The markets blasted off higher to start the week as trade war stocks got a breather from the selling pressure. The Dow 30 was higher by 320, the S&P 500 gained 24, and the Nasdaq 100 was higher by 67.
Earnings season will begin to take media attention away from Washington with the exception of the trade war. Investors will watch closely to see how CEO's address the war as well as how they adjust.
Sector News
After many weeks of under performing and weakness the Financials (XLF ) finally led the way today. The XLF was higher by 2.25% on the day as it heads back towards the 200 day moving average. The regional banks (KRE ) also pushed higher by 2% on the day as well. Goldman Sachs (GS ) and JP Morgan (JPM ) were your financial leaders in the Dow.
Transportation stocks (IYT ) enjoyed a nice 2% bounce today. FedEx (FDX ) which accounts for 13.63%, added 3% on the day. The railroads like Norfolk Southern (NSC ) and Union Pacific (UNP ) continue to be the leaders in the space. Together they make up 18.08% of the IYT. CSX (CSX ) was also higher on the day by 2.3%.
Stock News:
Twitter (TWTR ) shares traded in a wild range today, ultimately losing 5.5% on the day as the company announced they had cleaned out 70 million fake twitter accounts in the last two months. This led Wall Street into a confusing conversation about the new active monthly users number that will be reported later in the month when the company reports earnings.
Starbucks (SBUX ) shares recovered 2% today thanks to support from the outgoing CEO, Howard Schultz which teased the idea of a collaboration between Starbucks and Alibaba (BABA ). He also commented that the slowdown in China is only temporary and that they would remove all plastic straws from it's stores by 2020. Instead they will offer a strawless lid.... Which is plastic.
Avon Products (AVP ) announced that they sold off their last American factory to a French company. They say that they will continue to produce products for Avon at this factory, but also have deals to produce for Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA ) as well.
Michael Kors (KORS ) shares were slightly higher today as the company was upgraded by HSBC with an $88 price target. Technical traders note the possible breakout to new highs as well.
