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Banks, Blue Chips Kick Off Earnings Season

Retail sales for September disappointed this week

Managing Editor
Oct 18, 2019 at 1:52 PM
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The start to a fresh earnings season was at the forefront of headlines this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) locked in a 237-point win on Tuesday, surging on the back of early wins by JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and UnitedHealth (UNH). Eyes were also on the U.K., where Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a "great new Brexit deal" was drawn up. FAANG stocks brought earnings back into focus by week's end, though retail sales showed a surprise 0.3% drop for September. Today, the Dow, Nasdaq Composite (IXIC), and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are all eyeing a second day in the red, but look to be closing just above breakeven for the week.

2 Dow Stocks Soaring Higher After Earnings 

As mentioned above, a handful of Dow names have made headlines this week, most on the heels of big earnings reactions. UnitedHealth stock was flashing a historic bear signal before earnings, but slammed back with an impressive third-quarter report Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola (KO) is swimming in the black this afternoon, off third-quarter revenue that topped estimates.

On the flip side, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) had also posted notable earnings, but quickly pulled back this morning after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claimed to find traces of asbestos in their baby powder. Caterpillar (CAT) is also lower today, suffering a pre-earnings drop after receiving a downgrade to "equal weight" from "overweight" out of Morgan Stanley.

 

Another Canadian Weed Win Sends Cronos Stock Higher

The pharmaceutical sector made a name for itself this week, with three stocks in particular jumping for attention on Thursday. First up is Hepion Pharmaceuticals (HEPA), which gapped to the top of the Nasdaq after a report published in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics indicated positive developments in the the company's liver disease drug. Meanwhile, Cronos (CRON) soared with the pot sector as Canada legalized weed vape pens and edibles. Syros Pharmaceuticals (SYRS), on the other hand, fell near the bottom of the Nasdaq, after the company said it is halting the development of its experimental intravenous cancer drug, SY-1365.

JPMorgan Sets Bar for Bank Earnings

Big banks helped kick off the start of earnings season, a major headliner being JPMorgan Chase, which reported an impressive revenue of $30.1 billion for the third quarter. Further, Morgan Stanley (MS) call buyers were taken aback by the equity's own quarterly beat, showing a surge in buying yesterday. Before next week's earnings, however, Swiss financial name UBS (UBS) was seen nearing a key trendline that tends to host bearish implications.

Busy Earnings Season Continues Onward 

Next week will serve up another heavy dose of big name earnings, including the likes of Amazon (AMZN), Tesla (TSLA), Twitter (TWTR), and Microsoft (MSFT). Ahead of the hectic week, however, be sure to check the must-knows of S&P Smallcap 600 (SP600) stocks, and see what this month of the S&P's volatile trading could mean for the upcoming November and December markets.

 

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