Weekly Recap

• An intense selloff this week. While the major indexes closed in the green on Friday, the week had a brutal start. Monday was the most severe trading day in the market since 2022. A modest rebound may continue to help investor confidence in the week ahead.
• Reasons for the market turbulence this week: Concerns about an economic downturn, mixed corporate earnings, and stagnancy in lowering Federal interest rates. 
• A mixed performance across sectors. Information tech and communication services outperformed the broader market, but consumer discretionary and materials sectors declined. Materials saw a 1.7% decline while energy and industrials both gained 1.2%.
• Several semiconductor stocks saw slight losses. Nvidia Corp., Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices all went lower. 
• The software subsector and tech hardware saw an increase. Microsoft, Oracle, and Palo Alto Networks helped boost the former while Apple, HP, and NetApp boosted the latter. 
• Telecommunication services also saw an uptick. Verizon Communications, AT&T, and T-Mobile US reached new heights.
• Healthcare mirrored the broader market's movement. Pharmaceuticals stood out, especially Eli Lilly who saw its shares explode after reporting earnings. Biotech stocks Gilead Sciences, Amgen, and AbbVie all faced setbacks and went lower.
• The financial arena outpaced the broader market. JPMorgan Chase, Progressive, and American Express were big winners.
• A jump in WTI crude oil prices. Energy stocks mostly rose this week as WTI crude oil prices were up 1%.
• 10-, 30-year Treasury yields finished lower to close volatile week in bond market.
• Bitcoin dropped 28% but institutional investors bought on the dip. The next read on spot bitcoin ETF exposure comes Wednesday with the 13F filing deadline.
• Analyst says gasoline prices have already seen their summer peak and will likely head lower going into the fall. On Wednesday, the national average price of a gallon of gas sat at $3.46 per gallon, down five pennies from a month ago and $0.37 lower than a year ago, according to AAA data.
• On Saturday Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said there was some further "welcome" progress on inflation in the last couple months even as she said inflation remains "uncomfortably above" the central bank's 2% goal and subject to upside risks. "Should the incoming data continue to show that inflation is moving sustainably toward our 2% goal, it will become appropriate to gradually lower the federal funds rate to prevent monetary policy from becoming overly restrictive on economic activity and employment."

Most Active Stocks

• Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
• Palantir Technologies (PLTR)
• Lumen Technologies (LUMN)
• Tesla (TSLA)
• Intel Corp. (INTC)

Biggest Gainers

• Doximity Inc. (DOCS) +38.74%
• Sweetgreen Inc. (SG) +33.37%
• Adma Biologics Inc. (ADMA) +30.93%
• CarGurus Inc. (CARG) +20.27%
• The TradeDesk Inc. (TTD) +12.50%

Biggest Losers

• Five9 Inc. (FIVN) -26.49%
• e.l.f. Beauty Inc. (ELF) -14.43%
• EchoStar Corporation (SATS) -16.56%
• New Fortress Energy (NFE) -23.62%
• NICE Ltd. (NICE) -7.85%

Weekly Notables

Disney is Aiming for a Box Office Rebound

Disney's CEO Bob Iger stepped onto the stage at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Friday night to unveil plans on how the company plans for a box office comeback. This was the first time in five years that Iger made an appearance at the exposition event. The company’s three-hour long entertainment presentation at the D23 Expo detailed a host of theatrical films, television series and stage productions coming over the next few years. 

Eli Lily is Named a Top Pick at Morgan Stanley

Healthcare company Eli Lilly has been made a "top pick" by Morgan Stanley, arguing it has the "strongest growth profile" within its coverage universe. The company recently reported strong second quarter earnings, causing shares of the company to explode this week. 

Zillow CEO Says Housing Market is Challenged

Mortgage rates have fallen to 15-month lows with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falling below 7%. Zillow Group CEO Jeremy Wacksman spoke to Market Domination to give insight the state of the housing market and what investors and home buyers should know moving forward. "The housing market is challenged. It's low volumes and pretty high price increases. And what that means is really tough affordability for buyers, especially first -time home buyers. You put those two things with high interest rates we have and it just makes it tough for a home buyer. So that's why you're seeing such low volume."

The Week Ahead

• Potential market moving catalysts this week include: The Treasury Budget on Monday. The Producer Price Index (PPI) on Tuesday, the U.S. reporting on consumer price data (CPI) on Wednesday, and University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment - Preliminary - on Friday.
• More earnings on deck this week. Monday (8/12): Barrick Gold Corp. (GOLD), Monday.com Ltd. (MNDY), Pacs Group Inc. (PACS), Kodiak Gas Services Inc. (KGS) Tuesday (8/13): Home Depot Inc. (HD), Sea Ltd. (SE), Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF), Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME), Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV), XP Inc. (XP) Wednesday (8/14): UBS Group AG (UBS), Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH), Performance Food Group Co. (PFGC), CAE Inc. (CAE), Cisco systems Inc. (CSCO), StoneCo. Ltd. (STNE), JD.com Inc. (JD) Thursday (8/15): Walmart Inc. (WMT), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), Grab Holdings Ltd. (GRAB), Nice Ltd. (NICE), Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT), Amcor PLC (AMCR), Coherent Corp. (COHR), Deere & Co. (DE) Friday (8/16): Flowers Foods Inc. (FLO)

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“Everybody is now worried about the economy. "We are moving away from the greed portion of the program and now the market is facing the fear of significant geopolitical risks, a hotly contested election and volatility that is not going away.”

Bob Kalman, a portfolio manager at Miramar Capital

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Earnings Spotlight: Walmart

Wall Street expects a year-over-year increase in earnings on higher revenues when Walmart (WMT) reports results for the quarter ended July 2024. The world's largest retailer is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.65 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +6.6%. Revenues are expected to be $168.4 billion, up 4.2% from the year-ago quarter. The earnings report is expected to be released on August 15.