Day Traders Diary

7/22/19

The major averages close modestly higher ahead of a big week of earnings. The moves also come ahead of expectations a Fed rate cut next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 17 points to 27,171 even as Boeing dropped 1%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed modestly higher even as declining issues outpaced advancing issues on both the NYSE and Nasdaq.

Boeing shares fell after Fitch downgraded its outlook on the airplane maker to negative. Tech shares, on the other hand, rose 1%, led by chipmakers. Applied Materials, Micron Technology and Lam Research rose at least 3.7% after Goldman Sachs upgraded all three.

More than a quarter of the S&P 500 reports earnings this week including so-called FANG names Facebook, Google's parent Alphabet and Amazon, along with blue chips like McDonald's and Boeing.

So far, more than 15% of the S&P 500 has posted quarterly results. Of those companies, 78.5% have topped analyst expectations for earnings while 67% have reported better-than-expected quarterly revenues, according to FactSet data.