Picks of the Day August 17,2017

After Trump Blunder, Market Loses its Thunder

Stocks on Wall Street succeeded in strengthening slightly on Wednesday, but ended far from the daily high in the face of growing concerns about both Donald Trump’s agenda and the Fed minutes, the latter pointing to bankers’ apprehension about low inflation.

Indexes shed some of their gains after two prominent CEOs resigned from Trump’s Business Council, as the backlash grew about the support he voiced last weekend for white supremacists in Virginia. It was the exit of 3M CEO which caused Trump to disband the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative and the Strategic and Policy Forum, piquing concern about Trump’s ability to advance legislation from his election campaign platform.

Volatility was on display on Wall Street after the release of the minutes from the Fed’s last meeting. Concerned about low inflation, some bankers called for a halt in new hikes until it becomes apparent that this is a transient, temporary trend. Over the last few months, investors have had their finger on the pulse on the drop-off in inflation, which has stubbornly remained beneath the Fed’s 2% target.  On the one hand, this economic state of affairs is likely to support stocks if the Fed decides to push off its next round of rate hikes; on the flipside, though, it could turn out that the Fed hiked rates too early and before the economy could adapt accordingly.

Real estate figures were another factor impacting on the day’s trading, having come out beneath expectations. Building permits and starts recorded an unexpected decline last month.

Daily Summary: The Dow Jones ended up 0.12%, the S&P 500 tacking on 0.14%, and the NASDAQ ending up 0.19%.

On the S&P 500 49 stocks recorded 52-week highs, 10 falling to new yearly lows. On the NASDAQ, 98 stocks recorded new 52-week highs, with 85 falling to new yearly lows.

About 5.8 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, compared with the 6.3 billion average over the last 20 trading days.

Thursday: Today’s trading will continue to be conducted in the shadow of Trump’s political maneuvers and the many economic figures which will be released. Last week’s unemployment claims will be released at 8:30 N.Y. time. At 9:15, industrial output figures will be released, and at 10:00, the Leading Indicators index will be released.

The world’s # 1 retailer, Walmart (WMT), will be releasing its numbers before opening, likewise, wrapping up the Q2 earnings season. Another reporting company of note will be Alibaba (BABA), the online retail giant also releasing its numbers before opening.

Today’s Hot Stocks: WMT, BABA, LB, CSCO, SNPS, VIPS, NTAP

IPOs: None

Have a great trading day!

Today’s Picks – Day Trading!

New York Strategy Swing

Today’s Picks – Swing “New-York Strategy

No.1 –    KORS

No.2 – COMM