It was a volatile week for the major benchmarks, keeping with September's historically rocky market trends. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rebounded from last week's slump by snapping a five-day losing streak. Tuesday, however, the blue-chip index notched a triple-digit loss, despite upbeat inflation data, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) were also drowning in red ink.  A large portion of those losses were covered the next day, as the middle of the week's session ended in solid gains for the major indexes, with sentiment boosted by promising manufacturing data. The fickle week carried on Thursday, and the Dow once again slipped lower, after higher-than-expected weekly jobless claims overshadowed a surprise gain in August retail sales. The broader market is diving even deeper today, and at last check, all three benchmarks on track for weekly losses. 

Tech Stocks Making Moves

Plenty of tech names were in the spotlight this week, starting with China-based Alibaba (BABA) stock, which was pressured lower as China's government continues to crack down on regulations. Both blue-chip member Salesforce.com (CRM)and Crowdstrike (CRWD) pulled back to a historically bullish trendlines, with the latter poised for more record highs. Elsewhere, bull notes gave Cisco (CSCO) and SoFi Technologies (SOFI) a boost, while Oracle (ORCL) received a round of post-earnings price-target hikes. Microsoft (MSFT) made headlines this week, after the launch of a $60 billion stock repurchase program, while Dell (DELL) was added to Goldman Sachs' "Conviction Buy" list.

Welcome back to our weekly series, Schaeffer's Cannabis Stock News Update, where we recap what happened in the world of marijuana stocks and look ahead to how the cannabis industry continues to shape up in 2021.

Investor interest in the cannabis industry is growing at an explosive rate, and the leading players continue to break through legal barrier after legal barrier, especially in the United States. More than 40 U.S. states legalized recreational and/or medical marijuana by the end of 2020. Now, companies are starting to see the opportunity in cannabis cultivation, marketing, distribution, and technology.

Here is a quick roundup of major (and action-worthy!) cannabis stock news from this week:

💻 Akerna (NASDAQ:KERN) announced that the cannabis-focused enterprise company plans to acquire 365 Cannabis in a move to "become the most comprehensive cannabis ERP system offering a complete portfolio of tax, financials, reporting and compliance systems," according to Monday's press release. The acquisition is expected to cost KERN approximately $17 million.

🏋️ After becoming the Official CBD Partner of the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games in July, cbdMD, Inc (NYSE:YCBD) announced four new CrossFit athlete ambassadors including Justin Medeiros, Annie Thorisdottir, Noah Ohlsen, and Brent Fikowski. According to the September 13 announcement, these ambassadors have a total reach of 3 million on Instagram and provides YCBD with significant access to the CrossFit worldwide network of gyms and members.

Accolade Inc (NASDAQ:ACCD) is up 0.7% at $45.31 this morning, after Baird upgraded the healthcare technology name to "outperform" from "neutral." The analyst noted recent conversations with the firm's management, which have bolstered the brokerage's confidence in the company, adding that it has a track record of strong execution.

ACCD also announced yesterday it will release its fiscal second quarter of 2022 financial results after the close on Thursday, Oct. 7. Looking back at its last four earnings reports, the security has a mixed history of next-day returns, coming in higher after half of these sessions. Regardless of direction, the stock has averaged a next-day return of 5.8% over the last year. 

Circling back to analyst sentiment, the brokerage bunch has been incredibly optimistic. Heading into today, all eight analysts in coverage called ACCD a "buy" or better. Plus, the 12-month consensus price target of $61.90 is a 36.7% premium to current levels. 

The stock looks ready to bounce after its late August rally was rejected by the 80-day moving average. The 20-day moving average still looms as potential resistance, though ACCD is up 39.5% year-over-year. 

Shares of blue-chip retailer Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) have had a volatile 2021, trading as low as $126.28 in March and eclipsing $150 by late August. All of this adds up to WMT remaining just above its year-to-date breakeven mark. However, in recent weeks the equity has pulled back from its Aug. 17, nine-month peak near $153, as well as to a trendline with historically bullish implications. A signal that also looks to be flashing is Walmart stock’s historic performance for the month of September –noteworthy considering September’s oft-bearish seasonality -- which could indicate that now is the perfect time to bet on the blue chip’s next leg higher.

Just ahead of the company’s earnings release, we suggested that with a 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) 73, WMT may be in store for a short-term pullback within the coming weeks. Sure enough, WMT is now down 2.5% in the last 30 days. But despite the lackluster price action, September could right the ship.

Specifically, White compiled a list of the 25 best-performing stocks this month, going back 10 years. In this time frame, WMT has seen eight positive one-month returns, with a median gain of 0.9%. That's good for being one of the only two Dow stocks on the list, bested by chip maker Intel (INTC), which boasts an impressive median return of 4.7% in September. A similar move from Walmart stock's Thursday close of $146.42 would put the equity just shy of $148 -- facing off with this month’s $149.65 peak.

Even further, per White, WMT just came within one standard deviation of its 40-day moving average after a lengthy period above the trendline. A commendable 12 similar pullbacks have occurred in the past three years. One month after these signals, Walmart stock was higher 50% of the time, and averaged a return of 1% in that time period. From Thursday’s close, a similar move would put the also just shy of its September peak.

Keep an eye on Walmart’s options activity, which could lead to an unwinding of bearish bets. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call volume ratio (SOIR) sits higher than 96% of readings in its annual range. This means traders have rarely been more put-biased toward Walmart in the last 12 months. The good news for potential options buyers is Walmart stock premiums are attractively priced right now. This is according to the equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 14%, which stands in the low 6th percentile of readings from the past 12 months.

Today the University of Michigan will release its preliminary consumer sentiment index to close out the busy week.

The following company is due to release quarterly earnings today, September 17:

Manchester United plc (NYSE:MANU -- $17.62) owns and operates a professional sports team in the United Kingdom. Manchester United will report its Q4 earnings of 2021 before the bell today.

Looking ahead to next week, Wall Street can expect a busy start to the latter part of September as next week is packed full of economic data. On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) index is due out, while housing data is on the docket for Tuesday. Wednesday things pick up, with a news conference from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell taking the spotlight. On Thursday, the bulk of next week's data is due out, including highly anticipated jobless claims data and and purchasing managers' index (PMI) updates. Closing the week out on a quiet note, Friday features some new home sales data.

Earnings, meanwhile, will continue to trickle in next week. Next week's docket features report from Adobe (ADBE), AutoZone (AZO), BlackBerry (BB), Costco (COST), General Mills (GIS), Nike (NIKE), Rite Aid (RAD), and Stitch Fix (SFIX).

All economic dates listed here are tentative and subject to change.