The Daily Breakdown previews the week ahead, which is shorter due to Presidents’ Day. Earnings will be in focus from Walmart and Alibaba.
Tuesday’s TLDR
- It’s just a 4-day trading week
- AXP looks for possible support
- Meta’s win streak continues
Weekly Outlook
It’s a quiet week on Wall Street — and after some of the Monday mornings investors have woken up to, I’m sure some quiet time is welcomed.
As you have noticed by now, US markets were closed on Monday thanks to Presidents’ Day, so we’re working with a short four-day trading week. While there are some notable economic reports — like PMI and housing data releases — there are no major economic reports this week (like inflation reports, GDP, etc.)
So that mainly leaves earnings.
Baidu will report this morning, while Occidental Petroleum will report on Tuesday evening (this stock has become an interesting focus over the past year or two due to Warren Buffett’s investment via Berkshire Hathaway).
Etsy, Carvana and Toast will report earnings on Wednesday, followed by some heavy-hitters on Thursday, including: Walmart, Alibaba, Rivian, Block (AKA Square), and MercadoLibre.
For those that trade options, remember that Friday is the monthly options expiration date for the February expiration.
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The setup — American Express
American Express stock is up almost 5% so far this year, but the recent action has been interesting. That’s after shares broke out over resistance on January 15th, but have since pulled back to a potential support area.
Notice how AXP is trying to find support near the $305 zone, which was previously resistance in December. It’s also trying to find support near the 50-day moving average, which has buoyed the share price on several previous pullbacks.
If support continues to hold, bulls will look for a further bounce to the upside — possibly back into the $320s. However, if support breaks, bears may look to capitalize on further potential downside momentum.
Options
One downside to AXP is its share price. Because the stock price is so high, the options prices are high too. This can make it difficult for investors to approach these companies with options.
In that case, many traders may opt to just trade a few shares of the common stock — and that’s fine. However, one alternative is spreads.
Call spreads and put spreads allow traders to take options trades with a much lower premium than buying the calls outright. In these cases, the maximum risk is the premium paid.
Options aren’t for everyone — especially in these scenarios — but spreads make them more accessible. For those looking to learn more about options, consider visiting the eToro Academy.
What Wall Street is watching
META – Meta’s win streak continues, with shares now up in 20 consecutive sessions. The stock has gained more than 20% in that stretch and Meta is now up 25.8% so far for the year. Not surprisingly, it’s the best-performing Magnificent 7 holding so far in 2025. Check out the chart for META.
C – Shares of Citigroup rallied over 3% on Friday and hit its highest level since 2009. The stock has now rallied in 7 of the last 8 weeks, gaining more than 22% in that span. And the lone down week in that stretch? A loss of just 0.06%.
Disclaimer:
Please note that due to market volatility, some of the prices may have already been reached and scenarios played out.