The fact that it has not been able to get through it and stay above that level has been a big psychological negative.

Michael James

Categorized in : Business

Right now most people are expecting a rate hike in June and the equity markets not to be very receptive of that.

The stronger dollar, the continued hammering of the euro, equals continued lower equity prices ahead of the Fed comments next week, we'll know more of the Fed's thinking on Wednesday, but right now most people are expecting a rate hike to come in June and the equity markets not to be very receptive of that.

All traders really want to have is clarity around the Greek situation and secondly what's going to come of the Russia, Ukraine potential ceasefire talks.

All traders really want to have is clarity around the Greek situation and secondly what's going to come of the Russia, Ukraine potential ceasefire talks, until we have more clarity around those two the market is going to remain mixed.

Fears have been at least pushed once again to the sidelines. by Michael James

Fears have been at least pushed once again to the sidelines.

I would expect volatility to continue next week, given the magnitude of the moves both down and back up we've had this week, and because of the holiday and the likelihood there will fewer people to trade.

I think people are looking at the potential ripple effects from the slide in oil. You're seeing some of these ripple effects today.

But that overhead nervousness is still there, the Evergrande situation is still a black cloud hanging over global markets. Combine that with uncertainty with Fed commentary coming tomorrow, and there’s a reluctance to get overly aggressive on the long side.

People have been preconditioned to buy pullbacks for most of the last year plus, but that overhead nervousness is still there.

The CPI number being stronger than expected has led to further weakness in tech stocks, tech investors are concerned that higher rates are going to lead to multiple compression and less attractive valuations for tech names in a higher rate environment.

You’re not seeing money coming out of the market and going into cash, you’re seeing money coming out of one sector and being rotated into another sector to maintain an overall long bias.

Certainly this was not welcome news, but I don't think it's a debacle either, in general, investors are not overly concerned by the news from Apple as a read through to technology or the market overall.

The macro data points both here and abroad have been relatively positive, that is creating an increased sense of optimism going into not just the earnings, but also guidance which is far more important at this point for both Q1 and fiscal 2020.

There's going to be heightened attention to guidance to increase comfort levels with valuations, given the strength we've seen in the last two months in the majority of tech names.

You've had an extremely strong start to the year, led by a number of technology stalwarts, and an underwhelming jobs report.