US Market: Meme Frenzy or Earnings Focus?
Week In Review.
According to legend, Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland, was supposed to have told his troops this shortly before walloping the English at Bannockburn in 1314 — "If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again".
That was exactly what Dow Jones (or its mastermind) did on Fri, 17 May 2024; when it failed on Thursday.
The Dow finally cracked the 4,000 level and stayed there until market closed. (see below)
Market Weekly Summary.
DJIA: +1.04% (+412.31 TO 40,003.59). First time in history achievement and it’s the Dow 5th straight weekly gain, with an intraday high of 40,051.05.
S&P 500: +1.34% (+70.19 to 5,303.27). Index achieved its longest winning streak since February 2024.
Nasdaq: +1.74% (+285.66 to 16,685.97). Tech index’s longest winning streak since February as well.
As recounted by US Bank Asset Management, Senior Investment strategist, Tom Hainlin:
Concerns over durability of current market rally have been voiced by some investors.
However, the combination of (a) economic growth and (b) decelerating CPI inflation is the perfect catalyst.
Week of the Meme.
The week of May 13 - 17 belonged to meme stocks, notably $AMC Entertainment(AMC)$ and $GameStop(GME)$ that got the momentum going, with the short-lived rally's flag bearers beginning to unravel on Friday.
While shares of smaller meme-related equities ended the week with higher gains.
Case in point was EV-related startup $Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc.(FFIE)$.
It soared as much as +122% on Friday before crashing into red territory.
Despite that, FFIE still gained more than +2,000% over past 5 days. That’s insane if you asked me.
According to web data company Thinknum, FFIE was the 3rd most-mentioned stock on Reddit's WallStreetBets forum behind (a) SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and (b) Nvidia (NVDA), over the past 24 hours.
"Similar to 2021 meme rally duration, speculators seem to be targeting equities with high short interest" said Retail trader and YouTuber Matt Kohrs.
And FFIE’s short interest sits at about 92% of the float.
Heading into next week “does FFIE still possess the same high short interest” ?
That is the million-dollar question everyone wishes to know.
Other mentionable Memes.
Other heavily shorted stocks that were volatile during the week include:
$Crown Electrokinetics Corp.(CRKN)$ . The Oregon-based smart glass micro-cap company gained more than +325% over past 5 trading days.
$Greenwave Technology Solutions Inc.(GWAV)$. Up > +280% for the week. The small, Virginia-based metal recycling company added to prior session gains as GME & AMC began to unravel.
Focus - Q1 Earnings?
Will focus return to corporate earnings in the coming week OR will meme stocks still have a strong hold on investors’ short attention span?
As Corporate earnings begin to wind down for the season, several key players are scheduled to report next week: (see above)
Li Auto Inc (LI). Mon, 20 May 2024. AM.
Zoom (ZM). Mon, 20 May 2024. PM.
Palo Alton Networks Inc (PANW). Mon, 20 May 2024. PM.
Macy’s Inc (M). Tue, 21 May 2024. AM.
Lowe’s (LOW). Tue, 21 May 2024. AM.
Xpeng Inc (XPEV). Tue, 21 May 2024. AM.
Nvidia Corp (NVDA). Wed, 22 May 2024. PM.
Target (TGT). Wed, 22 May 2024. AM.
Polestar (PNSY). Thu, 23 May 2024. NA.
Besides Corporate earnings, market moving event might steal glimpse of investors’ attention too :
A slowing earnings calendar puts the spotlight on other market-moving events. (see above)
2 days of Fed officials testifying on Capitol Hill. Mon & Tue, 20 & 21 May 2024. It will be interesting to witness how this would play out, now that Mr Jerome Powell is down with Covid.
FOMC minutes of meeting release. Wed, 22 May 2024.
US weekly jobless claims. Thu, 23 May 2024.
US New home sales. Thu, 23 May 2024.
Next week will be a balancing act. When memes dip, US market will rise and vice versa.
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Do you think meme stocks will continue its 2nd rally next week ?
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The sharp rise in these stocks is actually a very bad signal
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