Bears Get Rare Monthly Win
MARKET SUMMARY
U.S. markets closed lower for a second-straight session to extend February’s losses following a volatile month with plenty of whipsaw action. Today’s action showed market strength throughout the day before a recent pattern of final hour selling pressure emerged to stall momentum.
The Russell 2000 plummeted 1.6% after closing at its session low for a second-straight session and is less than 1% away from falling back below the 1,500 level. For the month the index swooned 4%. The Nasdaq gave back 0.8% after closing below the 7,300 level. The index was down 1.9% for February, snapping seven-straight months of gains.
The Dow fell 1.5% after testing a low of 25,022 and the S&P 500 sank 1.1% while holding the 2,700 level. Both indexes declined 4.3% and 3.9%, respectively, for the month and were coming off 10-month winning streaks.
TRADE OF THE DAY
FEAR OF HEIGHTS
ANALYST UPGRADES / DOWNGRADES
AB InBev (BUD) upgraded to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna
Etsy (ETSY) upgraded to Buy at Roth Capital
Verizon (VZ) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at MoffettNathanson
Celgene (CELG) downgraded to Hold from Buy at SunTrust
e.l.f. Beauty (ELF) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital
Maxim Integrated (MXIM) downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie
EARNINGS
Thursday's scheduled earnings include:
Before the open: AMC Entertainment (AMC), Anheuser-Busch (BUD), Best Buy (BBY), Cott (COT), Dixie Group (DXYN), Kohl’s (KSS), NRG Energy (NRG), Pinnacle Foods (PF), QVC Group (QVCA), Sotheby’s Holdings (BID), TD Bank Group (TD), U.S. Concrete (USCR), Veritiv (VRTV)
After the close: Ambarella (AMBA), Capella Education (CPLA), Gap (GPS), Keysight Technologies (KEYS), LTC Properties (LTC), Nordstrom (JWN), Pure Storage (PSTG), Splunk (SPLK), VMware (VMW)
UPCOMING ECONOMIC NEWS
Thursday's economic reports (EST):
Jobless Claims - 8:30am
Personal Income and Outlays - 8:30am
PMI Manufacturing Index - 9:45am
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index - 9:45am
ISM Manufacturing Index - 10:00am
Construction Spending - 10:00am
METALS / OIL
Gold closed at $1,317.90 an ounce, down $0.70
Silver settled at $16.41 an ounce, down $0.03
Copper finished at $3.13 a pound, down $0.05
Crude Oil closed at $61.55 a barrel, down $1.40
Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) settled at $17.83, down $0.33
Know the difference between trading and investing. We are traders, NOT investors. Discipline is doing the right thing at the right time…[read more]
Make it a great day!
Todd Mitchell