Torrent Trading Observations

• US JULY CORE PCE PRICE INDEX RISES 0.2% M/M; EST. +0.2%

• Volatile month with expiration Friday, will be a busy morning then subsiding with the holiday weekend.

• Focus focus on better tech earnings takeaways, particularly surrounding AI.

• 5 biggest gainers over the last 30 days – FTNT, SBUX, ADYYF, MELI, SHOP

• 5 biggest losers – MRNA, INTC, DG, LRCX, COIN

• OpenAI – MSFT, AAPL NVDA all want to invest, $100B valuation on this round

• 5670 resistance, 5585/5560 support....   

Futures

DOW +53

S&P +19

Nasdaq +144

10-Year Yield

Oil

BITCOIN

Consumer/Financial Healthcare

ULTA – Down 6% - JPM remains overweight saying this is the first step needed to revise the downward momentum as they exceeded all the bear case scenarios. $23 in EPS 20x multiple would be $460 vs $345 last, so the market still doesn’t think this one is priced in all the way. Given their generally good margins and Warren Buffet with a position, it seems likely fear subsides.

LULU – Up 4% on better than feared Q. $14 in EPS x 20 P/E would be $280 vs $268 last, so this one seems to have found its way into “ok retail name” territory. Street viewing guidance as conservative. 

ANF shares rise 2.8% in premarket trading after the apparel retailer was upgraded to buy from neutral at Citi, which sees several reasons as to why the investment story for the stock remains attractive.

SOFI – Up another 2% today after 7% yesterday. The Supreme Court keeps throwing out the Biden student loan giveaway vote buying plans, which SOFI has positive exposure to.

 European Banks - Set to return $56B in dividends to shareholders, the largest ever return

Technology

MRVL beata and guided above, highlighting strong demand from AI and ramp in custom AI programs.

DELL - reported better-than-expected revenue due to an increase in the sales of its servers to handle artificial intelligence workloads.

ADSK - raised its full-year earnings outlook following pressure on the software maker from activist investor Starboard Value LP.

INTC - is working with investment bankers to help navigate the most difficult period in its 56-year history.

• The company is discussing various scenarios, including a split of its product-design and manufacturing businesses, as well as which factory projects might potentially be scrapped, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

AMZN - version of Alexa will be primarily powered by Anthropic’s artificial intelligence models rather than its own