Day Traders Diary

7/25/22

The markets wavered on Monday, as traders braced for the busiest week of corporate earnings, as well as insights into further interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 90 points or 0.3%, to closed just below 32,000. The S&P 500 added 5 points while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite laggard, falling 51 points or 0.43%. All the major averages are on track for their best month of the year.

Monday kicked off the final week of trading for the month of July — and perhaps the most important week of the summer — with the Fed meeting and GDP data on deck. Almost a third of the S&P 500 are set to report quarterly earnings this week as well, including Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft. Investors are still worried about the potential of an economic recession and are hoping this week's news storm will help reset their expectations.

Mega cap tech stocks took a hit on Monday on the heels of a warning by Snap, which reported disappointing earnings last week causing investors to worry about declining digital ad spending in the current economic climate. Meta Platforms fell 2.3%. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet all fell about 1%.

Elsewhere, shares of Newmont Corporation slid 12% after the mining company reported a quarterly loss that was down nearly 41% from a year ago, hurt by a drop in gold prices. Philips tumbled 6% after the Dutch medical equipment maker reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings, citing lockdowns in China and supply chain issues.

On the flip side, energy stocks were the best performing sector as oil prices rose. Diamondback Energy, Marathon Oil and APA Corp each jumped about 6%. Chevron was the top gainer in the Dow, up 2.7%.

The major averages are going for their third positive week in four. The S&P 500 has been attempting a comeback after falling into a bear market earlier this year. The index is currently up more than 8.5% from its 2022 and trading near the highest levels since early June.

Investors shifted into risk assets last week after absorbing some strong corporate results that had Wall Street deliberating whether the bear market has found a bottom.

Good news, the CEO is fired. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is up 8% near a three year high as long-standing CEO, Vince McMahon steps down amid alleged sexual harassment probe. The company did provide upbeat third-quarter sales outlook, received an upgrade and is up over 40% year to date.

Weber (WEBR) going the wrong way. Weber grills is down 15% as the CEO steps down, lower estimates, withdraws guidance and suspends dividend. The company also warned of possible layoffs. Other than that, they are doing well.