My Gut Feeling for Today, July 18, 2024

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The S&P 500 (SPX) inched up yesterday in a session that was, as I expected, dominated by Ben Bernanke’s testimony and earnings. Earnings will continue to dominate today, both from the mega cap tech companies that reported last evening Intel (INTC), EBay (EBAY) and IBM (IBM) as well as this morning’s reports from United Health (UNH), Blackstone (BX), Blackrock (BLK), Johnson Controls (JCI) and Morgan Stanley (MS). The beat goes on after hours when Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOG) also report. Also on the docket are weekly unemployment claims, LEI (leading economic indicators) and Philly Fed.

If you want to roll the dice on earnings, I think that the best bet is to take a long shot on Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG). Note however, the stock can be quite volatile after hours.

With the early earnings reports in, an old pattern is beginning to become apparent. The strong US Dollar and weak European markets are hampering top line growth while strong margins, operational efficiency and cost control are resulting in better than expected bottom line results.

While we are in a micro phase of market watching with earnings reports, I am expecting that the SPX will post a new intra-day all-time high today. As is usual on summer Fridays, I will be taking a day off from writing but not market watching. I will be back on Monday.

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Disclosure: At the time of this commentary Scott Rothbort, his family and/or clients of LakeView AssetManagement, LLC was long EBAY, GOOG and BX — although positions can change at any time.

Scott Rothbort is also the publisher of the LakeView Restaurant & Food Chain Report, a newsletter focusing in on food, restaurant and agricultural stocks. You can subscribe at www.restaurantstox.com

Interact all day with Scott all day with your Platinum subscription to Wall Street All-Stars.

You can email Scott at [email protected]

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Scott Rothbort

Scott Rothbort has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is the Founder and President of LakeView Asset Management, LLC, www.lakeviewasset.com a Registered Investment Advisor specializing in customized separate account management for high net worth individuals. In addition, he is the founder of TheFinanceProfessor.com www.thefinanceprofessor.com an educational social networking site where his blog also resides; and, publisher of The LakeView Restaurant & Food Chain Report www.restaurantstox.com , a newsletter focusing on investment and trading ideas in the food, restaurant and agricultural sectors. Mr. Rothbort is also a Term Professor of Finance at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business, where he teaches courses in finance and economics; is the Chief Market Strategist for The Stillman School of Business; and, the co-supervisor of the Center for Securities Trading and Analysis. Feel free to reach out to Scott Rothbort by email at [email protected]