The Rock Trading Group
CMT, Technical/Situational Analysis, Options Trading
QQQ's remaining earnings, macro and election hurdles set up one more dip to punish late chasers. The index looks good and is pricing in some good news today, but Amazon, Intel and SanDisk earnings plus PCE and GDP arrive tomorrow, followed by AMD earnings and elections Tuesday. Expect one more, probably modest, dip Wednesday or Thursday next week before November's upward seasonality takes effect. x.comÂ
Disappointing Amazon earnings make a Nasdaq 100 decline to the bottom of its range near 700 look likely tomorrow. It may be forming a range like the one that preceded the decline into the March low, but a sideways phase lasting as long as that one looks unlikely. x.com x.comÂ
Forward risks matter more than good earnings for the Nasdaq now. The index looks to be topping and has a good shot at 28,000 before a rally after the midterms; tomorrow's PCE and GDP releases are unlikely to help, and this week's lows could break. x.com x.comÂ
The Nasdaq 100's drop on OpenAI's scary news is an overreaction, and mega caps remain very healthy. AI bubble fears let market makers scare retail and buy behind closed doors. Once the index tests 736-738 as its 21-day moving average catches up, it should take off again toward 800, led by Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, Broadcom, Nvidia, AMD and TSMC. x.com x.comÂ
Nasdaq-100 downside could accelerate if QQQ falls below $712: dealer positioning at $700 and $690 would fuel the move unless the index reclaims its moving averages and breaks upward. July and September FOMC lows remain untouched, something that has not persisted across two consecutive meetings; taking out at least one in the next week would not be surprising. x.comÂ
The Nasdaq 100 is teetering ahead of earnings from Microsoft, Meta and Amazon, and more capex is unlikely to make those names rally; they will have to say something different. The next support is the $657.16 volume point of control, 4.4% below. x.comÂ
The Nasdaq 100's 3% premarket drop looks like a shakeout, not a crash. Fed rate hike signals are already priced in, with Micron earnings on Wednesday and PCE data on Thursday as the next tests. x.comÂ
Hedge funds went too lopsided short before Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet's earnings, setting up an aggressive short-covering rally if they deliver this week, as expected. SPCX crushed and ANT's S-1 was quite good, leaving a potential two-week rally on a razor's edge. x.comÂ
The Nasdaq-100 looks set for a roughly 7% drop over the next month and a half, driven by expected election turmoil. The 10-year Treasury yield is at 5.2% and the dollar index at 101, and the setup rhymes with October 2018. The main risk is a flip higher from here or a move 3% above the previous all-time high; a short-term rip before the decline is possible amid month-end flows. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
With the Fed meeting behind it, the Nasdaq 100 is entering its next phase of expansion; the recent pullback was a re-accumulation opportunity, not a time to raise cash. Stocks are filling gaps and moving back into attractive areas, so cash set aside before the drop should now be deployed into the dislocation ahead of the next leg higher. x.comÂ
Amazon normally has a good fourth quarter, making its current quiet trading a time to buy. x.comÂ
