of 2013.

Despite the international conflicts, investors should remain focused on upcoming U.S. corporate earnings. Results from Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Coca Cola (KO) are due out Tuesday and Caterpillar (CAT) on Thursday.

Our 10 ETFs in the Spotlight did not show much enthusiasm as the major indexes attempted to recoup early losses.

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ETFs/Mutual Funds On The Cutline – Updated Through 07/18/2014

Ulli ETFs on the Cutline Contact

Below are the latest ETF Cutline reports, which show how far above or below their respective long-term trend lines (39 week SMA) my currently tracked ETFs/MFs are positioned.

The first report covers the ETF Master List from Thursday’s StatSheet and includes 398 ETFs, of which currently 364 (last week 375) are hovering in bullish territory.

The second report includes only High Volume ETFs. To clarify, High Volume (HV) ETFs are defined as those with an average daily volume of $10 million or higher.

These ETFs are generated from my selected list of some 97 that I use in my advisor practice. It cuts out the “noise,” which simply means it eliminates those ETFs that I would never buy because of their volume limitations. 84 ETFs (last week 87) have managed to remain in bullish territory after the recent market volatility.

The third report covers Mutual Funds on the Cutline. There are currently 751 (last week 761) above the line and 99 below it out of the 850 that I follow.

Take a look:

1. ETF Master Cutline Report     

2. ETF High Volume Cutline Report

3. MF Cutline Report

In case you are not familiar with some of the terminology used in the reports, please read the Glossary of Terms.

If you missed the original post about the Cutline approach, you can read it here.

One Man’s Opinion: Will The European Central Bank Be Forced Into QE Next Year?

Ulli Market Review Contact

92835431The European Central Bank is likely to include in their Stress Test the money that commercial banks have raised and the fines they have incurred, said Erik Britton, director at Fathom Consulting.

The eurozone final inflation reading for June came in at 0.5 percent, matching an initial estimate. Asked if investors should take heart since price levels are not falling, Erik answered in negative. The issue in Europe is a highly indebted economy. The peripheral countries, including Italy, are particularly highly indebted.

The trouble with debt is that when inflation falls, it becomes a toxic mix. It turns out that, in Italy for example, an inflation rate of sub 1 percent is good enough for the economy to be on an unsustainable path. Italy’s inflation has been trending downwards for the last couple of years along with the rest of eurozone and that process is likely to continue as the economy is in a recessionary environment, he noted.

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