Weekly Market Commentary, April 12th, 2021

ROBARE & JONES ON THE MARKETS

       The S& P rose over 2.7% this past week reaching again another new high with gains coming from tech, consumer discretionary, and communication services. Energy was the only sector that was down this past week at about 4%.  

Progress continued to be made this week in vaccine distributions although newly reported COVID-19 cases in the US also rose amid spreading variants. Nearly 20% of the total US population has been fully vaccinated so far while almost 34% has had at least one dose.  

Mastercard (MA) also reported US retail sales excluding automotive and gasoline increased 26% year over year in March while online sales jumped 57%. Shift in retail sales has also been working in conjunction to consumer discretionary Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) which climbed 10% as the cruise operator said it is planning to resume cruises from the US in July.  

Next week marks the unofficial kickoff of the Q1 earnings reporting season, with big banks JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo (WFC) and Goldman Sachs (GS) expected to release results Wednesday. Bank of America (BAC), Alcoa (AA) and PepsiCo (PEP) are among the companies expected to report Thursday, followed by Morgan Stanley (MS) on Friday.

 Let's take a look at the benchmarks from this past week!  

Stock Market IQ Test

  If you are feeling optimistic about a stock going up in price, it is possible to acquire more stock than you can afford by buying stock on what?  

A) Market

B) Margin

C) Lay away

D) Mark-up  

Risky investment strategies where the investor has not limited his/her losses is known as a _______ position. What is the missing word?  

A) Gutsy

B) Naked

C) Hawkish

D) Spooky  

What is an "odd lot" when it comes to a stock position/holding?  

A) Stocks of shady/unethical corporations

B) Any number of shares more than 13

C) Any number of shares not equal to or less than 100

D) Any number of shares ending with an odd number  

Which of the following is not a major USA stock exchange?  

A) NYSE

B) SEC

C) NASDAQ

D) AMEX   

How do you think you did?