Get out the brooms. Call it a sweep. Not just a full five-day workweek of "up" days for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, but a seven-session winning streak for both. 

Remember those quants at JP Morgan that said the Japanese yen carry trade was just about up? Guess they called it. Wow. It was a week of some better macro than we have seen of late, but overall, the macro was still kind of on the weak side. Even the July Retail Sales print on Thursday, which was probably the strongest report of the week, was a beat of low quality.

It appears that the powers that be have decided to set themselves up for a coordinated monetary easing cycle here as the majority of planet earth's central bankers have decided to work together. It also appears that, while threats still exist, the ever-present geopolitical risk is being downplayed.

The U.S. Dollar Index was on the weak side on Friday. This helped put a bid under Gold, and Silver but not Bitcoin or WTI Crude. Treasuries were on the strong side today. The U.S. 10-Year Note closed at a yield of 3.88%.

Turning to equities, the Russell 2000, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite all closed up between 0.2% and 0.3%. Eight of the 11 S&P sector SPDR ETFs closed in the green today. The Financials XLF led to the upside, but only at +0.69%. The Industrials came in last place Friday, but only gave up 0.13%. It felt a little like traders were tired today.

On a personal note, not just for me, but for many of us, it does seem that Palantir Technologies PLTR has finally gotten past the $30 pivot created by its cup-with-handle pattern. Rocket Lab USA RKLB was up almost 13% on Friday after gaining almost 6% on Thursday as that name continues to break out of what was a falling wedge pattern.

Well, that's the week, gang. Have a nice weekend, stay safe, and God bless. Chris Versace is here on Monday and then I'll return on Tuesday. After that, Dougie is back. Carry on, kids.

S&P 500: -1.1 BLN 

NASDAQ 100: +400 MLN 

DOW 30: -400 MLN 

MAGNIFICENT 7: +45 MLN

Something to chew on.

Baseball Trivia Answer:

"Jesus is Here" got the correct answer relatively quickly. On September 25, 1977, Reggie Cleveland of the Boston Red Sox went 9 innings, struck out 1 and gave up 18 hits to pick up the win against the Detroit Tigers.

Cleveland went 11-8 with 2 saves and a 4.26 ERA that year, starting 27 games and appearing as a reliever in 9 others.

On April 29, 1952, Hall of Famer Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians pitched a complete game 18 hitter, picking up the win against the Philadelphia A's. 

This ridiculous accomplishment has actually been accomplished one time since.... on September 25, 1977. That day, this pitcher went 9 innings, struck out 1 and gave up 18 hits to pick up the win against Detroit (hint: AL pitcher). I can't find his pitch count. 

Does anyone remember who this is?

Sarge's favorite defense contractor is finally starting to consolidate after a perfect breakout from the ascending triangle pattern that we had discussed at that time. This is at least partly in response to the negative press coverage lately involving the United Launch Alliance, which is a collaborative effort between Lockheed and beleaguered aerospace giant Boeing BA. 

Basically, Boeing is weighing Lockheed down at this point as SpaceX has become the launch service of choice, capturing a rough 40% of Pentagon contracts in recent years. Rocket Lab USA RKLB has gained a significant niche in the small launch category, while Blue Origin, of Jeff Bezos fame, plans to compete once its New Glenn rocket is certified.

In short, it's probably okay to take some profits in LMT at this point. Overbought RSI. Daily MACD about to give. I will, however, remain long the name, but at a reduced exposure for now. 

Intel INTC had its credit rating lowered to BBB+ from A- by S&P Global Ratings in another hit to the semiconductor company, as its stock is down nearly 60% year to date.

S&P expects Intel's revenue will be lower over the next two to three years than previously forecast... "as the customer spending environment and competitive dynamics in its core business segments continue to be challenged."

The Atlanta Fed has revised their Q3 GDPNow model down to growth of 2.0% (q/q, SAAR) from 2.4% in response to this morning's disappointing report on July Housing Starts. 

The model will not likely be revised for another week and a half. 

Evercore ISI placed Palo Alto Networks PANW on its list of "tactical underperform" ideas ahead of the cybersecurity provider's earnings report Monday night. 

I remain out of that name and long CrowdStrike CRWD (rebuilding that position) and SentinelOne S. Those two report on August 28 and August 27, respectively. The CrowdStrike earnings call could be a freak show.

Long Live The King...

For July, the Census Bureau reported some ugly numbers for Housing Starts and Building Permits. Housing Starts for July printed at 1.24 million SAAR, which makes July 2024 the weakest single month for U.S. Housing Starts since May 2020 when half of the nation was still in lockdown. In addition, June was revised down from 1.35 million down to 1.33 million SAAR.

July Building Permits printed at 1.4 million SAAR, the weakest number for permits since two months ago. Starts are a number that does impact GDP to a fairly significant degree. The Atlanta Fed will have to revise their GDPNow model for the third quarter later this morning.

SAAR: Seasonally adjusted, annualized rate.

In early Friday morning news, Texas Instruments TXN has announced it has signed a tentative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce to receive as much as $1.6 billion in direct funding to support three 300mm wafer fabs currently under construction in the states of Texas and Utah. This agreement is non-binding, for now, and would be funds allocated through the U.S. Chips and Science Act. 

The company also expects to receive between $6 billion and $8 billion from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Investment Tax Credits for qualified U.S. investments. Texas Instruments expects to invest more than $18 billion on increasing its manufacturing capacity through 2029. 

That's a lot of dough, and that's one way to put an abrupt end to a double-top bearish reversal. New ballgame. 

S&P Futures: -7 vs FV.

Nasdaq Futures: -6 vs. FV

US Ten Year Note: 3.87%

US Two Year Note: 4.05%

US Three Month T-Bill: 5.23%

US Dollar Index: 102.75, -0.22%.

WTI Crude: $75.72, -3.1%.

Gold: $2,503.80, +0.5%.

Silver: $25.11, -1.1%

Bitcoin: $58,373, +2.3%. 

Some readers will recognize Rocket Lab USA RKLB as one that goes back to the Stocks Under $10 portfolio. Others might recognize it from a piece I wrote last week raising my target price from $7.25 to $7.50, as I am long this name. 

RKLB is currently a top 15 holding of mine. On Thursday (yesterday), the stock ran 65 cents (+12.66%). This morning, I see the shares trading up another 27 cents or +4.8%. I did not see any news yesterday, but on Wednesday, Citigroup C upped their target price from $5.45 to $7, while reiterating their "buy" rating, and on Monday, MarketWatch ran a column suggesting that Rocket Lab is emerging as a leader in small rocket launches and could ultimately compete with SpaceX.

Readers should be aware that on Thursday, trading volumes for the October $8 calls were many, many times open interest. What the significance of that strike price and that expiration date might be, I do not know yet. 

Technically, we do have a breakout from a falling wedge pattern, which is a pattern of bullish reversal. Both the RSI and daily MACD are significantly improved from where they were a month ago. 

Price Target : $7.50

Pivot: $5.85 (recent high)

Add: Down to the 50-day SMA

Panic: Loss of the 200-day SMA 

Jason's performance on the Diary Thursday will be a tough act to follow but follow him I must. Let's get it right for another wild day of mayhem and hopefully some fun. 

Do what you have to do. Brush your fangs. Down another cup of Joe. Drop and give me what you've got. I don't care if it's 25, 50 or 100. I don't care if it's something other than push-ups. Be true to yourself and be true to the effort. That's right. Get some.

We're coming off of a pretty strong rally on Thursday, where the whole "Goldilocks" or soft-landing hopes and dreams were reborn on the back of a strong report for July Retail Sales, some comments made by St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem, and the improved full-year guidance issued by Walmart WMT.

Can this rally continue? What have markets decided to "price in" that was out of the question a week and a half ago? Obviously, things are somehow, more okay or better than they were that recently. I realized last night when I was doing my homework that my portfolios are back at record highs. That's usually the kiss of death, so maybe we all should wear our helmets just in case.

That said, it's Friday. It is I, Sarge, and I will be your tour guide for the next ten or twelve hours. They can't hurt us now. Can they?