EB Daily Market Report - Friday, July 24, 2026

Dear Members.

First, a reminder that Tom Bowley will conduct his Q2 Earnings webinar next Monday, July 27 at 5:00 pm EST. This will include reviewing some major stocks that have already reported and discussing upcoming earnings on Mag 7 stocks: AAPL, AMZN, META and MSFT. Members will receive room instructions before the event starts.

For those keeping score, this has not been a great week for companies reporting earnings. For example, GOOGL was down 10% after it reported, TSLA is down almost 19% since it reported, and AXP is down almost 6% today. And the market has taken note, struggling to make any progress to the upside.

Though they're lower today, interest rates remain elevated and oil has risen substantially since its recent low. Neither of these can be considered a positive for the overall market.

Semiconductor stocks are off recent lows but also well below recent highs which is a big reason the NASDAQ is the weakest of the major indexes. In other words, Semis have played an outsized role on the tech side and when they struggle it makes it difficult for the NASDAQ to advance. This is why we should keep an eye on the SMH as a move back above 600 would be positive while a move below the recent low of 536 could result in additional selling.

It's worth noting that the 20 day moving average on the S&P is converging on the 50 day and should it cross below, that would be bearish. In fact, the last time we saw this happen was in February, ultimately resulting in the March 30 low of 6316.

Bottom line: we've gone from a market that went straight up for two months after that March 31 low to one that is struggling to regain its footing. Without a doubt, the results and ensuing market response to next week's key earnings reports will play a big role in the market's near-term direction. If the S&P can clear its 20 day, currently at 7479, that would be positive. To the downside let's keep an eye on yesterday's low of 7376 as a move below that level could result in further selling.

Tom will be back with his Weekly Market Report on Monday.

At your service,

John Hopkins