Stock Market Summary - Week Ending February 22, 2019

Continued optimism about trade talks with China along with indications that the Fed is committed to holding interest rates steady helped to boost stocks for the fourth consecutive week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) gained 148.59 points or 0.57% to close the week at 20,031.84 while the S&P 500 (SPX) added 17.07 points or 0.62% to finish at 2,792.67. The Russell 2000 (RUT) increased 1.33% by adding 20.81 points to close Friday at 1,590.06, and the NASDAQ (COMP) surged 55.13 points for a 0.74% gain to close at 7,527.54. The S&P 100 (OEX) added 7.10 points or 0.58% to close at 1,225.06 and the VIX dropped -9.39% to 13.51 reflecting a continued calming of market jitters. 

Corporate Gainers 

Zillow Group Inc (ZG) soared 18.36% to $43.71 after reporting 4th quarter 2018 results on Friday that soundly beat estimates and surprised investors who were expecting a decline. The gain on Friday alone was nearly 25%. 

Copart Inc (CPRT) surged 7.88% to $58.29 with a gain of nearly 6% on Thursday in high-volume trading after the company reported solid gains in its 2nd quarter fiscal 2019 earnings, surpassing estimates. 

Dooper Companies Inc (COO) had a boost of 4.84% to $292.59 per share after investor sentiment approved the expected earnings-per-share at $2.50. 

Corporate Sliders 

Concho Resources Inc (CXO) tumbled -13.77% to $106.04 per share in response to disappointing results for its 4th quarter. Both top and bottom-line results missed projections as output for the oil and gas producer, as well as prices, fell below targets. 

Campbell Soup Co (CPB) fell -5.63% to $32.83, falling -7.39% on Friday alone after Kraft Heinz reported a significant write-down on some of its brands' value along with higher-than-anticipated costs for the 4th quarter. 

Conagra Brands Inc (CRG) dropped -4.57% to $23.38. The food giant has been the subject of a securities fraud class action lawsuit filed by Saxena White, P.A. 

Economic Indicators of Note 

The FOMC meeting for January was significant in that guidance shifted to neutral from the former stance of further interest rate hikes. 

Durable Goods Orders for December 2018 rose 1.2% within the consensus range, but it is noteworthy that new orders for core capital goods slid -0.7% unexpectedly. 

Initial Jobless Claims for the February 16 week 23,000 to 216,000. Continuing claims in lagging data for the February 9 week fell by 55,000 to 1,725 million. 

The Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey for February is showing contraction at -4.1 for the first time since May 2016. 

Existing Home Sales for January fell -1.2% to an annualized rate of 4.940 million. 

Crude oil supplies for the February 15 week increased by 3.7 million barrels to 454.5 million while gasoline supplies fell by 1.5 million barrels to 256.8 million. Supplies of distillates dropped by 1.5 million barrels to 138.7 million. 

Upcoming Economic Events 
Market Movers: 
Housing Starts-Tuesday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
Jerome Powell Speaks-Tuesday @ 10:00 a.m. ET 
International Trade in Goods-Wednesday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
Jerome Powell Speaks-Wednesday @ 10:00 a.m. ET 
EIA Petroleum Status Report-Wednesday @ 10:30 a.m. ET 
GDP-Thursday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
Jobless Claims-Thuresday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
Personal Income & Outlays-Friday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
ISM Mfg Index-Friday @ 10:00 a.m. ET 

Events Worth Noting 
S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller HPI-Tuesday @ 9:00 a.m. ET 
Consumer Confidence-Tuesday @ 10:00 a.m. ET 
Factory Orders-Wednesday @ 8:30 a.m. ET 
Pending Home Sales Index-Wednesay @ 10:00 a.m. ET 
Chicago PMI-Thursday @ 9:45 a.m. ET 
EIA Natural Gas Report-Thursday @ 10:30 a.m. ET 
Fed Balance Sheet-Thursday @ 4:30 p.m. ET 
PMI Mfg Index-Friday @ 9:45 a.m. ET 
Consumer Sentiment-Friday @ 10:00 a.m. ET 

Index Trading Levels For Week Ending 2/22/2019 
DJIA 26031.84 (Dow Jones) 
SPX 2792.67 (S&P 500) 
RUT 1590.06 (Russell 2000) 
COMP 7527.54 (Nasdaq) 
OEX 1225.06 (S&P 100) 
VIX 13.51 (CBOE)