A brief yield-curve inversion also spooked Wall Street
Trade headlines and retail earnings drove price action on Wall Street this week, with most of the early week moves occurring to the upside. However, stocks swung lower after another brief yield-curve inversion and news of China's retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. sparked a tweetstorm from President Donald Trump. As of this writing, the Dow, S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are all on pace for a fourth straight weekly loss.
Home Depot Headlines Strong Retail Earnings
It was another busy week for retail earnings. While Home Depot (HD) stock caught options bears off guard after earnings, fellow home improvement retailer Lowe's (LOW) also impressed on the earnings front, as did Target (TGT) and Nordstrom (JWN). Kohl's (KSS), on the other hand, dropped on a same-store sales miss, while Foot Locker's (FL) post-earnings slide dragged on Nike (NKE). And while Pivotal Research said it's buying Deckers Outdoor's (DECK) post-earnings dip, GameStop (GME) popped after a famous investor took a long position on the stock.
Huawei Reprieve Sends Chip Stocks Higher
Semiconductors kicked off a strong week for chip stocks, thanks to news of a Huawei reprieve for U.S. suppliers -- though Cree (CREE) shares spiraled after a warning about the Chinese telecom giant. New "buy" ratings from Raymond James sparked bigger tailwinds for these two chipmakers, while elsewhere in the tech sphere, Apple (AAPL) shares edging higher as Apple TV+ details emerged. Software stocks also had a big week, with cloud firm Salesforce.com (CRM) and tax preparation name Intuit (INTU) climbing the charts after earnings.
PG&E, Beyond Meat Made Big Moves This Week
Big moves weren't confined to retail and tech stocks this week. Bankruptcy buzz sent the shares of utility name PG&E (PCG) spiraling, while Beyond Meat (BYND) popped on a big bull note from J.P. Morgan Securities. Meanwhile, a Russia probe revelation sent Overstock.com's (OSTK) CEO packing -- and had options traders bet on bigger gains -- while a reliable Shake Shack (SHAK) buy signal points to new highs for the burger chain. Elsewhere, SVB Leerink thinks this drug stock can triple, and one options trader initiated a seven-figure trade to bet on a major move for oil.
GDP, More Retail Earnings on Tap
Wall Street will continue to watch the 2-year and 10-year Treasuries, and data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White suggests it's best to sell stocks ahead of this yield-curve signal. A busy batch of economic data -- including the latest reading on second-quarter gross domestic product -- will also be in focus next week, while retail earnings continue to roll in.