Record Highs Pile Up Over Volatile Week on Wall Street

Another week of big-name earnings, a highly anticipated July nonfarm payrolls report, and U.S.-Iran developments made for a volatile week on Wall Street, though all three major indexes were on track for a second straight weekly win by Friday. Before investors cashed in their profits on Thursday, easing Middle East tensions pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) to its fifth daily win and a fresh record high on Wednesday. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Russell 2000 Index (RUT) both notched record highs on Tuesday as well. Even Magnificent Seven name Amazon.com (AMZN) enjoyed a surge, tapping a record high and surpassing the $3 trillion market capitalization milestone. 

More Earnings Rolled In

The earnings rotation continued, with ON Semiconductor (ON) citing AI demand for its quarterly beat and Shopify (SHOP) dominating the charts after its own Q2 pop. Eli Lilly (LLY) also enjoyed a post-earnings surge, giving credit for its beat-and-raise to GLP-1 demand, while online platform Doximity (DOCS) saw its fiscal first-quarter miss overshadowed by a blowout revenue beat.

Trade Desk (TTD) wasn't so lucky, suffering downgrades and a bear gap after sharing a quarterly miss. Some pre-earnings action was in focus as well, with Roku (ROKU) eyeing three-year highs, and AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) testing a key trendline.

Historic Signals Say Watch These Names

One of the best stocks to own in August is Workday (WDAY), while cybersecurity name Palo Alto Networks (PANW) could jump 5.5% by the end of the month. Plus, after its post-earnings pop, SHOP began flashing a bull signal you shouldn't ignore. On the flip side, one name to avoid right now is discount retailer Dollar Tree (DLTR).

Next Week Brings More Earnings to Eye

Next week brings another busy slate of earnings, including from big names Applied Materials (AMAT), ASTS, Lumentum (LITE), Rocket Lab (RKLB), and more. Don't forget to see how shifting sentiment could favor S&P 500 bulls and what happens when implied volatility (IV) outpaces the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).