What Futures Traders Should Watch This Week
By John Thorpe, Senior Broker
Earnings alert! Wednesday April 29th
Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta report after the close.
Together, these four represent over 14% of the S&P 500 index’s total market-weighted capitalization and as of early 2026, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta constitute a significant portion of the Nasdaq-100, generally totaling over 20% combined.
Call your broker about straddles on Monday! On top of the above? Chairman Powell’s last call at the FED as chair prior to the earnings releases Wednesday. The market has already discounted, “rates remain the same” in a .0350-.0375 range.
Is the smoke clearing in the Mid-East and the markets have a renewed sense of confidence?
The Cease fire ended on Tuesday, the markets are swirling in the uncertainty of a lack of resolution to the conflict. A meet and greet in Islamabad may set the tone for next weeks market action.
Don’t let your guard down just yet, the fog continues, tune into the Sunday evening markets to witness reactions to the weekend news streams, manufactured or true. The IRAN War continues in spite of the tenuous cease fire as the war premiums that had been built into Equities, Bonds, Metals and the Energy complex, have been drastically discounted as of two week’s ago. , Crude creeps higher and Equities shrugged last week.
Well, the CME did it, they finally did it after three months of consistently raising margin rates in the precious metals, they are finally coming down. Although still high for the legacy contracts, $36375 for 100 oz Gold and $58567 for 5000 oz
Silver:
call your broker and ask to trade the smaller sized contracts if you would like to jump in. If you are an investor who sees the new rates as an opportunity to jump in, give us a call!
Of note next week FOMC meeting, Heavy, and may I reiterate, heavy earnings with a few key economic data points to watch. Earnings this week will be impactful as 5 of mag seven stocks report setting up for a very interesting picture for our stock indices.
Plan your trade and trade your plan!
Earnings Next Week:
· Mon. Verizon, Public Storage
· Tue. Visa, Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, S&P Global, Starbucks, General Motores, UPS
· Wed. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, ADP General Dynamics
· Thu. Apple, Eli Lilly, Mastercard, Caterpillar, Merck, Amgen
· Fri. Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Colgate-Palmolive, CBOE
FED SPEECHES: (all times CDT)
· Mon. Quiet
· Tues. Quiet
· Wed. 1pm Fed Rate , 1:30pm Powell speech and with Q&A
· Thu. Quiet
· Fri. Period, Pre Fed Rate decision April 29th
Econ Data:
· Mon. Dallas Fed.
· Tue. ADP Weekly, Redbook, Case-Shiller Home , CB consumer confidence API Crude Stock Change
· Wed. Durable goods, Housing starts, EIA Crude stocks, Rate Decision, Presser
· Thu. PCE,GDP, Initial Jobless claims, Chgo PMI, Nat Gas Stocks
· Fri. ISM Manufacturing, Baker Hughs Oil Rig Count |
