March 29, 2024

Small Caps lag as market rallies

Index & Sector performance 3/16/15 The Market: A strong performance day as the S&P 500 (SPY), Dow (DIA), and NASDAQ (QQQ) finished up over 1% while the Russell 2000 (IWM) was the laggard finishing up 0.60%.  One of the positive noted on this recent decline in the broad markets was the resilience of the IWM which is close to a new all-time high.  Today could just be the other broad indices catching up to the already outperforming IWM but we cannot help but feel as though today was a perfect set-up for the IWM to lead all names higher and…

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Sharp snap back rally — SPY up YTD

Index & Sector performance 3/12/15 The Market: Strong performance today with the Russell 2000 (IWM) leading the charge for the 2nd straight day followed by the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY).  Friday will be an interesting session as traders will have to decide how they want to end the week.  In the very short term the SPY looks stretched so we would consider using a gap up tomorrow morning as a (very) short-term selling opportunity. In individual sectors it was the Financials (XLF) which led the way finishing up 2.13% followed closely by Consumer Discretionary (XLY) which ended up…

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Dollar ralley continues as Market slides

Index & Sector performance 3/10/15 The Market: A strong down session across the board with no index or sector spared.  We noted yesterday that the action to the upside appeared to not have conviction and today the lack of buying turned into selling.  Traders pointed to concerns over the eventual rate hike from the Fed and the strength in the Dollar as reasons for concern. We expect to see some form of a bounce as we have started to see positive divergence set-up on the shorter term intraday charts of the S&P 500 (SPY) and NASDAQ (QQQ) but any moves…

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Market closes highe but no conviction

Index & Sector performance 3/9/15 The Market: Overall it was a quiet session with not much news or Economic data.  The market was able to bounce back today after Friday’s strong sell-off led by the Dow (DIA) but volume was on the light side showing that market participants are not necessarily convinced the decline is over. In individual sectors Industrials (XLI) was the clear leader as names like Boeing (BA), 3M (MMM), and Caterpillar (CAT) put in strong sessions finishing up 1.06%, 1.22% and 0.94% respectively.  Energy (XLE) was the lone loser on the session finishing -0.72%.  One bright spot,…

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HealthCare gains as market slides

Index & Sector performance 3/4/15 The Market: Ultimately, only a a small sell off in the markets after the S&P 500 rallied off the lows which coincided nicely with the upward sloping 20 day SMA.  Aggressive traders could certainly look to use today’s low to trade against. In Individual sectors, HealthCare (XLV) was the lone gainer finishing up 0.48% while the Industrials (XLI) led to the downside finishing 0.78% lower followed closely by Consumer Staples (XLP) and Financials (XLF) which finished down 0.70% and 0.61% respectively.  The biggest loser so far for 2015 is the Utilities (XLU) which is now…

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QQQ & IWM reach new highs

Index & Sector performance 2/26/15 The Market: More churn today in the markets but again the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) showed more strength than the S&P 500 (SPY) with the QQQ and IWM reaching new 52-week closing highs on the session. Crude oil lost over 5% today which helped send the Energy (XLE) sector 1.88% lower.  We noted in our 2/18/15 nightly recap when the XLE was trading above $81 that we would look for a pullback toward $78 as a buying opportunity.  Closing today at $79.35, we would ideally like to see lower levels before dipping into…

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Market churns while XLU heads lower

Index & Sector performance 2/25/15 The Market: Another day of churn as the market continues to grind with an upward bias.  As we posted over at StockTwits we are starting to see a lot of negative divergence setting up on the MACD.  Divergence is not a trigger itself but is showing signs that each move higher comes with less momentum and excitement. Utilities (XLU) was the leader to the downside and a name we recently posted about in the Charts section.   After seeing a lot of people bullish on the name, we laid the road map we felt the Bulls…

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Week starts slow – GS grounds BA

Index & Sector performance 2/23/15 The Market: Overall a flat session with the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) finishing slightly higher while the Dow (DIA) and S&P 500 (SPY) finished lower.  The main drag on the DIA today was Boeing (BA) which finished down 2.26% after Goldman downgraded the name to Sell with a $132 price target. In individual sectors it was a mixed bag with the Industrials (XLI) leading to the downside finishing down 0.43% while the Utilities (XLU) led to the upside finishing up 0.68%.  As we posted tonight in the Charts section, the XLU held a…

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Market continues to grind

Index & Sector performance 2/19/15 The Market: The slow grind into options expiration continues with the S&P 500 (SPY) and Dow (DIA) finishing slightly lower while the Russell 2000 (IWM) finished slightly higher and the NASDAQ (QQQ) led.  We would expect to potentially see volatility tomorrow not only due to options expiration but also potential headline risk out of Europe. Overall a mixed session as yesterday’s sector leader to the upside, the Utilities (XLU), was today’s downside leader finishing 1/13% lower while Technology (XLK) followed closely by Consumer Discretionary (XLY) led to the upside. With only Flash Manufacturing PMI tomorrow,…

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XLU stands out in today’s action

Index & Sector performance 2/18/15 The Market: A choppy session overall which ended up finishing flat.  Some negative divergence is building on the S&P 500 60 minute chart but, even when it leads to a pullback, the divergence can exist for many day.  We wouldn’t be surprised to see the index continue to meander and drift higher for the remainder of the week into Options expiration. In individual sectors it was the Utilities (XLU) leading the way and by a wide margin finishing up 2.37%.  We would be watching the XLU closely here to see if it can build on…

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