Stocks fell last Friday as traders' enthusiasm for the
September jobs report quickly waned. A four-day winning streak
for the S&P 500 was snapped in the process, but the three
major U.S. indexes still notched decent performances for the
week.
That week is over and now traders and investors will turn
their attention to earnings reports with deluge of third-quarter
earnings updates commencing this week. Despite strong performance
for equities during the quarter, earnings for that period are
forecast to fall 2.4 percent from the year-earlier period,
according to Reuters.
Earnings season kicks off in earnest on Tuesday when Dow
component Alcoa (NYSE:
AA
) reports. However, the aluminum giant will not be the only
recognizable name stepping into the earnings confessional this
week and with that, here are this week's ETFs to watch.
Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (NYSE:
FAZ
)
Financials have been living the high life of late. The Financial
Select Sector SPDR (NYSE:
XLF
) has jumped almost four percent in the past month, but the
ebullience surrounding the sector could and should be tested this
week do to earnings season.
J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:
JPM
) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:
WFC
) both report on Friday and those marquee should set the stage
for investors can expect out of the major money center banks as
earnings reports trickle in. Keep an eye on how the Direxion
Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares is acting mid-week. That could be
a sign regarding what traders are expecting out of bank earnings.
If FAZ is perking up, that might not be good news for the rest of
the market.
United States Gasoline Fund (NYSE:
UGA
)
California's rapidly rising gas prices set a record high on
Saturday and the trick was repeated again on Sunday. Much of this
has to do with the fact that California requires a special blend
of gasoline designed to reduce emissions. The state has been
criticized for that and not for investing more in energy
production.
However, those that are hasty to critique California should
realize nowhere in the U.S. has a new refinery been built for
close to four decades. Any populous state afflicted with a gas
shortage could drive UGA higher. For now, it is California. Do
not doubt the potential for more upside here because UGA is still
about $5 below its all time high.
iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:
SLV
)
In the past three months, the iShares Silver Trust has jumped
more than 27 percent. That is the good news. The bad news is that
October is traditionally unkind to silver. SLV has lost just a
tenth of a percent to start the month, but there is plenty of
time to see if the ETF bucks or falls in line with silver's
seasonal tendencies.
Any slack economic reports could hasten silver's decline given
the metal's intimate ties to industrial demand. It might be
getting time to take a look at the ProShares UltraShort Silver
(NYSE:
ZSL
), which seems to have found a bottom at $40.
For more on ETFs, click
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.
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