Markets enjoyed solid gains last week. Thanks to strong earnings from AMZN, GOOG/GOOGL, and MSFT, which inspired a rally on Friday. The market started out undecided, as stocks traded in a narrow range on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, a quick drop in the afternoon shook out weak holders. Buyers returned strongly on Thursday, ahead of the earnings reports of the three tech giants. After market on Thursday, all three stocks jumped after their earnings were reported with AMZN and GOOG/GOOGL up more than +10%! Ironically, at the close on Friday, it was MSFT that held a +10% gain. Both AMZN and GOOG trailed off after the opening pop. But, still, AMZN closed up +6.23% and GOOG was up +7.7%.

We caught Friday’s rally with AMZN calls and BABA calls, which gave us profits as high as +59% overnight! Here are the closed trades for the week:

For the week, the Dow was up 430.73 points; SPX added +42.04 points; Nasdaq gained +145.17 points. Gold slid, but, keeping above the $1160/ounce mark. Oil fell back to below $45/ barrel (WTI). Here’s how the US markets looked after Friday’s close:

SPX

On Friday, SPX added +22.64 points to close at 2075.15. Its daily MAs and MACD went up.

Nasdaq

Nasdaq jumped +111.81 points to close at 5031.86. Its daily MAs and MACD went higher.

With Nasdaq popped +2.27% on Friday, it has now caught up with SPX and the Dow. Small caps (Russell 2000), however, are still lagging. For the new week…