Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Stocks Rising into Final Hour on Mideast War Resolution Hopes, Lower Long-Term Rates, Earnings Outlook Optimism, Tech/Transport Sector Strength

Economic/Market Gauges:

  • North American Investment Grade CDS Index 51.9 -.8%
  • BofA Private Credit Proxy Index 71.8 +1.2% 
  • Bloomberg US Securitized MBS/ABS/CMBS Avg. OAS .25 -3.0 basis points
  • BofA Global Financial Stress Indicator -.22 -8.0 basis points
  • European Financial Sector CDS Index 56.6 -1.9%
  • Emerging Market CDS Index 156.5 -.6%
  • Israel Sovereign CDS 57.7 -3.3% 
  • Bloomberg Global Trade Policy Uncertainty Index .7 +.1
  • US Morning Consult Daily Consume Sentiment Index 87.2 +.1
  • Citi US Economic Surprise Index 43.7 -4.3
  • Citi Eurozone Economic Surprise Index -73.7 +8.7
  • Citi Emerging Markets Economic Surprise Index 33.8 -.6
  • S&P 500 Current Quarter EPS Growth Rate YoY(473 of 500 reporting) +27.5% unch.
  • S&P 500 Blended Forward 12 Months Mean EPS Estimate 358.83 +2.40:  Growth Rate +22.3% +.8 percentage point, P/E 20.9 +.1
  • S&P 500 Current Year Estimated Profit Margin 15.44% +4.0 basis points
  • NYSE FANG+ Current Quarter EPS Growth Rate YoY(9 of 10 reporting) +67.2% unch.
  • NYSE FANG+ Blended Forward 12 Months Mean EPS Estimate 877.0 +6.99: Growth Rate +121.5% +1.8 percentage points, P/E 20.1 +.3 
  • Bloomberg US Financial Conditions Index 1.02 +3.0 basis points
  • US Yield Curve 44.5 basis points (2s/10s) -4.5 basis points
  • Bloomberg Industrial Metal Index 185.68 +.3%
  • Dutch TTF Nat Gas(European benchmark) 46.9 euros/megawatt-hour +3.2%
  • US Recession Within 6 Months Probability(3M/18M Forward Yld Curve Spread) 12.8% +1.4 percentage points
  • US Atlanta Fed GDPNow Q2 Forecast +4.3% unch.
  • US 10-Year T-Note Yield 4.49% -6.0 basis points
  • 1-Year TIPS Spread 2.65 -7.0 basis points
  • Highest target rate probability for July 29th FOMC meeting: 88.6% (+7.0 percentage points) chance of 3.5%-3.75%. Highest target rate probability for Sept. 16th meeting: 72.0%(+11.7 percentage points) chance of 3.5%-3.75%. (current target rate is 3.5-3.75%)
Overseas Futures:
  • Nikkei 225 Futures: Indicating +570 open in Japan 
  • China A50 Futures: Indicating -119 open in China
  • DAX Futures: Indicating +80 open in Germany
Portfolio:
  • Higher: On gains in my biotech/consumer discretionary/industrial/tech sector longs
  • Disclosed Trades: Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
  • Market Exposure: Moved to 100% Net Long

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

  • Large-Cap Growth +.4%
Sector Underperformers:
  • 1) Energy -2.3% 2) Healthcare Providers -1.5% 3) Computer Services -1.5%
Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume: 
  • MDLN, LGP, MNSO, BP, AAP, MXL, INTU, RACE, MRAM, TSCO, QUBT, RGTI, QUBT, GKOS, KC, GENB, AZO and DXYZ
Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:
  • 1) EWJ 2) ANF 3) BHC 4) WEN 5) ROST
Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:
  • 1) TSEOF 2) POET 3) NUAI 4) RACE 5) RGC
Sector ETFs With Most Negative Money Flow:
  • 1) SMH 2) IYM 3) IBB 4) KWEB 5) PWRD

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:
  • Small-Cap Growth +1.9%
Sector Outperformers:
  • 1) Coal +6.2% 2) Semis +5.2% 3) AI Innovation +4.6%
Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:
  • ATOM, TE, RDW, VICR, FLY, FUTU, MU, XNDU, JOYY, YSS, MOD, POWI, OUST, ASTS, SPIR, ACMR, UMC, DUOT, LUNR, GILT, FSIT, AMRC, AOSL, BRUN, NNE, USAR, SSYS, AMKR, NVAX, ASX, GRPN, AMWD, CCOI, PSIX, VSAT, IE, QUIK, HLIT, WULF, NVTS, ON, AMR, PCT, CECO, VPG, MOG/A, PRIM, VIAV, OPTX, ELVA, CLSK, CIB, QFIN, CLFD, VELO, ALOY, SMR, DIOD, MP, AMBA, PRCH, OKLO, XPEV, APH, ASYS, SRRK, VSH, FORM, UPST, LUMN, SMCI, NOK, TKR, TEO, AEVA, TATT, NTES, ENPH, WYFI, MTSI, MRVL, AAL, ROG, ICHR, BKSY, BMA, GFS, TX, VST, BRZE, STM, MDA, STRO, AYA, ELE, NN, IRDM, WOLF, GGAL, UMAC, TTMI, ZS, CORZ, BIRK, ONTO, SIMO, RCL, COHU, SIRI, FSLR, SNOW, VOYG, ST, HIMX, SATL, ARM, DELL, QCOM, AIP and AMBQ
Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:
  • 1) CRBP 2) VIXY 3) NASA 4) CPRI 5) COLO 
Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:
  • 1) RDW 2) MU 3) VICR 4) FLY 5) MEDH 
Sector ETFs With Most Positive Money Flow:
  • 1) IXN 2) IGV 3) DRAM 4) IYH 5) BAI
Charts: 

Tomorrow's Earnings/Economic Releases of Note; Market Movers

Earnings of Note 
Company/Estimate 

Before the Open:
  • (ANF)/1.28
  • (BMO)/2.52
  • (BBWI)/.29
  • (DKS)/2.89
  • (DY)/2.72
  • (PDD)/16.56 
  • (BBY)/1.22 
After the Close: 
  • (A)/1.41
  • (AMSC)/.18
  • (HEI)/1.33
  • (HPQ)/.71
  • (MRVL)/.80
  • (NTNX)/.36
  • (CRM)/3.13
  • (SNOW)/.32
  • (SNPS)/3.15 
Economic Releases 

8:15 am EST

  • ADP Weekly Employment Change.  

10:00 am EST

  • The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for May is estimated to rise to 4.0 versus 3.0 in April. 

10:30 am EST

  • Dallas Fed Services Activity Index for May. 

Upcoming Splits

  • None of note
Other Potential Market Movers
  • The Fed's Goolsbee speaking, Fed's Logan speaking, Fed's Cook speaking, Fed's Jefferson speaking, 5Y T-Note auction, weekly US retail sales reports, weekly MBA Mortgage Applications report, weekly API crude oil stock report, TD Cowen Tech/Media/Telecom Conference, KeyBanc Indusrtrials/Basic Materials Conference, Jefferies Software/Internet/AI Conference, Stifel Jaws/Paws Conference, (TTMI) investor day, (RJF) investor day, (ADT) annual meeting, (CVX) annual meeting, (XOM) annual meeting, (META) annual meeting and the Craig Hallum Investor Conference could also impact global trading tomorrow.
US Equity Market Hours
  • 9:30 am - 4:00 pm EST

Mid-Day Market Internals

NYSE Composite Index:

  • Volume Running +12.1% Above 100-Day Average 
  • Nasdaq/NYSE Volume Ratio 14.8 +.2
  • 6 Sectors Rising, 5 Sectors Declining
  • 64.2% of Issues Advancing, 33.7% Declining 
  • TRIN/Arms 1.24 +12.7%
  • Non-Block Money Flow +$51.9M
  • 140 New 52-Week Highs, 22 New Lows
  • 54.6% (+2.7%) of Issues Above 200-day Moving Average
  • Average 14-Day RSI 56.0 +3.5
Polymarket: 
  • Will China invade Taiwan by end of 2026? 7.0% unch.
  • Trump announces US blockade of Hormuz lifted by June 30th 67.0% +2.0 percentage points
  • US x Iran permanent peace deal by June 30th 54.0% +10.0 percentage points 
  • US announces new Iran agreement/ceasefire extension by June 30th 75.0% +1.0 percentage point
  • US Invades Iran before 2027 19.0% -6.0 percentage points
Other:
  • Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk-Off Index 124.2 +.2%
  • Global Monitor Iran Instability Index 100.0 +15.0
  • Strait of Hormuz Oil Tanker Traffic Curtailed Estimate 97.0% unch.
  • US High-Yield Tech Sector OAS Index 440.5 -.5 basis point
  • Bloomberg Cyclicals/Defensives Index 257.9 +.5%
  • Morgan Stanley Growth vs Value Index 156.2 +2.0%
  • CNN Fear & Greed Index 60.0 (GREED) +2.0
  • 1-Day Vix 10.3 -40.8%
  • Vix 17.1 +3.3%
  • Total Put/Call .81 -33.0%

Monday, May 25, 2026

Tuesday Watch

Around X:

  • @Business   
  • @Zerohedge 
  • @CNBC 
  • @MarioNawful
  • @KobeissiLetter
  • @annvandersteel
  • @Rasmussen_Poll
  • Tulsi's Parting Gifts. "every digital voting machine in the United States contains some Chinese manufactured electronics or code." Page 248: "Earlier this year (2025) a very brave member of the US DOJ seized all voting machines in a certain jurisdiction in the United States and turned them over to experts in the intelligence community for a close forensic inspection of the machines for foreign-made parts and software. As a result of his actions and other findings, the ODNI produced this recent assessment
  • 4 HIDDEN GOP MIDTERM ASSETS. "If the elections for Congress were held today, would you vote for the Democratic candidate or for the Republican candidate?" Our latest so-called 'Generic Ballot' poll results are in and will be released tomorrow. But they will almost certainly be non-predictive in November. Our readers know legacy media is feverishly suppressing all kinds of devastating scandals while conjuring others up out of thin of air. The Trump Administration holds the bully pulpit and it has yet to unload in a way that legacy media can't continue their coverup. Public opinion and polls WILL be impacted. Here are 4 examples of hidden GOP assets.  
  • @HealthRanger
  • @jackprandelli
  • @EricLDaugh
  • @TonySeruga
  • @LightOnLiberty
  • @OcrazioCornPop
  • GEORGIA GOP voters are getting screwed again... Brian Kemp just called a Special Session for June 17 to redraw maps...FOR 2028! He's posturing while punting the chance to secure +2 GOP seats for the 2026 midterms. That could literally cost R's the House majority. Sound familiar? Déjà vu to 2020 when Georgia lost 2 Senate seats and Republicans lost the Senate. WHY DO CONSERVATIVES ALLOW THIS IN GEORGIA?
  • @ScottPresler
  • @MAGAMicki
Night Trading
  • Asian indices are -.25% to +.5% on average.
  • Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 72.75 -1.5 basis points.
  • China Sovereign CDS 39.75 -.75 basis point.
  • China Iron Ore Spot 105.5 USD/Metric Tonne -1.1%.
  • Crude Oil 91.90/bbl. -4.9%
  • Gold 4,578.0 USD/t oz. +.5% 
  • Swiss Franc/Offshore Chinese Renminbi Cross 8.66 -.1%. 
  • Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 35.3 -.2%.
  • Bloomberg Global Risk-On/Risk Off Index 124.4 +.3%.
  • US 10-Year Yield 4.50% -5.0 basis points. 
  • Japan 30-Year Yield 3.94% -2.0 basis points. 
  • Volatility Index(VIX) futures 18.9 -3.1%. 
  • Euro Stoxx 50 futures -.23%.
  • S&P 500 futures +.64%.
  • NASDAQ 100 futures +.90%.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by industrial and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 75% Net Long heading into the week.