Weekly Watchlist Feb 02
In the Thick of Earnings
Welcome back to another Weekly Trade Plan with The Dividend Journal! If this is your first time here, great timing. This newsletter is your one stop shop to stay ahead of the market and step into the week fully prepared.
I also wanted to share with everyone that I have officially placed 5th in the 2025 USIC enhanced growth division trading competition! I am also competing in 2026 and am excited to see how far I can take it this year.
Other than that, let’s get to it!
🎯 Initial Thoughts + TLDR
The S&P 500 broke 7,000 for the first time ever this past week after FOMC, but it’s not a milestone that should be blindly celebrated. The current market condition definitely doesn’t make this milestone feel like that big of a win (unless you’re only an investor of ETFs). The NYMO shows that breadth is weakening, and we aren’t getting that big of a collective rally.
This market environment is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate, largely because of the extreme volatility we’re seeing in metals. Silver dropped over 40% on Friday as the entire market pulled back after the 7k milestone.
A meaningful part of the market’s pullback to close off the week seems to be tied to the announcement that Donald Trump selected Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair. Warsh has historically leaned more hawkish, which immediately forced markets to reassess the likelihood of aggressive rate cuts going forward. What makes this particularly interesting is the contrast. President Trump has criticized Chairman Powell’s reluctance to cut rates aggressively enough, yet the Warsh election signals an even more conservative monetary approach. Nonetheless, the market is definitely going to be keeping a close eye on Warsh’s (if confirmed as chairman) actions and how independent they are of President Trump.
