I just caught my final flight home after a week with my mom, watching my sons’ basketball games.
I’m back at the desk and ready to trade.
Here’s what I’m watching now….
First, we need a clear understanding of the market, before we scan the market for the strongest stocks.
Fair warning… it got a little ugly this week.
The S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) rolled over.
It climbed off the March lows earlier this year and tagged fresh highs around $760 in early June. Since then it’s chopped sideways with a lower boundary of $720.
And it recently slipped below $740 on an overnight gap down.
Three separate headlines cracked the market at the same time this week.
Make sure you’re prepared for what’s to come…
The Earnings That Spooked Big Tech
The Mag 7 earnings season kicked off this week, and the market did not celebrate.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) posted revenue that topped estimates, then the momentum cratered alongside the profits.
Operating income collapsed 57%. Gross margin slipped to 16.8% against the 19.4% Wall Street forecast. Free cash flow turned negative and capital spending jumped 142%.
TSLA stock dropped nearly 7% on the news.
Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) told a different story… with the same ending.
Revenue hit $119.8 billion and Google Cloud grew a scorching 82%.
Every headline number beat.
Then management raised 2026 spending plans to as much as $205 billion, quarterly capex hit $44.9 billion, and free cash flow ran negative for the first time ever.
GOOGL sold off too.
The Probe Hanging Over Amazon
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) picked up a unique problem this week.
The Senate Small Business Committee opened an investigation into whether the company let Chinese influence seep into its marketplace.
Republican staff say they found compelling evidence of negligence, though the committee named no specifics in public.
It allegedly traces back to a bribery network, where brokers sold sellers access to Amazon insiders for favors ranging from $80 to more than $2,000.
Amazon declined to comment on the news.
AMZN stock fell around 4%, before its own earnings hit on July 30.
Regulatory noise rarely breaks a company on its own. But it does scare capital to the sidelines, and that fear shows up on the chart.
The Oil Shock Nobody Wanted
The third strike came from overseas.
Crude topped $100 a barrel for the first time in two months after Iran-backed Houthi militants struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea.
The Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil, stays a flashpoint in the ongoing conflict.
Higher oil feeds straight into inflation fears, and inflation fears press on every rate-sensitive corner of the market.
My Plan To Navigate This Madness
Number one, remember to breathe.
Secondly, we always respond to what the market does. Not to what the headlines scream.
I expected this chop all summer. And it could continue for the next few weeks.
There are fewer clean setups in this kind of market. If you’re trading less, don’t be surprised.
Patient people take money from impatient people. Wait for the setup to come to you.
I’m glad to be back and excited to see you all in the chatroom.
Be good (and be good to others),
Ben Sturgill
*Past performance does not indicate future results. Not typical.
