Earnings Dominate Wall Street, Stocks Eye Weekly Wins

Intel was among the many blue chips that reported this week

Stocks saw a positive start to the week, amid encouraging news on the U.S.-China trade front. Specifically, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said both sides were making "substantial progress." The major stock market indexes spent the rest of the week reacting to an onslaught of earnings reports, with McDonald's (MCD) and Travelers (TRV) among the notableblue chips reporting. Elsewhere, Tesla (TSLA) surged on a surprise profit, while a disappointing quarterly report from FAANG darling Amazon.com (AMZN has the stock set to end lower, as of this writing. Nevertheless, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are eyeing daily and weekly wins, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is pacing for a record close.

Blue-Chip Earnings Guide Dow

Among the long list of Dow names that entered the earnings ring this week is Intel (INTC), which posted an impressivebeat-and-raise. Also impressing were Verizon (VZ), Procter & Gamble (PG), United Technologies (UTX), and Microsoft (MSFT).Boeing (BA) also handed out positive news, reporting a revenue beat and another timely 737 MAX update. On the flip side, Caterpillar (CAT) was forced to lower its full-year profit guidance on the back of weak demand in Asia, and 3M (MMM) also slashed its full-year outlook.

This Week's Popping Penny Stocks

Penny stocksmade some headlines this week too. In fact, Nano Dimension (NNMD) surgedafter the company said it sold more than 50 DragonFly systems. Biotech patent specialist PDL BioPharma (PDLI) also gapped higher, after stakeholder Engine Capital sent a letter to the company's board of directors saying the stock is "deeply undervalued."

Penny stocks Neovasc (NVCN) and PDS Biotechnology (PDSB) were also making noise, as analysts from H.C. Wainwright and Chardan, respectively, said the small-cap stocks could triple. Meanwhile, a Food & Drug Administration nod and litigation news sent this penny stock soaring.

Retail Stocks Make Waves

On the retail front, Sally Beauty (SBH) was just seen flashing a potential bear signal, while VF Corp (VFC) was the target for pre-earnings bears. On the other hand, Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) was higher on Friday, after Goldman Sachs upgraded DKS and set a $45 price target -- which represents two-year-high territory for the shares -- while Under Armour (UAA) and Nike (NKE) both announced C-Suite shake-ups.

FAANG Stocks, Fed to Headline Next Week

This week, tech and chip stocks garnered attention. In fact,Nvidia (NVDA) was handed a fresh price-target hike to $251 from $217 from RBC -- the highest on Wall Street. Further, Lam Research (LRCX) topped out at an all-time peak, after the semiconductor name issueda stronger-than-expected current-quarter profit forecast.

Tech earnings will continue to dominate Wall Street in the coming week, with FAANG names Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Facebook (FB) among the many on the docket. The economic calendar is also full, with a Fed meeting and the October jobs report at the top of the watch list, along with the Brexit deadline.