Oil futures are on track for their 12th straight loss
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are confidently higher this morning, ready to put yesterday's steep sell-off in the rear-view mirror, thanks to a blowout earnings beat from blue-chip retailer Home Depot (HD). S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are also comfortably in the black, as investors eye reports that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He have renewed trade talks. Elsewhere, oil prices are continuing their freefall, with December-dated crude futures down 1.6% at $58.96 per barrel, heading toward a historic 12th straight loss.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Schaeffer's Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone outlines 3 factors that could boost stocks in the short term.
- Goldman Sachs likes these 2 airline stocks.
- USO options have been hot amid the oil fund's losing streak.
- Plus, Nvidia stock gets another pre-earnings upgrade; Amazon prepares HQ announcements; and Michael Kors has a fan in Macquerie.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
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The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 861,263 call contracts traded on Monday. This is compared to 625,188 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.73, and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.67.
- Analysts are once again chiming in on Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) ahead of the chipmaker's earnings report Thursday. Today, Susquehanna upgraded NVDA to "positive" from "neutral," but trimmed its price target to $230 from $250. Nvidia stock is up 1.6% in electronic trading, but would still be staring up at its year-to-date breakeven level, should today's results hold.
- Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock is up 0.8% ahead of the bell, after a Wall Street Journal report indicated the retail giant will make the official announcement regarding its additional headquarters later today. It is widely expected the two locations will be New York City and Northern Virginia. A rise today would snap a three-day losing streak from AMZN, which still boasts a 40% lead in 2018 and recently pulled back to a historically bullish trendline.
- Shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS) are up 1% in electronic trading, after Macquerie initiated coverage on the luxury retailer with an "outperform" rating and price target of $75 -- a premium of more than 50% to yesterday's close of $47.75. Last week, KORS gapped lower after a subpar quarterly report, falling to an annual bottom of $47.47 on Nov. 7. Overall, KORS is down 24% in 2018.
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Today will feature the NFIB small business optimism index and the Treasury budget. Earnings season picks back up with a slew of quarterly reports, including from Advance Auto Parts (AAP), Switch (SWCH), Tilray (TLRY), and Tyson Foods (TSN).
Asian Markets Finish Mixed, European Stocks on the Rebound
It was a mixed finish in Asia today. While Japan's Nikkei plunged 2.1% as Apple supplier TDK tumbled and car stocks Toyota and Honda dropped on reports the Trump administration is considering a new round of auto tariffs, South Korea's Kospi shed 0.4% as big-cap tech shares sank. Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng erased early losses to finish up 0.6%, and China's Shanghai Composite tacked on 0.9% with Mnuchin and Liu He reportedly set to resume trade talks.
European markets are trading in positive territory at midday, bouncing back after Monday's negative session. Traders are eyeing today's deadline for Italy to submit a revised budget to the European Union, as well as a positive earnings reaction for U.K. telecom giant Vodafone. At last check, London's FTSE 100 is fractionally higher, the French CAC 40 is flirting with a 0.4% lead, and the German DAX is boasting a 0.7% gain.