Netflix And Tesla Earning Highlight The Week

Key Takeaways

• Markets Continue Rolling
• Inflation Stabilizing
• Netflix and Tesla Report Earnings

Markets turned in a strong performance last week, adding to their already impressive gains for the year. The S&P 500 closed up 2.5% at 4505.42, while the Nasdaq Composite closed 3% higher at 14113.70. Gains were spread out across industries with names such as Nvidia up 7% and Facebook parent, Meta up 6%. Amazon
AMZN
gained 4% following the company’s strongest Prime Days in history, while Activision
ATVI
Blizzard rallied nearly 10% following a ruling that opens the way for their merger with Microsoft
MSFT
to proceed.

Weaker than expected economic reports suggest inflation may be stabilizing. Both the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index came in weaker than expected. This week we’ll get a look at retail sales for June on Tuesday and then existing home sales on Thursday. The cooling numbers are beginning to change expectations of a recession. According to the most recent Wall Street Journal poll, economists put the probability of a recession at 54%, down from 61% in the past two surveys conducted. We’re also seeing greater confidence in the Fed standing pat when they meet in September, with an 83% probability of rates remaining unchanged. The big focus of this week; however, will be on earnings as things there begin heating up.

Before the open on Tuesday, Bank of America
BAC
will report. Then after the close on Wednesday, we’ll hear from IBM
IBM
, Netflix, Tesla
TSLA
, and United Airlines. I’m particularly interested to hear how some of the larger bank stocks performed following the crisis back in March. I’m also curious to hear what Netflix
NFLX
has to say in light of the writers and actors strikes and what that may mean for their production plans. Also, Tesla just rolled out their first cyber truck following a nearly two year delay and I’ll be listening for comments about expectations for orders and deliveries.

Elsewhere, Russia announced this morning they were terminating their grain export agreement. The agreement had allowed for safe passage of 33 million crop exports. News of the termination sent grain prices higher, especially wheat futures which are up nearly 3% in early trading. However, slightly offsetting that are oil futures. China announced a weaker than expected second quarter GDP growth of 6.3%. While that’s a respectable number, it was up just 1% from the first quarter and may be a sign China’s economy is slowing which is in turn leading to slightly lower oil prices.

Finally, a couple other items worth watching are home builders and market volatility. We’re seeing some analyst upgrades in housing stocks which might be a sign analysts see interest rates stabilizing. Also worth noting, market volatility remains at very low levels. On Friday, the VIX closed at just 13.34, well below its historical average. While that might suggest markets are complacent at the moment, I would caution investors that complacency can also be the time when otherwise insignificant news can have an outsized impact. As always, I would stick with your investing plans and long term objectives.

tastytrade, Inc. commentary for educational purposes only. This content is not, nor is intended to be, trading or investment advice or a recommendation that any investment product or strategy is suitable for any person.