The Trading Post | 04.21.26

April 21, 2026

Good morning,

US futures are leaning green as traders juggle Iran headline risk, fresh S&P highs, and a crowded earnings slate, SpaceX is making its Wall Street pitch while space and defense names sniff around for sympathy momentum, stocks are pushing deeper into earnings season near record highs because apparently valuation is just a social construct now, gold and nat gas are catching bids while crude mostly watches from the corner, and today’s macro data could stir up sector rotation if the soft-landing story gets even slightly smudged.

Let’s jump in.

Yesterday’s Post-Market Performance

As of 04.20.26 market close.

Market News

  • US futures edge higher, Iran risk still lurks, and earnings take center stage: ES and YM are modestly green, so the early bias favors buyable dips until key overnight or prior-day lows crack; if Iran headlines hit and VIX spikes without breadth follow-through, look for overreactions to fade. CNBC 

  • SpaceX rolls out the Wall Street red carpet and traders go hunting for public-market cousins: Keep an eye on space, satellite, and defense-adjacent names for sympathy strength, but if the pop fades fast, treat it like classic event-chasing behavior and sell the enthusiasm back into resistance. Reuters 

  • Earnings season keeps marching while bulls pretend rich valuations are totally normal behavior: The uptrend still deserves respect, but record-ish indexes plus packed earnings calendars also mean misses can get punished fast; watch for clean breaks of pre-market highs and lows rather than guessing. CNBC 

  • Gold glows, nat gas jumps, and crude does a whole lot of nothing: Gold has trend-day potential on clean pullbacks, nat gas remains a volatility playground for traders with functioning self-control, and crude’s relative lag matters if metals and gas keep outperforming. MarketWatch

  • Macro data could shake loose some rotation if the numbers surprise: Strong data may keep cyclicals and financials bid while pressuring rate-sensitive growth, while weak reads plus geopolitics could push traders back toward defensives and gold. CNBC

Earnings We’re Watching

  • 3M Company (MMM) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Equifax Inc. (EFX) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Genuine Parts Company (GPC) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Halliburton Company (HAL) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • RTX Corporation (RTX) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Synchrony Financial (SYF) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (UNH) - Tuesday (BMO) 

  • Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) - Tuesday (AMC) 

  • Interactive Brokers Group Inc (IBKR) - Tuesday (AMC) 

  • United Airlines (UAL) - Tuesday (AMC) 

Trade Ideas

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), Aon Corporation (AON), Boeing Company (The) (BA),
Bunge Limited (BG)

Cameco Corporation (CCJ), C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (CHRW), CME Group, Inc. (CME),
Entegris, Inc. (ENTG)

Expeditors International of Wa (EXPD), Moody’s Corporation (MCO), Meta Platforms Inc (META), Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)

Cloudflare, Inc. (NET), Invesco QQQ Trust, Series (QQQ), Roblox Corporation Class A (RBLX),
Roku, Inc. (ROKU)

SBA Communications Corporation (SBAC), Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO), Valero Energy Corporation (VLO), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)

Want to learn how we trade these? Learn the setup we call the “High Volatility Switchback” trade.

Get these ideas delivered to your inbox daily with Trade With Rob. It’s 100% free. Sign up here.

Daily Moment of Zen

❝

The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay liquid.

A.W. Jones

Why It Matters:

This is the market’s favorite way of reminding traders that being “right eventually” is often financially identical to being dead wrong. A stock can be overvalued, a rally can be absurd, and a setup can still keep squeezing higher while your account quietly catches fire in the background. For traders, the lesson is brutal but useful: risk management matters more than intellectual satisfaction. The market does not hand out trophies for correct opinions — only margin calls for bad timing.