Earning Reactions Continue to Dominate, SPX Continues to Grind Sideways...AMZN Drops, GOOGL Up in After-hours...

Two of ten sectors moved higher on Thursday …XLV, XLF and XLK were the strongest sectors while XLRE was again the weakest sector.  Oil futures rose .37 to close at 49.60.

Breadth weakened slightly as decliners led 2,185 to 831 on the NYSE and led 1,828 to 894 on the NASDAQ.

Thursday – weakened slightly, decliners led, +2

Wednesday – weakened slightly, advancers led, +4

Tuesday – weakened, decliners led, +2

Monday – strengthened, advancers led +8

Friday – strengthened, advancers led on the NYSE, +3

SPY down .57 at 213.17 on 77.2 million shares, 10% below average volume

VIX up 1.12 at 15.36

TLT down 1.44 at 130.74…on 10.0 million shares, 28% above average volume

Technical Commentary:

DIA -0.13%, SPY -0.27%, QQQ -0.46%, IWM -1.14%,

SPX/SPY pulls back for the third straight day as Dow leads on strength in VZ, DD, IBM, JNJ, MRK, DIS and GS.  VIX closed higher and did confirm Thursday’s lower SPX close.  

SPX Leaders: LVLT, CTL, FFIV, ALXN, CELG, BMY, WDC, COP, SWN, COG, OI, EQT, UNM, QCOM, UHS, WAT, SEE, LUV, NBL, RRC, FTR, VRSN, VZ, HPE, DDD, MET, AKAM, FBHS, LNC, AA, AAL, MTB and DOW

Earning season continued on Thursday with both winners and losers.  Today winners included FFIV, WDC, COP and DOW, while losers included CLF, ORLY, NEM and POT.

After the close Earning Reactions:

AMZN -46.36, -5.66%

AMGN -2.27, -1.41%

BIDU -3.12, -1.78%

GOOGL +9.19, +1.12%

CRUS +3.96, +7.64%

EXPE +1.88, +1.48% 

Institutional activity continues to indicate that last quarter’s trend on stock selectivity based on quarterly results as opposed to industry or sector rotation is a primary driver of price action.

Institutional reaction to earnings announcements continues to be the real determinate to market movement.  NFLX on the upside and JNJ on the downside are just two examples.

Earnings Announcements

Monday – PCAR, SONC, TMUS, V, ZION

Tuesday – MMM, AKS, AKAM, AAPL, BHI, CMG, EW, ESRX, FCX, GM, JBLU, JNPR, KEY, LMT, P, PNRA, SAVE, UA, VLO, VRTX, WHR, 

Wednesday – BA, KO, CMCSA, FFIV, GD, NEM, NXPI, ORLY, LUV, STT, TSLA, WDC,

Thursday – AET, GOOGL, MO, AMZN, AMGN, BIDU, BX, CA, CRUS, CLF, COP, DOW, EXPE, LNKD, POT, TWTR, UPS, VRSN, SKYW

Friday – XOM, PSX, RCL, UBS

EPS Positive Reactions

FFIV, WDC, COP, DOW, AKAM, JNPR, BA, NCR, OI, FLIR, ROL, TSS, LMT, KEY, FCX, VLO, BHI, SAVE, AKS, TMUS, MCD, PYPL, MSFT, MXIM, AXP, SNA, MAT, BK, STLD, WBA, ALK, URI, HAL, MS, USB, NFLX, HOG, UNH, GS, CE, DPZ, CMA, UAL, HAS, DAL, CSX, COST, RHT, FDX, ADBE

EPS Negative Reactions

CLF, ORLY, NEM, POT, AAPL, EW, CMG, LUV, CMCSA, UA, P, WHR, PNRA, JBLU, GM, MMM, NLSN, WAT, SHW, MAS, PNR, MCO, EBAY, TRV, LRCX, TSCO, INTC, ISRG, ST, JNJ, IBM, AA, FAST, ILMN, MU, PAYX, CCL

EPS Neutral Reactions

BX, CA, UPS, TSLA, MO, NXPI, STT, GD, KO, ESRX, VRTX, PCAR, AAL, NUE, XLNX, CTXS, LLTC, BAC, C, JPM, PNC

Consider moving up stops on short term bullish trades that could pull back.  All according to your profit protection rules.

Remember breakouts typically test about 70% of the time.

Technical analysis based trades should be closed before earnings. After-hours

Trade what you see, not…

Stocks below support should generally be traded bearishly until a reversal pattern forms.

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Strong Stocks: Setups and Moves You Can Use

Bull Flag Setups include: EXPE, FB, GOOG, FSLR, ALK, AAL, WB, SWKS, LITE, DISH, UAL, HAL, LVS, STI, NXPI, DVN, ULTA, CSX, SLCA, ADSK, ADBE, HAS, MLM, MAT, SCHW, WRK, AKS, FL,

Bull Flag Bounces include: VRSN, STLD, DPZ, SE,

Horizontal Breakout Setups include: WDC, STLD, DPZ, X, ZION, C, JPM, DAL, CAVM, CCL, QCOM, DO, RIG, SOXL,

Horizontal Breakouts include:

New Highs include: AKAM, USB, BAC, GS, CMA, MS, NTES, SAVE, CE, NVDA, NFLX, SCHN, 

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Trade with the trend of the chart you are trading and continue to move your profit protection stops.  Continue to follow your rules.

The SPY MFC green line is pointed down at 43.9, defensive. 

23 of 100 NDX stocks closed higher and one was unchanged on Thursday.

39 NDX stocks are above their 30 DMA.

NDX Stocks to Watch on Friday:

Moving Above 30 DMA = 3

ALXN, CELG, TSLA

Moving Below 30 DMA = 12

AAPL, ADBE, AMZN, ATVI, CTRP, ENDP, ESRX, LVNTA, NCLH, PCLN, SIRI, ULTA,

6-month Intermediate Term Market Trend: Up

3-day Short Term Market Trend: Down