S&P 500 narrowly escapes with a gain

Index & Sector performance 10/9/13

The Market:

Rumors out of Washington have helped drive the indices of late as investors are looking for more information regarding the government shutdown as well as who may be replacing Ben Bernanke.  News today broke that Janet Yellen will be the next Federal Reserve chairperson taking the place of Ben Bernanke at the end of January 2014.  Initial opinions seemed to be that Yellen will continue on with a more dovish stance for the Fed.

Today looked as though the market could not gain traction but at 11:30 am EST the market bottomed and rallied until into the last hour of trading.  A late day dip left the indices where they started the day and also left an interest candlestick which could be showing indecision.

Story Stocks:

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) gained nearly 9% after providing a 2014 outlook which was above consensus.

Men’s Wearhouse (MW) jumped over 27% after the company rejected a bid from rival JoS. A. Bank (JOSB) for $48 per share.

The Dow Jones got three new members today: Nike (NKE), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Visa (V).

The following noteworthy companies are scheduled to report earnings before tomorrow’s open: VAC, IGTE, HAWK, LNN, MASC

Analyst Comments:

Upgrades 10/9/13

Downgrades 10/9/13

Initiations 10/9/13

Price Target Changes 10/9/13

The Game Plan:

The stance has been that the market will provide short term trading opportunities to the long side but that Swing traders looking to position should wait for lower prices.  Being patient has proved valuable and while today we were left with an indecision candle only one day after a Bradley turn date, those looking to position can continue to exercise patience before jumping back in.  A move lower tomorrow that rebounds again might then have legs into Friday and even the coming week.