Friday Morning Failure

stock options articles education

Stock futures continued their plunge overnight as data out of China exasperated an already nasty sell-off.  Yesterdays late day plunge to close at the low of the day and continuation lower after the bell was a good sign that more weakness was on the horizon.

 

All is not lost.... yet.  The consolidation fest of 2015 could remain just that as long as S&P 500 futures don't plunge below long term support.  At that point we could almost be looking at a possible trend change.

U.S. stocks were poised for a slightly lower open Friday, rounding out a week marked by fears about a cooling Chinese economy.

Investors on Friday received fresh evidence of the slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. An early gauge of China's factory activity slumped to a six-and-a-half year low in August, triggering steep declines in stocks across Asia and Europe, where many companies depend on China for demand.

U.S. stock futures indicated a 0.2% opening loss for the S&P 500 and a 0.4% opening loss for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Changes in futures aren't necessarily reflected in market moves after the opening bell.

Declines in European stocks were bigger. France's CAC-40 lost 1.1% and Germany's DAX slipped 1%.

U.S. stocks fell sharply on Thursday, with the Dow tumbling nearly 360 points to its lowest level since October.

The downbeat tone to stocks continues to be driven by "the uncertainty and speculation about the pace of global growth and what might the Fed do in September," said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. Minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting showed officials remain divided on whether to raise rates next month.

Mr. Sandven noted that the renewed Chinese growth scare came as U.S. companies have largely finished reporting second-quarter earnings, giving investors little else to focus on. Including results from 484 companies in the S&P 500, earnings are on track to slip 0.6% in the second quarter, according to FactSet.

Hewlett-Packard Co. reported a 13% drop in quarterly profit. Revenue fell 8%, marking the 15th decline in the past 16 quarters. The results were H-P's last before its planned breakup on Nov. 1. Shares lost 0.2% premarket.

Foot Locker Inc. posted a better-than-expected 29% jump in profit amid broad-based sales growth. Shares rose 2% premarket.

In commodity markets, gold futures were nearly flat at $1153.20 an ounce. Crude-oil futures fell 0.9% to $40.97 a barrel.

Treasury prices were little changed, with the 10-year yield at 2.082% versus 2.084% on Thursday.

Known to most as Uranium Pinto Beans, Jason has more than 15 years under his belt of trading stocks, options and currencies. His expertise primarily lies in chart analysis, and he has a strong eye for undervalued stock. Because he’s got the ability to identify great risk/reward trades he usually enjoys taking the path less traveled and reaping the benefits from the adventure.

He is a co-founder of Option Millionaires, and he is best known for his weekly webinars with Scott, as well as his high level training webinars and charts found in the forums.

More Posts by UPB: View All | Private Twitter Feed: Access Now! (For Diamond Members)

Leave a Reply