The 20’s support today’s drop
Index & Sector performance 12/8/14 The Market: The S&P opened lower but like every other recent micro pullback it found a bottom and started to rally higher. The market again looked like it wouldn’t be denied a higher close but then after the initial morning pop the indices started to roll and continued lower until roughly 2pm ET when they found a bottom for the session and moved off the lows into the close. The lows on the S&P 500 (SPY) and NASDAQ (QQQ) correspond with the 20 day SMA and we will be looking to see if those lows…
Low vol drift higher
Index & Sector performance 12/3/14 The Market: Another low volume drift higher today which saw the Russell 2000 (IWM) lead and the NASDAQ (QQQ) lag even spending some time down on the session. In individual sectors, Consumer Staples (XLP) and Utilities (XLU) were the only two from the WSC Scoreboard to finish lower which Materials (XLB), Industrials (XLI), and Energy (XLE) finished up over 1%. One name helping materials have such a strong session was LyondellBasell (LYB) which has been down significantly since September but finished today up over 2% and was up more than 3% intraday. LYB is a…
BIIB helps XLV finish up over 26% YTD
Index & Sector performance 12/2/14 The Market: It was a solid session following Monday’s drop with the Russell 2000 (IWM) clearly leading and with advancers leading decliners by roughly 2:1. In Individual sectors it was Transportation (IYT) leading up 1.18% followed closely by Energy (XLE), which is still trying to recover from Friday’s big gap down, up 1.16%, and lastly HealthCare (XLV) which finished 1.12% higher and is now up over 26% year-to-date. Helping the XLV today was Biogen Idec (BIIB) which gained 6.43% on positive results from an early-stage Alzheimer’s drug trial. BIIB is a name to watch. Above…
Low vol narrow holiday trading range
Index & Sector performance 11/25/14 The Market: Another uneventful holiday trading session across all 4 major indices on the WSC Scoreboard. Action was also muted across the individual sectors with the exception of Energy (XLE) which lost 1.63%. For XLE traders our take is that the lows may hold but we would either be looking for an opportunity to buy lower or on a break above $89.25. In Economic data, estimated 3rd quarter GDP growth came in better than previously reported while Consumer Confidence and the Richmond Manufacturing Index both missed expectations. Tomorrow there is a slew of data including…
Russell leads overall dull session
Index & Sector performance 11/24/14 The Market: An overall dull session with the S&P 500 (SPY) and Dow (DIA) barely moving while the NASDAQ (QQQ) and Russell 2000 (IWM) led. As is expected for the remainder of this shortened holiday week, volume was very light. In individual sectors it was Retail (XRT) posting another great session up 1.32%. Today the index was greatly helped by Outerwall (OUTR), operators of Coinstar and Redbox, which finished up 12.32%. Also chipping in was Best Buy (BBY) up 2.29% and Foot Locker (FL) up 3.45%. After spending much of the year down, the XRT…
EPS helped shrug off bad overseas data
Index & Sector performance 11/20/14 The Market: It doesn’t look like the S&P 500 (SPY) had a strong session but considering the futures were down roughly 10 points pre-market reportedly due to weak data out of Europe and China, to finish up a few points is a strong showing. Yesterday’s laggard was today’s leader as the Russell 2000 (IWM ) finished up over 1% clawing back most of yesterday’s losses and the Dow (DIA) was helped by Intel (INTC) which gained 4.66% after announcing a dividend hike and solid 2015 expected revenue growth. In individual sectors, Retail (XRT) led today…
Tight trading ends with pop higher
Index & Sector performance 11/18/14 The Market: After multiple sessions trading in a tight range the broad indices broke-out to new highs. It is worth noting that volume was again light but that has been the case throughout much of this recent rally after the mid October bottom. In the after hours session the futures started to give back some of today’s gains so we will be looking to see if today was a false breakout which gives way to a pullback or if the indices can hold. In individual sectors, HealthCare (XLV) led finishing 1.61% higher helped by strong…
Merger Monday doesn’t help market
Index & Sector performance 11/17/14 The Market: Despite a very active M&A session, it was yet another very tight trading range in the S&P 500 while the NASDAQ (QQQ) lagged and the Russell 2000 (IWM) led to the downside. In deals we saw Allergan (AGN) agree to be acquired by Actavis (ACT) for a combination of cash and ACT stock which totaled $219 per share. Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) who had also been trying to buy AGN stepped aside not feeling comfortable they could justify the valuation to shareholders. Two more big names in M&A news as Halliburton (HAL) announced it…
S&P showing signs of indecision
Index & Sector performance 11/13/14 The Market: The NASDAQ (QQQ) led today’s trading while the Russell 2000 (IWM) was the clear laggard. The S&P 500 (SPY) is refusing to break with the exception of very small sharp pullbacks which are short lived. Volume over the past two days remains light although is an uptick from earlier in the week. We view the current action as indecision as the SPY wrestles with price discovery and ultimately expect lower levels to be seen. Energy (XLE) led the WSC Scoreboard sectors lower giving back some of the recent hard fought gains but did…
Heartfelt thank you to our Vets!!!
Index & Sector performance 11/11/14 The Market: A Heartfelt thank you goes out to all of the past, present, and future service men and women who work each day to keep us safe. Without you, what we have and unfortunately often take for granted each and every day would not exist. Almost zeros across the board as it was a relatively uneventful trading session. Maybe the clearest example of how uneventful is that the entire trading day’s range on the S&P 500 was 6 points and volume was again light. As noted last night, we still view the short term…