Don't forget about earnings season! While we're on the tail end of Q1 quarterly results, this week is a big one for the retail sector. Walmart (WMT), Home Depot (HD), Macy's (M) already announced sets of impressive results on Tuesday, though their accompanying stock performances were varied (see Key Earnings section below). Retail earnings shift into high gear today, with reports from Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), TJX Companies (TJX) and L Brands (LB).

The crypto craze is no longer ablaze as the traders assess recent happenings in the volatile market. Over the last 24 hours, Bitcoin plunged another 12.6% to $39,407, and is now down 40% from its all-time high of $64,895.22 on April 14.  Besides environmental concerns sparked by Elon Musk - and Tesla stopping to take payment in Bitcoin - the People's Bank of China has banned financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions. The statement was coupled with a warning to investors against "speculative crypto trading," which "seriously infringes on the safety of people's property and disrupts the normal economic and financial order."

Sky-high home prices mean demand for ever bigger mortgages, but those prices may also be causing a pullback in homebuying overall. Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 4% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Volume was just 2% higher than the same week one year ago.  The extreme shortage has prices continuing to climb at the fastest pace in over 15 years, and as a result, average purchase loan balances are climbing in tandem. Last week, that average hit $411,400