The Reddit-fueled rally of last week cooled off
This week saw the absurdity and chaos wrought from Reddit and Robinhood die down instead and be replaced with big wins on Wall Street. Yes, tensions still simmered between retail investors and short sellers, and stole some headlines from the resistance U.S. President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus package faced from Republicans. But by Tuesday, investors shifted their focus to FAANG earnings and the Dow's best day since November. Wednesday saw Amazon.com (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL) turn in their reports, while Wall Street's "fear gauge," the Cboe Market Volatility Index (VIX), slunk lower.
On Thursday, upbeat weekly jobless claims data poured in, and the major indexes all enjoyed stellar sessions in response, including the tech-heavy Nasdaq. To close out the week, Wall Street brushed off a worse-than-expected January jobs report on Friday. Heading into the weekend, the major indexes were all on track to notch their best week since November, and the Dow and S&P 500's first five-day win streak since August.
Pharmaceutical, Healthcare Stocks Steal Spotlight
With the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines well underway in the U.S. and abroad, it's no surprise that pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks are a hot topic at the moment. The vaccine from Moderna (MRNA) has been making waves, and the company recently attempted to get authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to raise the number of doses in its vials. Fellow vaccine names Pfizer (PFE) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) both released upbeat earnings reports, with option bulls charging toward the former.
Elsewhere in the drug stock community, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) encountered a historically friendly trendline that could propel the pharmaceutical name higher on the charts. A bull signal also appeared for Tenet Healthcare (THC) even after the equity hit a five-year peak.
Earnings Show No Sign of Slowing Down
Earnings season rages on, and investors had their hands full of big-name reports to dig through. Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba (BABA) reported a stellar fiscal third-quarter beat, though increasing regulatory scrutiny weighed heavily on the equity. Meanwhile, United Parcel Service (UPS) stock also notched an earnings win, with the stock bolstered by a record number of home deliveries amid the pandemic. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) turned in mixed results, though a slew of bull notes poured in, and pandemic-staple Clorox (CLX) brushed off an earnings win.
Next Week Full of Notable Earnings Reports
Quarterly reports will continue to roll in next week, with reports from AstraZeneca (AZN), Canopy Growth (CGC), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Coca-Cola (KO), Walt Disney (DIS), and Twitter (TWTR) to name a few. Though economic data is rather empty, there's more jobless claims data to sift through. In the meantime, Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White breaks down on sector that's overdue for bullish analyst attention, and be sure to check out our Monday Morning Outlook, where Schaeffer's Senior Vice President of Research Todd Salamone looks at potential landing spots for the S&P 500.