Shesa's Stock Market Weekend Updates - 7|12|26

Welcome to the weekend updates

The U.S. stock market ended the week with modest overall gains. Both Nasdaq and S&P 500 gained but Dow pulled back a little bit. The Nasdaq led the advance on renewed enthusiasm for AI and technology stocks. Broader market breadth improved somewhat, with participation beyond just mega-cap tech names. Volatility stayed relatively contained. There were not much economic activities. Oil picked up slightly after the renewed strike by U.S. The 10 year Treasury Bond yields remained around 4.55% range. The Q2 earnings will kick-off this week. But first let's see the stock indices:

• S&P 500: Up 1.2% for the week, closing at 7,575.39 on Friday.
• Nasdaq: Gained about 1.7%, closing at 26,281.61.
• Dow: Lost about -0.5%, closing at 52,637.01.
For the year, the S&P 500 up around 10-11%, the Dow up about 9.5%, and the Nasdaq up about 13%.

Other News
  • South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix made a blockbuster debut on the Nasdaq in what was reported as the largest foreign IPO on record. Its shares rose sharply on the first day of trading, boosting sentiment across the memory chip and AI sector.
  • Geopolitical Tensions: Developments in the Middle East, including issues around the Strait of Hormuz, created some volatility and pushed oil prices higher at times. 
  • Meta released Muse Spark 1.1 - a strong agentic and coding model at a very low price. It's available through our new Meta Model API and in Meta AI.
  • Micron (MU): Despite its spectacular earnings and future guidance the stock has been hammered, down -24% from its all-time high and the forward earnings stands at 6.3 times!! This is beyond comprehension but that's what Wall Street is all about. So, let's hope we may see some bounce soon!! I still think Micron is one the BEST AI stock at this time. 
Earnings this week
Markets now turn their attention to Q2 earnings results for further direction on corporate health and AI investment returns. The banks and financial institutions start reporting this week. I guess Banks would continue to do well. 

Tuesday (July 14) 

  • Bank of America (BAC)
  • Citigroup (C)
  • Goldman Sachs (GS)
  • JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
  • Wells Fargo (WFC)

Wednesday (July 15)
  • ASML 
  • BlackRock (BLK)
  • Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
  • Morgan Stanley (MS)

Thursday (July 16)

  • Netflix (NFLX)
  • Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM)
  • UnitedHealth Group
Economic Report this week
  • TUE, July 14: Consumer Price Index (CPI)  for June => This is VERY IMPORTANT
  • WED, July 15: Producer Price Index (PPI) for June, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh testifies to Congress 

Stocks to Watch
Bank Stocks, TSM, NVDA, TSLA, AMD, AMAT, SOXL, MU, DELL, INTC, HOOD, IONQ, FCEL

Note: The above stocks are not buy/sell recommendations.

What to expect?
Last week was OK but this week focus will shift to Q2 earnings. I expect Banks to do well but we will see how it goes. ASML and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) will release earnings this week which should show about the chip demands and future AI momentum. So, in my view that would be key for technology stocks. Furthermore, there will be inflation report this week which would be extremely critical on the future of interest rate decision. Wall Street is expecting CPI of 3.9% and PPI of 6.5%. Let's see. If these reports come below expectations market should logically go up. If the data is above the forecast numbers then market may get into the same worry about inflation and interest rate hike etc. The latest news is that U.S. and Iran again started airstrikes over the weekend. Iran seems to be targeting U.S. facilities in Gulf countries and declaring the Strait of Hormuz closed. However, President Trump said that, the key waterway is open to commercial traffic. So, it's better to cautiously watch and act. 

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