To The Moon

Friday (20 Sep) saw above-average volume due to the quarterly expiration of stock options, index options, single stock futures, and index futures.

DJIA reached a fresh all-time high, closing 0.1% above yesterday's close. However, S&P 500 fell by 0.2% and the NASDAQ dropped by 0.4%. The Russell 2000 lagged behind, declining by 1.1%.

The downside bias stemmed from consolidation activity after a solid run for stocks. Despite today's performance, the Russell 2000 logged a 2.1% gain this week, and the S&P 500 climbed 1.4% since last Friday.

CCI and August New Home Sales Report To Watch This Week

This week, the September Consumer Confidence Index will be released on Tuesday, the August New Home Sales report on Wednesday, the weekly jobless claims report on Thursday, and the August Personal Income and Spending report on Friday.

Chipmaker Space Weakness Drag Some Tech Stocks Down

Weakness in the chipmaker space contributed to the market's performance, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) declining by 1.31%.

Intel (INTC) gaining +3.3% was a standout, surging in afternoon trade following news that Qualcomm (QCOM) is interested in a takeover deal.

Utilities Sector Make Significant Move

Losses in semiconductor names, as well as in Microsoft (MSFT) lost -0.8% and Apple (AAPL) lost -0.3%, affected the S&P 500 information technology sector, which fell by 0.5%. None of the sectors moved more than 0.7% in either direction except utilities, which rose by 2.69%.

The utilities sector benefit from a significant move in Constellation Energy (CEG) which gained +22.3%, which announced a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft that includes the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1.

NIKE (NKE) also gained +6.8% after announcing that Elliott Hill will become President and CEO, effective October 14, 2024.

Stocks To Watch

$Intel(INTC)$ saw a 4% rise in its stock price following reports that Qualcomm (QCOM, Financial) has made a takeover approach. Qualcomm, on the other hand, experienced a 3.7% decline. The potential deal is still uncertain and would likely face scrutiny from antitrust regulators. To facilitate the acquisition, Qualcomm may consider selling parts of Intel to other buyers. Intel's market cap stands at $90 billion, while Qualcomm is valued at $194 billion.

But I do not see Intel having any potential upside based on MACD and MTF (multi timeframe) because I think the deal is still in uncertain stage and Intel is still trading below the short-term and long-term MA.

$CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc.(CRWD)$ shares surged more than 6% following positive feedback from its cybersecurity event, Fal.Con. Analysts are optimistic about the company's long-term growth prospects, citing its continued innovation and strong customer retention rate of 98%. Baird analyst Shrenik Kothari has an Outperform rating and a $315 price target on CrowdStrike. The stock has gained more than 10% over the past month and nearly 37% since early August.

If we looked at CRWD on the technical, it looks like it is trading comfortably above both the short-term and long-term MA, but we are not seeing short-term crossing above the long-term, this could signal a downside reversal coming.

Though the signal is neutral I would think we could monitor and see how it would be trading in coming weeks.

Zoom Video Communications (ZM) is reducing the amount of stock-based compensation for its employees, as announced by CEO Eric Yuan. The company aims to cut down on high dilution levels caused by excessive equity grants. Zoom plans to phase out its annual performance equity plan over the next two fiscal years, starting in February. In return, some employees might receive higher cash bonuses. Zoom's stock gained 0.9% on Friday, closing at $67.53.

Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) subsidiary, Red River Talc, filed for a voluntary prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy to resolve claims related to its talc-based products. The settlement offer is ~$8 billion, to be paid over 25 years. This filing has the support of 83% of current claimants, surpassing the 75% threshold required by the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This is J&J's third bankruptcy attempt, with the prior two being blocked.

Summary

We might still see consolidation continue in the morning trading session as investors could be preparing for the addition of Palantir and Dell Technologies stocks. The economic data to watch August New sales would be another confirmation whether Fed has make the decision of rate cut and more to come a sensible one.

So I would think we might start the week on a neutral trading.

Appreciate if you could share your thoughts in the comment section whether you think stock market would be trading in a neutral mode?

@TigerStars @Daily_Discussion @Tiger_Earnings @TigerWire appreciate if you could feature this article so that fellow tiger would benefit from my investing and trading thoughts.

Disclaimer: The analysis and result presented does not recommend or suggest any investing in the said stock. This is purely for Analysis.