Quotes as of 08/15/2019 11:22PM PST according to Investing.com. Quotes should not be taken as real time.

Amid a mixed day of trading Thursday, we ended up closing slightly green. As posted on yesterday’s market briefing, we experienced a dip retesting support and currently futures are showing a continuation of the uptrend in both Global and Domestic markets alike.

Nvidia reported earnings today for Q2 2019 after the bell. The following is directly from Nvidia’s press release and reads:

“NVIDIA today reported revenue for the second quarter ended July 28, 2019, of $2.58 billion compared with $3.12 billion a year earlier and $2.22 billion in the previous quarter.”

“GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $0.90, compared with $1.76 a year ago and $0.64 in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $1.24 compared with $1.94 a year earlier and $0.88 in the previous quarter.”

“We achieved sequential growth across our platforms,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Real-time ray tracing is the most important graphics innovation in a decade. Adoption has reached a tipping point, with NVIDIA RTX leading the way.

“NVIDIA accelerated computing momentum continues to build as the industry races to enable the next frontier in artificial intelligence, conversational AI, as well as autonomous systems like self-driving vehicles and delivery robots,” he said.

NVIDIA will pay its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.16 per share on September 20, 2019, to all shareholders of record on August 29, 2019. The first priority for the company’s cash balance is the purchase of Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. The company will return to repurchasing its stock after the close of the Mellanox acquisition. The regulatory approval process for this acquisition is progressing as expected, and NVIDIA continues to work toward closing the deal by the end of this calendar year.

NVIDIA’s outlook for the third quarter of fiscal 2020 is as follows:

• Revenue is expected to be $2.90 billion, plus or minus 2 percent.
   
• GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be 62.0 percent and 62.5 percent, respectively, plus or minus 50 basis points.
   
• GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $980 million and $765 million, respectively.
   
• GAAP and non-GAAP other income and expense are both expected to be income of approximately $25 million.
   
• GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates are both expected to be 10 percent, plus or minus 1 percent, excluding any discrete items. GAAP discrete items include excess tax benefits or deficiencies related to stock-based compensation, which are expected to generate variability on a quarter by quarter basis.

President Trump tweeted today about Walmart $WMT stating how he uses this as a staple to the American consumer market… An insult? Probably more of a reality check! $WMT has risen 3.9% this week and is up 21% YTD.

The following is directly from the Q2 2019 ER PR:

Walmart U.S. Q2 comp sales grew 2.8% and Walmart U.S. eCommerce sales grew 37%, Company reports Q2 FY20 GAAP EPS of $1.26; Adjusted EPS of $1.27, led by strength at Walmart U.S., Walmart raises expectations for fiscal 2020 U.S. comp sales, operating income and EPS.

• Total revenue was $130.4 billion, an increase of $2.3 billion, or 1.8%. Excluding currency, total revenue was $131.7 billion, an increase of $3.7 billion, or 2.9%.
• Walmart U.S. comp sales increased on a two-year stacked
  basis by 7.3%, which is the strongest growth in more than 10
  years. Segment operating income increased 4%, marking the
  fifth consecutive quarter of growth.
• Walmart U.S. eCommerce sales growth of 37% includes
  strong growth in online grocery.
• Sam’s Club comp sales increased 1.2%, and eCommerce
  sales grew 35%. Reduced tobacco sales negatively affected
  comp sales by 300 basis points.
• Net sales at Walmart International were $29.1 billion, a
  decrease of 1.1%. Excluding currency, net sales were $30.4
  billion, an increase of 3.3%. Strength in Walmex and China
  were offset by softness in the U.K. and Canada.
• Operating income declined 2.9%, or 2.4% in constant currency, which was better than planned with strong results in the U.S. businesses. As expected, the inclusion of Flipkart this quarter negatively affected profit
  results.
• Adjusted EPS excludes an unrealized loss, net of tax, of $0.01 on the company’s equity investment in JD.com
  for the second quarter of FY20.
• FY20 adjusted EPS is now expected to range between a slight decrease and a slight increase compared with FY19 adjusted EPS.
• Walmart U.S. surpassed 1,100 grocery delivery locations and has more than 2,700 pickup locations.
• The company’s NextDay delivery service from Walmart.com now covers about 75% of the U.S. population.

Walmart expects YTD FY20 consolidated net sales growth to grow around 3% in constant currency.

FUTURES REPORT

Currently the Dow 30 futures have risen 151 points or +0.59%.

The S&P 500 futures up 17.88 points or +0.65%

NASDAQ futures are up 63.37 points or +0.65%

S&P 500 VIX has fallen 0.70 points or -3.28%

The China A50 futures have risen 96 points or +0.74%

The Nifty 50 futures are currently up 20 points or +0.29%

China H-shares futures have risen 86 points or +0.87%

The Hang Seng futures have risen 251 points or +0.98%

Europe futures on the Euro Stoxx 40 are up 22 points at +0.67%

Nikkei 225 futures are up 28 points or +0.14%

TOPIX futures are up 4.5 points or +0.30%.

CAC 40 futures are up 30 points or 0.60%

Though we’ve fallen out of the channel we still maintain a critical level above 280, this level can be seen as a level of support that previously has been hard to break through. It’s important to note the spike in selling volume and should be taken with caution. If 280 breaks, I believe we could see a larger sell off like we’ve experienced in December 2017 into January 2018.

The market also is currently reflecting 25% chance that a larger than 50bp rate cut is likely for next month. A 1/4 point rate cut is presumed for this September 18th.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice, I am not a financial adviser. I hold no positions in the S&P nor volatility index. This is my opinion.