See what’s driving market performance around the world in today’s Morning Lineup. Bespoke’s Morning Lineup is the best way to start your trading day. Read it now by starting a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium. CLICK HERE to learn more and start your trial.
“It’s all about the journey, not the outcome.” – Carl Lewis
Twenty-five years ago today, Olympian Carl Lewis completed one of the most impressive streaks in US track and field history when, at the age of 35, he won the gold medal in the long jump. That victory marked the fourth straight Olympics in which Lewis stood at the top of the podium for the long jump and the ninth time overall. In winning the long jump for the fourth time, Lewis became the first American since Al Oerter to win back to back to back to back golds in the same event.
With two days left in the month, the S&P 500 is also in the middle of its own streak with six straight monthly gains. That’s far from a record but still pretty impressive nonetheless. Futures are higher this morning as equities look to add to their gains for July, as optimism over a bipartisan infrastructure deal boosts sentiment along with positive words from China regarding its crackdown on tech companies in the country.
There is also a good deal of economic data today with the first read on GDP kicking things off with a big miss (+6.5% vs +8.4%) and both initial and continuing jobless claims coming in higher than expected. At 10 AM, we’ll get Pending Home Sales. During the day, we’ll also have the Robinhood (HOOD) IPO which priced at the low end of the expected range, and then after the close, the headline earnings report will be from Amazon.com (AMZN), which will round out the reports of the ‘big five’ mega-caps. So far, the markets have gotten through these reports relatively well, so just one more day to go.
Read today’s Morning Lineup for a recap of all the major market news and events from around the world, the latest US and international COVID trends including our vaccination trackers, and much more.
So far this earnings season, it hasn’t been just the mega-caps that have reported strong results. As shown in the snapshot below, of the 339 companies that have reported since the start of July (through Tuesday), 84% have topped EPS forecasts, 80% have exceeded sales estimates, and a net of 17% have raised guidance. Despite those strong results, companies reporting earnings have gapping down an average of 0.10% at the open on their earnings reaction day. During the trading day, though, buyers have stepped in pushing shares higher by 0.15% for a full day gain of 0.05%. That’s hardly a strong reaction, but at least it’s positive-something we haven’t been able to say consistently over the last couple of earnings seasons.
