Your Trading Week Ahead – May 9th

Welcome to Your Trading Week Ahead for May 9th. Here’s what you need to know before you go…

Quick recap

U.S. equity markets closed the week at or near all-time highs yet again. The S&P 500 and Dow reached new record closes of 4232 and 34,777, respectively. Nasdaq climbed back to 13,752 after a strong push from tech stocks on Friday. Small caps lagged slightly, with the Russell 2000 finishing near 2271 — up a modest 0.26% from the previous week.

Earnings continued supporting the market at these levels. Many mixed reports were delivered, but General Motors ($GM) was one of the big winners. They reported a massive EPS beat and expect a strong year despite production interruptions due to global chip shortages. $ROKU likewise reported positive Q1 data, sending the stock 11% higher on Friday. Meanwhile, shares of $UBER fell to the downside after negative guidance and overall weak sentiment surrounding the sector.

April’s jobs report was released on Friday, revealing a significant slowdown in U.S. hiring. It showed an addition of 266,000 new jobs, sharply missing Wall Street’s expectations. That came after Thursday’s better-than-expected initial jobless claims of 498,000, the first time under 500,000 weekly claims since COVID-19 lockdowns began last year.

What to watch this week

Earnings season continues

There are some big names on deck to report earnings this week. Alibaba ($BABA), Walt Disney ($DIS), and Airbnb ($ABNB) all report on Thursday.

You’ll also want to keep an eye on Coinbase Global ($COIN) when they hold their Q1 earnings call on May 13th. The stock has sold-off substantially since its public listing on April 14, when it traded as high as $429. COIN closed last week at $263 apiece — down over 38% since going public.

Crypto action

Bitcoin ($BTC) traded modestly higher on Friday compared to the previous week. It finished the day near $57,700, well off its all-time high of $64,655 set just 3 weeks ago.

The big news in the crypto space was Ethereum ($ETH) and Dogecoin ($DOGE), as both hit new all-time highs before pulling back mid-week. Ethereum touched the $3,500 level, while $DOGE surged to over $0.69.

It will be interesting to see how digital assets perform this week, especially given the Coinbase earnings call catalyst. The company just announced the inclusion of PayPal as payment method for its U.S. customers on Thursday. We’ll see if they have any further news in store.

Economic data

As always, watch for initial jobless claim numbers as they come in Thursday pre-market. Lower unemployment and job growth is a major data point for the Fed. An increasingly positive outlook may ultimately result in a change in interest rates as the economy continues its recovery.

April retail sales will also be an important economic indicator. It will show us how the American people might be spending their newly acquired stimulus and whether retail is keeping up with the recovery. Those numbers are expected May 14 at 8:30 ET.