- Futures movement overnight suggests another down day for the U.S. stock market as inflation fears continue to weigh on sentiment and prompt investors to cut exposure to riskier assets. At the time of writing, contracts linked to the Nasdaq are 1.3% lower, while the Dow and S&P 500 are off 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively. Minutes published today from the Fed's April meeting could shed some light on recent price pressures, while bubble risks may be surfacing across a number of speculative asset classes, including crypto, SPACs and meme stocks.
Don't forget about earnings season! While we're on the tail end of Q1 quarterly results, this week is a big one for the retail sector. Walmart (WMT), Home Depot (HD), Macy's (M) already announced sets of impressive results on Tuesday, though their accompanying stock performances were varied (see Key Earnings section below). Retail earnings shift into high gear today, with reports from Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), TJX Companies (TJX) and L Brands (LB).
Target is attracting a lot of attention ahead of its quarterly report. Deutsche Bank named Target a top idea into the earnings print and UBS is predicting a resounding earnings beat. Target laps some easy compares in the apparel and home furnishing categories for the quarter and is likely to have seen a stimulus boost. Also watch the earnings call for commentary on inflation and wage pressures (see Wall Street Breakfast: The Week Ahead)
It doesn't end there: Kohl's (KSS), Ralph Lauren (RL), Ross Stores (ROST), Petco (WOOF) and Foot Locker (FL) are set to release earnings tomorrow and Friday. "We are about to enter one of the strongest prints on a quarterly basis," said Adrienne Yih, senior e-commerce analyst at Barclays. "I think this is just the beginning of a four to six quarter very successful run for these retailers, especially given the child tax credits and stimulus on the way."
| | Top News  Shutterstock Futures movement overnight suggests another down day for the U.S. stock market as inflation fears continue to weigh on sentiment and prompt investors to cut exposure to riskier assets. At the time of writing, contracts linked to the Nasdaq are 1.3% lower, while the Dow and S&P 500 are off 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively. Minutes published today from the Fed's April meeting could shed some light on recent price pressures, while bubble risks may be surfacing across a number of speculative asset classes, including crypto, SPACs and meme stocks.
Don't forget about earnings season! While we're on the tail end of Q1 quarterly results, this week is a big one for the retail sector. Walmart (WMT), Home Depot (HD), Macy's (M) already announced sets of impressive results on Tuesday, though their accompanying stock performances were varied (see Key Earnings section below). Retail earnings shift into high gear today, with reports from Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), TJX Companies (TJX) and L Brands (LB).
Target is attracting a lot of attention ahead of its quarterly report. Deutsche Bank named Target a top idea into the earnings print and UBS is predicting a resounding earnings beat. Target laps some easy compares in the apparel and home furnishing categories for the quarter and is likely to have seen a stimulus boost. Also watch the earnings call for commentary on inflation and wage pressures (see Wall Street Breakfast: The Week Ahead)
It doesn't end there: Kohl's (KSS), Ralph Lauren (RL), Ross Stores (ROST), Petco (WOOF) and Foot Locker (FL) are set to release earnings tomorrow and Friday. "We are about to enter one of the strongest prints on a quarterly basis," said Adrienne Yih, senior e-commerce analyst at Barclays. "I think this is just the beginning of a four to six quarter very successful run for these retailers, especially given the child tax credits and stimulus on the way."
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| On The Move The crypto craze is no longer ablaze as the traders assess recent happenings in the volatile market. Over the last 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) plunged another 12.6% to $39,407, while Ether (ETH-USD) - which is linked to the ethereum blockchain network - dropped 16% to $2,924. Bitcoin has even fallen below its 200-day moving average and is now down 40% from its all-time high of $64,895.22 on April 14.
Are 2020's big trades unwinding? The popular winners of yesteryear, including Tesla/growth stocks and Bitcoin/crypto, have been under pressure in recent months and weeks as money continues to move elsewhere. While a rotation has been seen into reopening and cyclical plays, as well as more stabler names, several headline stories have shaken the cryptosphere in the last few days.
Warning from Beijing: Besides environmental concerns sparked by Elon Musk - and Tesla (TSLA) stopping to take payment in Bitcoin - the People's Bank of China has banned financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions. The statement was coupled with a warning to investors against "speculative crypto trading," which "seriously infringes on the safety of people's property and disrupts the normal economic and financial order."
Caution from the SEC: "Investors should understand that Bitcoin, including gaining exposure through the Bitcoin futures market, is a highly speculative investment," the regulator wrote in a recent notice, adding it will "closely monitor" whether mutual funds that invest in Bitcoin futures comply with federal securities laws. That kind of thinking may not bode well for some highly anticipated Bitcoin ETFs, according to Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA Research. "I view the additional concerns about how an ETF cannot close to new investors and that it could become big over a short period of time to make it unlikely that the SEC approves a dedicated Bitcoin ETF in 2021."
Mining concerns: Nvidia is reducing the hash rates on the new GeForce RTX 3080, 3070, and 3060 Ti graphics cards that will start shipping before the end of May. The decision will make more supplies available for the core gaming audience amid a widespread GPU shortage. Back in February, Nvidia also announced its GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards would ship with a reduced hash rate to discourage Ethereum mining. (43 comments) |
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