Despite Tariff Wars, APPLE Reports Higher Than Expected Earnings

Index Futures Net Changes and Settlements:

Foreign Markets, Fair Value and Volume:

• In Asia 9 out of 11 markets closed lower: Shanghai Comp -0.67%, Hang Seng -1.31%, Nikkei -0.86%
• In Europe 9 out of 13 markets are trading higher: CAC +0.16%, DAX +0.29%, FTSE -0.58%
• Fair Value: S&P +0.87, NASDAQ +11.47, Dow -33.98
• Total Volume: 1.17 million ESU & 133 SPU traded in the pit

_{*As of 7:00 a.m. CST}

Today’s Economic Calendar:

Today’s economic calendar includes the MBA Mortgage Applications 7:00 AM ET, ADP Employment Report 8:15 AM ET, Employment Cost Index 8:30 AM ET, Treasury Refunding Announcement 8:30 AM ET, Chicago PMI 9:45 AM ET, State Street Investor Confidence Index 10:00 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET, FOMC Meeting Announcement 2:00 PM ET, Fed Chair Press Conference 2:30 PM ET, and Farm Prices 3:00 PM ET.

S&P 500 Futures: Rinse, Wash, Repeat

Fun historic fact:
Every single time the Fed cut rates when unemployment was below 4% a recession immediately ensued & unemployment shot to 6%-7%.
Again: Every. single. time. pic.twitter.com/OyV8lNkRwz

— Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) June 19, 2019

During Monday nights Globex session, the S&P 500 futures (ESU19:CME) printed a high at 3027.50, a low at 3004.00, and opened Tuesday’s regular trading hours (RTH) at 3005.75.

The futures were unable to print a new high Monday night, and subsequently broke more than 20 handles going into Tuesday’s 8:30 CT bell. After the RTH open, the ES quickly printed a new low at 3001.50, then turned around to start covering some overnight shorts.

It was a slow grind higher, and by 10:30 the futures had topped out at 3015.50. The ES then went on to trade sideways in a 6 handle range for the rest of the morning.

Right at 1:00 CT, the ES and NQ both spiked. At first I chalked it up to a headline algo, but I didn’t see any headlines. Then I thought it could just be a top of the hour buy program, but it went a little too far for that. That’s when I started wondering if they were front running AAPL earnings… The ES only rallied up to 3018.00, but the NQ rallied close to 30 points. 

The buying eventually died down, and within a half hour both markets retraced back to where they were before the pop, and continued to trade lower.

Going into the close, when the MiM reveal came out showing only $100 million to buy, the ES had traded back down to 3010.50. It would then rally to print 3014.75 on the 3:00 cash close, and 3012.00 on the 3:15 futures close, down -9.50 handles on the day. Total volume leaped to 1.15 Million contracts, more than 300k higher than Monday.

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As always, please use protective buy and sell stops when trading futures and options.

_{Disclaimer: Trading Futures, Options on Futures, and retail off-exchange foreign currency transactions involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. You should carefully consider whether trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances, knowledge, and financial resources. Any decision to purchase or sell as a result of the opinions expressed in the forum will be the full responsibility of the person(s) authorizing such transaction(s). BE ADVISED TO ALWAYS USE PROTECTIVE STOP LOSSES AND ALLOW FOR SLIPPAGE TO MANAGE YOUR TRADE(S) AS AN INVESTOR COULD LOSE ALL OR MORE THAN THEIR INITIAL INVESTMENT. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.}