Hey everyone, what price action we are seeing. Clearly the sentiment is more bullish in Q1 2019 vs Q4 2018…but we have a lot of things to watch out for.
My Weekly Sound Bites!
• The S&P 500 edged up and finished the week essentially flat finishing 0.05% higher. The Dow slumped 63.2 points on Friday but managed to finish up 0.2% for the week and Nasdaq Composite was 0.5% higher compared with last Friday.
• And despite a flat week, there are still a lot of potential landmines to watch out for in the coming weeks. Of course we have the trade negotiations with China and the White House Officials are set to be in Beijing next week to kick off another round of talks. And we got the March 1st dead line looming on whether Trump will institute 25% tariffs on over $250 Billion in imports. This is weighing very heavy on current price action.
• We have a possible US government shutdown coming up with the temporary funding deal due to expire Feb. 15. All eyes will again be on President Trump to see whether he and Democrats can make a deal to avoid another partial closure, or if Trump will declare a National Emergency.
• And across the pond in the U.K. we have British Prime Minister Theresa May and European Union leaders slated to meet again by the end of February to reopen talks to resolve the Brexit impasse. My guess is they will punt the ball further down the field.
• And finally we are seeing weakness all across the eurozone with Germany showing significantly lower retail sales in December, while purchasing managers’ indexes in both France and Italy declining for the month.
• Oh, and let’s not forget the US Feds. Remember they have changed course and now are on the sidelines regarding any future rate hikes for at least the next 6 months. But they still have not offered much clarity on their Quantitative Tightening. Yes they are still doing QT but have indicated they could pause or stop if necessary. So any miscalculation here can also drive price action much lower.
Enjoy this week’s Weekly Round-Up:
Don’t Be A Rat Brain Trader — Trade Smart!
hpb
