Wake Up Wall Street (SPX) (QQQ) (NDX): Someone needs to wake up as equity markets slumber

Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, May 18:

Equity markets slumber as earnings season peters out and economic data is thin on the ground. Meme stocks take advantage and rally back into consciousness. AMC in particular surges for the seventh consecutive day and smashes some big resistance levels on the way. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Commodity Channel Index (CCI) indicators now show oversold levels though due to the speed of the move.

Bitcoin continues to spook retail investors as regulators struggle to come to grips with a new asset class. Bitcoin struggles to hold $45,000, and the asset may see some exit for meme stocks. 

Retail stores are also in the news with strong earnings from Home Depot (HD), Macy's (M) and Walmart (WMT). All three beat estimates (who fails these days?) and rallied in the premarket. Adding further fuel to the strong expected economic rebound.

The dollar remains in depreciation mode and drops below 1.22 versus the euro for the first time since February. A drop in yields hits the dollar with the 10-year at 1.63% now. Oil remains strong with Brent breaking $70 as Europe's vaccination drive increases pace. 

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European markets remain flat with Dax, FTSE and EuroStoxx all barely in the green.

US futures are all boosted by the trio of earnings from Macy's Walmart and Home Depot. The Dow is +0.2%, S&P +0.2% and the Nasdaq is +0.5%.

See Nasdaq and S&P technical analysis

Wall Street top news

Indian covid variant to be dominant in the UK in a matter of days, according to scientists.

Walmart (WMT) reports strong earnings, shares up in premarket by 4%.

Macy's (M) also reports earnings ahead of estimates, shares up 4% premarket.

Home Depot (HD) shares up 2% premarket as earnings beat expectations.

AMZN is in talks to acquire MGM film studio for $9 billion.

AT&T (T) shares drop 6% premarket after rallying on Monday following the Warner Media/DISCA deal.

TSLA: Michael Bury takes another big short, disclosing a large put option position.

Fisker (FSR) lost less than analysts had forecast, shares down in premarket.

Toyota (TM) hits record high in Japanese trading, CNBC reports it broke previous high from 2015.

Baidu (BIDU) shares are up 4% premarket as Q1 numbers beat estimates.

Sea (SE) reports worse than expected Q1 numbers, shares down 4% premarket.

Twilio (TWLO) up 1% in premarket after announcement to buy Zipwhip for about $850 million.

Earnings after the close: Trip.com (TCOM) and Take-Two (TTWO).

Ups and downs

One Stop Systems	OSS	Noble Capital Markets	Upgrades
Ncino	NCNO	Gabelli & Co.	Upgrades
Haemonetics	HAE	CJS Securities	Upgrades
Bilibili	BILI	86 Research	Upgrades
Globant	GLOB	Citigroup	Upgrades
Lufax Holding	LU	JP Morgan	Upgrades
Mogo	MOGO	Canaccord Genuity	Upgrades
Tuya	TUYA	B of A Securities	Upgrades
Spirit Airlines	SAVE	Wolfe Research	Upgrades
DoorDash	DASH	Wells Fargo	Upgrades
Adtran	ADTN	Argus Research	Upgrades
Central Garden & Pet	CENT	Argus Research	Upgrades
GrowGeneration	GRWG	Alliance Global Partners	Upgrades
Unity Software	U	Oppenheimer	Upgrades
Aurora Cannabis	ACB	BMO Capital	Upgrades
BancorpSouth Bank	BXS	Raymond James	Upgrades
DoorDash	DASH	Truist Securities	Upgrades
Airbnb	ABNB	Wells Fargo	Upgrades
GrowGeneration	GRWG	Ladenburg Thalmann	Upgrades
Host Hotels & Resorts	HST	Evercore ISI Group	Upgrades
Granite Point Mortgage	GPMT	Credit Suisse	Upgrades
Amerant Bancorp	AMTB	Raymond James	Upgrades
Snowflake	SNOW	Goldman Sachs	Upgrades
AMC Networks	AMCX	Goldman Sachs	Upgrades
CubeSmart	CUBE	BMO Capital	Upgrades
Churchill Downs	CHDN	Jefferies	Upgrades
Cadence Bancorp	CADE	Raymond James	Upgrades
Vertex Energy	VTNR	Stifel	Upgrades
GrowGeneration	GRWG	Roth Capital	Upgrades
Aurora Cannabis	ACB	Canaccord Genuity	Downgrades
BioLife Solutions	BLFS	Benchmark	Downgrades
Extra Space Storage	EXR	BMO Capital	Downgrades
Ternium	TX	Scotiabank	Downgrades
Lumentum Holdings	LITE	JP Morgan	Downgrades
Loop Energy	LPEN	CIBC	Downgrades

Source: Benzinga

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