Many traders believe that market makers will “signal” moves in advance buy using small amounts of buys or sells as “signals”. The “signals” are from one market maker to another to communicate their intentions.
Having worked on trading floors with market makers, we can attest that this does happen. Here are the signs…
U.S. stocks opened lower Tuesday as the yen and euro strengthened against the dollar. Weaker-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data also weighed slightly.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 100 points soon after the open, with Goldman Sachs contributing the most to declines.
Among the few advancers were Pfizer and Apple, which attempted to break its first eight-day losing streak since 1998.
The euro traded near highs not seen since last August, while the yen was around its strongest against the dollar since October 2014. The dollar index hovered near 15-month lows after falling half a percent Monday for its sixth-straight day of decline.
Coming Up:
Tuesday
Earnings: Avis Budget, CBS, Illumina, Mylan Labs, Western Union, Etsy, Glu Mobile, Live Nation Entertainment, Match Group, Newfield Exploration, Noodles & Co., Papa John’s, Potbelly, Zillow
Vehicle sales
10:30 a.m. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester
7 p.m. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart
Wednesday
Earnings: AB InBev, Priceline, Royal Dutch Shell, Siemens, Time Warner, Humana, IntercontinentalExchange, Zoetis, Cedar Fair, Kate Spade, Shopify, Shutterstock, Virtu Financial, Wix.com, 21st Century Fox, MetLife, Allstate, Fitbit, Kraft Heinz, Murphy Oil, Tesla Motors, Transocean, Whole Foods, Eldorado Gold, GoDaddy, Weight Watchers, Yamana Gold, Zynga
7 a.m.: Mortgage applications
8:15 a.m. ADP employment
8:30 a.m. International trade; productivity and costs
9:45 a.m. Services PMI
10 a.m. ISM nonmanufacturing; factory orders
10:30 a.m.: Oil inventories
6:30 p.m. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari
U.S. stocks traded higher Wednesday, following a global rally on encouraging China trade data, and helped by JPMorgan’s earnings beat.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 100 points soon after the open. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase contributed the most to gains.
Financials are the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 for the year so far.
The Nasdaq composite gained more than 1 percent with Apple and Amazon.com leading major tech stocks higher.
Coming Up:
Wednesday
Earnings: Pier 1 Imports, Kinder Morgan, Noble
10 a.m. Business inventories
10:30 a.m. EIA oil inventories
1 p.m. $20 billion 10-year note auction
2 p.m. Beige book
Thursday
Earnings: Bank of America, BlackRock, Wells Fargo, PNC Financial, First Republic Bank, Freeport-McMoRan, Snap-on, Advanced Micro, Delta Air Lines, Shaw Communications, Infosys
8 a.m. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at CFR, New York
8:30 a.m. Jobless claims
8:30 a.m. CPI
10 a.m. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart
10 a.m. Fed Gov. Jerome Powell at Senate Banking subcommittee
1 p.m. $12 billion 30-year bond auction
U.S. stocks traded in a range Monday, after five straight weeks of gains, as investors eyed oil and housing data in the holiday-shortened week.
The major averages tried to reclaim opening losses to hold mostly higher, with telecommunications leading S&P 500 advancers and Boeing the top contributor to gains in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Citigroup traded more than 1 percent higher. KBW said in a Sunday note the firm “could be one of the only U.S. (global systematically important banks) that could successfully split up,” a move that “should unlock meaningful shareholder value—50+% returns versus the current market capitalization.”
The Nasdaq composite outperformed in morning trade, as Apple gained more than half a percent and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) rose 1.5 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures for April delivery attempted to hold higher above $39.50 a barrel. After the settle, the contract rolls to May, which was above $41 in morning trade.
Today’s Data:
Monday
12:40 p.m.: Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks on the economic outlook and monetary policy.
8:30 p.m.: St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks on economic inequality
U.S. stocks opened higher Friday, extending a recent rally as oil prices rose and the dollar weakened following the Federal Reserve’s more accommodative policy decision earlier in the week.
The S&P 500 traded in positive territory for 2016 with financials leading nearly all sectors higher.
U.S. crude oil futures for April delivery extended recent gains to briefly top $41 a barrel in morning trade ET.
Options expiration on Friday will likely contribute to volatility.
The U.S. dollar index recovered slightly from a recent decline to trade mildly higher, but is still off more than 1 percent for the week so far. The euro was just below $1.13 and the yen at 111.53 yen against the greenback.
Friday:
Quadruple Witching
10 a.m.: Consumer sentiment
10 a.m.: Atlanta Fed business inflation expectations
11 a.m.: Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren speaks
1 p.m.: Oil rig count
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard
U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range Thursday as the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday announcement remained in focus amid several data releases.
The Dow Jones industrial average tried for slight gains in morning trade, with Exxon Mobil and Boeing among the top contributors to gains.
Energy led S&P 500 advancers.
Coming Up:
Thursday
Earnings: Adobe Systems
10 a.m.: JOLTS
10 a.m.: Leading indicators
10:30 a.m.: Natural gas inventories
4:30 p.m.: Fed balance sheet/Money supply
Friday
Quadruple Witching
Earnings: Tiffany
9 a.m.: New York Fed President William Dudley speaks
10 a.m.: Consumer sentiment
10 a.m.: Atlanta Fed business inflation expectations
11 a.m.: Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren speaks
1 p.m.: Oil rig count
1:30 p.m.: St. Louis Fed President James Bullard
WEDNESDAY – U.S. stocks traded in narrow range Wednesday after morning data and ahead of the scheduled afternoon conclusion of the Fed meeting.
Treasury yields climbed, with the 2-year topping 1 percent for its highest since Jan. 8, after inflation and housing data.
Stocks opened lower and held mostly in the red in morning trade. The Nasdaq composite briefly attempted gains.
The FOMC is due to conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday with the 2 p.m. ET release of its statement and economic projections. Those include the highly scrutinized “dot plot,” which shows the targets for appropriate federal funds rates by FOMC participants. Fed Chair Janet Yellen is also scheduled to give a news conference at 2:30 p.m.
Oil traded higher, with WTI above $37 a barrel following news producers will meet next month in Qatar to discuss a proposal to freeze output.
Coming Up:
Wednesday
Earnings: FedEx, Ctrip.com Intl., Guess, Herman Miller, Jabil Circuit
10:30 a.m.: Oil inventories
1 p.m.: European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gives welcoming remarks at ECB Contemporary Art From Poland Exhibition
2 p.m.: FOMC meeting announcement
2:30 p.m.: Fed Chair Janet Yellen press conference
Thursday
Bank of England monetary policy announcement and minutes
Earnings: Tencent, Michaels Cos., Intl. Game Technology, Lands’ End, Adobe Systems
8:30 a.m.: Jobless claims
8:30 a.m.: Philly Fed business outlook survey
8:30 a.m.: Current account
10 a.m.: JOLTS
10 a.m.: Leading indicators
10:30 a.m.: Natural gas inventories
4:30 p.m.: Fed balance sheet/Money supply
U.S. stocks closed mixed Monday, steadying after their first three-week rally of the year so far, as gains in energy stocks offset declines in technology.
The Dow Jones industrial average posted its first five-straight days of gains since October. Chevron, IBM and Exxon Mobil contributed the most to gains. Visa and Nike were the greatest contributors to declines.
The S&P 500 also posted a five-day win streak by eking out a gain and topping 2,000 in the close. Energy rose nearly 2.4 percent as the top advancer, while information technology ended about 0.7 percent lower as the greatest decliner.
Over the last four weeks, the sector is up about 9 percent from its intraday low.
The Nasdaq composite underperformed as the only index of major three to close a touch lower, weighed by declines of about 2 percent or more in shares of Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet.
Gains in oil supported the rise in energy stocks. Brent crude topped $40 a barrel for the first time in 2016, while WTI briefly topped $38 a barrel in intraday trade and settled up $1.98 at $37.90 a barrel, its highest level of the year so far.
The major averages opened lower and traded sideways for much of the session, before closing mixed.
Coming Up:
Tuesday
6 a.m. NFIB survey
1 p.m. $24 billion 3-year notes auction
Wednesday
7 a.m.: Mortgage applications
10 a.m. Wholesale trade
1 p.m. $20 billion 10-year notes auction
U.S. stocks traded lower Thursday, but holding much of the week’s gains, after service sector reports and ahead of Friday’s jobs data.
The ISM non-manufacturing survey for February came in at 53.4. The figure was expected at 53, down from 53.5 in January.
January factory orders rose 1.6 percent.
The 2-year Treasury yield edged lower to 0.84 percent. The 10-year yield held steady at 1.85 percent.
The U.S. dollar index extended losses, with the euro at $1.093.
The final February Markit services PMI was 49.7, down from January’s final 53.2 print
Oil held lower in choppy trade but remained above $34 a barrel as of 9:53 a.m.
Coming Up:
Thursday
Earnings: Kroger, Royal Ahold, Barnes and Noble, Joy Global, Broadcom, Embraer, Ciena, Trina Solar, Cooper Cos.
10:30 a.m.: Natural gas inventories
10:45 a.m.: Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan speaks
Friday
Earnings: Staples, WPP Group
8:30 a.m. Employment report; international trade
1 p.m.: Oil rig count
U.S. stocks traded mostly higher Friday, on pace to end the week with solid gains, as oil prices rose amid some data reports.
Personal income in January rose 0.5 percent, while personal spending rose 0.5 percent. The core PCE, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3 percent.
The core PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, increased 1.7 percent in the 12 months through January, the largest rise since July 2014, after rising 1.5 percent in December.
Stocks pared gains following the report and the Dow Jones industrial average briefly fell into negative territory. Oil also came off session highs.
As of this morning, the major U.S. averages were on pace to end the week with gains of more than 2 percent.
The S&P 500 closed above the key 1,950 resistance level Thursday as stocks rallied into the close. Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average were within 10 percent of their 52-week intraday highs, out of correction territory.
Coming Up:
G-20 meets in Shanghai
10 a.m. Consumer sentiment, personal income, consumer spending
Earnings: J.C. Penney, Foot Locker, Sotheby’s, Sempra Energy, AmericanTower, Centerpoint, Liberty Media, Telefonica, Rowan Cos
Saturday:
Earnings: Berkshire Hathaway
