Yesterday, gold popped in anticipation of possible easing action from the Fed. Stocks also crept higher. This morning, comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi to do "whatever it takes" to protect the euro zone sparked a broad-based rally in global markets. Energy and financial sectors led the way: GS +2.19%, V +3.74% (better-than-expected earnings reported yesterday); MA +2.77%; IOC +12.26%; NOV +8.88% (breakout on earnings); OXY +4.55%; SLB +4.48% (breakout). We picked up Aug 70 calls this morning on NOV and already locked in an intraday profit of +60%:
Last night, there were some very good earnings reports. TSCO popped +17.14% with a strong quarter and a bullish outlook. WFM jumped +11.32%, also with a healthy quarter and strong guidance. AKAM beat its earnings estimates and gave a bullish forecast, sending its shares up +24%. WDC vaulted nearly +21% after reporting delivering a blow-out quarter; the news also sent STX up +14.25%. SNDK, which also reported strong results last week, added another +4.47%.
After the market, FB reported a drastic slowdown in revenue and its shares tumbled more than 10%, trading at the lowest level since its recent IPO. This came after last night’s dismal report from ZNGA, which was down 37.5% today. YELP lost 8.47% (YELP reports on 8/1, next Wednesday, after market). LNKD was down just 1.34% today.
SBUX fell 10% after cutting its forecast and missing earnings estimates. EXPE shares traded +14.46% higher after reporting better-than-expected results.
The Dow was up +211.88 points; SPX added +22.13 points; Nasdaq gained +39.01 points:
OIH (oil services) jumped +4.4%. Both GLD (gold) and SLV (silver) were up; GDX (gold miners) added +2.07%. XLE (energy) gained +2.85%. SOXX (semiconductors) climbed +2.29%.
SPX
SPX added +22.13 points to close at 1360.02. It closed above its daily MAs and the MACD turned up slightly.
Nasdaq
Nasdaq gained +39.01 points to close at 2893.25, just below its daily MAs. The MACD slid.
Techs are still on the weak side, with Nasdaq closing below its daily MAs. AAPL did not help at all, trading flat today, and the social network stocks were all on the weak side. Tomorrow, we’ll get the latest GDP report. It’ll need to be surprisingly good to push this market higher, after today’s big rise. Energy stocks have been relatively weak so far this year and are mostly still down for the year. If the reaction is positive on the GDP report, we could see both energy and financial sectors to continue to lead this rally.
Good night and HappyTrading! ™ 
