JPMorgan Rattles Investors

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TradingTLDR

14 Jan 2026 — 6 min read

Good morning,

Wednesday arrives with pressure from all sides.

US stock futures are sliding this morning as Wall Street digests a reality check after record highs. The early pullback isn’t about one headline — it’s about everything hitting at once.

Bank earnings are rolling in, inflation data is back on deck, and Washington is once again sitting at the center of market risk.

Big banks take the spotlight today, with Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup reporting before the bell.

That follows JPMorgan’s underwhelming kickoff to earnings season, which rattled financials and reminded investors that strong markets don’t guarantee strong results.

Add December’s producer price index to the mix, and traders are recalibrating expectations on inflation just as confidence had begun to rebuild.

But the real overhang isn’t earnings — it’s policy. Markets are still waiting on a Supreme Court ruling that could reshape President Trump’s tariff authority, while tensions escalate around the Federal Reserve after the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Chair Jerome Powell.

The message is clear: political risk is no longer background noise.

Layer in fresh pressure on financial stocks from Trump’s proposed credit card rate cap, and Wednesday feels less like a pause and more like a stress test.

📉 U.S. Stocks Stall Near Records as Bank Earnings and Inflation Data Loom Large
Stock futures were flat after the S&P 500 pulled back from record highs and the Dow dropped 398 points to 49,191.99, with traders bracing for earnings from Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citi while softer inflation bolsters Fed rate-cut bets.

💵 U.S. Dollar Bounces on CPI Data
The dollar rebounded after U.S. CPI data came in line with expectations and central bankers publicly backed Fed Chair Powell.

🎬 Netflix Shares Wobble as $82.7B Warner Bros Deal Faces Rising Skepticism
Netflix’s stock is under pressure amid ongoing concern over its proposed $82.7 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery assets, with analysts flagging regulatory hurdles and risk to shareholder value.

🏯 Japan Stocks Hit Fresh Record Highs as Snap Election Bets Fuel Rally
Japanese equities climbed to record levels with the Nikkei topping fresh peaks as speculation of a February snap election bolstered investor optimism for fiscal stimulus and further gains.

🌏 Asian Markets Climb Despite Wall Street Pullback
Asian benchmarks mostly rose after Wall Street retreated from record highs, with Japan’s Nikkei jumping 1.5% to 54,341.23, South Korea’s Kospi gaining 0.7%, and China’s $1.2 trillion trade surplus

🥈 Silver Surges Past $90/oz and Gold Climbs as Precious Metals Rally Intensifies
Silver broke above $90.59 an ounce for the first time ever and gold hit new all-time highs near $4,639.42/oz as safe-haven demand accelerated on soft U.S. inflation and rate-cut expectations.

🛡️ Gold Holds Near Record Highs Around $4,640/oz on Safe-Haven Flows and Rate-Cut Bets
Gold stayed close to its peak around $4,640 per ounce, drawing strong demand as geopolitical tensions and expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts drove investors into bullion.

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Three White Soldiers

The Three White Soldiers is a powerful bullish reversal pattern consisting of three consecutive long-bodied green candles.

It represents a steady, methodical advance where buyers have decisively overwhelmed sellers over several sessions, signaling the start of a major new uptrend.

🛠️ The Strategy Logic

Use these logical triggers to identify high-conviction trend reversals and momentum shifts:

IF: You see three consecutive green candles with large bodies and very short "wicks" (shadows)...
- THEN: The pattern is strong. Short wicks indicate that bulls maintained control throughout the entire session and closed the price near the daily high.
IF: Each candle in the sequence opens within the body of the previous candle...
- THEN: The advance is healthy and stable. This "stair-step" opening shows that even when bears try to push back at the open, buyers immediately step in to drive the price higher.
IF: The pattern forms after a prolonged downtrend or a period of low-volatility consolidation...
- THEN: This is a "Breakout" signal. It confirms that the previous bearish sentiment has been completely broken and a new bullish cycle has begun.
IF: The second and third candles are significantly smaller than the first candle...
- THEN: Beware of "Overextension." If the candles get smaller as the price goes up, it suggests the bulls are losing steam and the move may be reaching a temporary climax.
IF: The pattern is confirmed by a rising Volume Oscillator...
- THEN: The move is supported by "smart money." Rising volume across all three days proves that the reversal is not just a short-lived bounce, but a sustained accumulation phase.

💡 Pro Tip

The "Advance Block" Filter: Watch out for "weak" soldiers. If the second or third candles have very long upper wicks, the pattern is actually an Advance Block, not Three White Soldiers. This means sellers are successfully pushing the price back down from the highs each day, and the "reversal" is likely to fail. A true Three White Soldier pattern should look like a solid wall of green.