It’s a slow week of economic events, but The Daily Breakdown digs into the rest of the key events going on this week with a focus on the Fed.
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What’s Happening?
Last week ended with the Dow making all-time highs but a majority of US stocks closing lower, while weekend trading saw Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies pull back. That leaves us with an interesting start to the week.
All eyes are on Ukraine right now, as President Zelenskyy and several European leaders head to Washington to hear what President Trump and President Putin discussed over the weekend. In a week that lacks major economic reports, this situation is garnering even more attention.
Powell will be in focus later this week, though. That’s with the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole summit taking place this week and Chair Powell scheduled to speak on Friday morning. Investors are hoping for a glimpse at the Fed’s view on interest rates, with the market pricing in a rate cut at the Fed’s meeting next month.
Earnings will shed light on the consumer this week. That’s with firms like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, TJX Corp, and Walmart reporting earnings. These results will tell us whether Friday’s retail sales report truly reflects a strong consumer.
Other notable earnings this week include Palo Alto Networks, Xpeng, Workday, and Zoom Communications.
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The Setup — AT&T
Shares of AT&T have done well this year, up 26.8% so far in 2025. Despite the rally, AT&T stock still pays a dividend yield of almost 4%. The stock has been revitalized but is now trading near $29 — an area that has been resistance for the past few months.
Bulls want to see AT&T break out over this $29 area and make a run toward $30 and beyond. On the downside though, they want to see support continue to come in the form of higher lows (green line on the chart above), which is something we’ve seen over the past few quarters with AT&T in a long uptrend.
Options
As of August 15th, the options with the highest open interest for T stock — meaning the contracts with the largest open positions in the options market — were the January $20 puts and the January $30 calls.
Investors who believe shares will move higher over time may consider participating with calls or call spreads. If speculating on a long-term rise, investors might consider using adequate time until expiration.
For investors who would rather speculate on the stock decline or wish to hedge a long position, they could use puts or put spreads.
To learn more about options, consider visiting the eToro Academy.
What Wall Street’s Watching
Shares of UnitedHealth have plunged this year, but have been on fire over the past few days. The stock climbed 12% on Friday and over 20% last week. A big bounce caught fire on Friday once it was revealed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway — along with other funds — took a stake in the company last quarter. Dig into the fundamentals for UNH.
DIA.US
The DIA ETF, which tracks the Dow, finally made a new 52-week high. It has (finally) joined the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 on the new highs list, as investors look for more leadership within the market. While big tech has pushed the Dow higher lately, UnitedHealth’s rally on Friday helped propel the index to new heights.
ETH
Ethereum came within 2% of its record high last week, but fizzled out just short of the highs it reached in 2021. Now pulling back, bulls are looking for support to come into play. Ideally, ETH will be able to stay above the $3,900 to $4,000 breakout area. Check out the charts and go over our latest technical setup for ETH.
Disclaimer:
Please note that due to market volatility, some of the prices may have already been reached and scenarios played out.