March 19, 2024

China, Icahn, & IBB lead market lower

The Market: A gap-and-go day to the downside as the S&P 500 finished nearly 50 points lower on the session as media pointed to renewed concerns over China’s economy and cautious comments from Carl Icahn on high yield bonds and the stock market.  The Dow (DIA) was the relative outperformer today finishing down only -1.9% while the NASDAQ (QQQ) finished down the most at -2.85% on the session but YTD that is reversed with the DIA down slightly over –10% while the QQQ is only down slightly over -3%. Short-term the market appears to be very oversold here and we…

Markets finish up but look vulnerable

The Market: While it was not our expectation, we noted in Tuesday’s NightCap that, if the market extended higher, we would expect the downward sloping 20 day SMA to act as resistance.  If you look at the SPY, this is exactly where the market stopped in early trading on Wednesday and then proceeded to pullback sharply.  While all the major indices on the WSC Scoreboard finished higher in today’s trading, the market looks vulnerable to more downside in the coming days-weeks. Leading sectors in today’s trading was Transportation (IYT), Technology (XLK), and HealthCare (XLV) while the Utilities (XLU) and Retail…

Market Shrugs off initial gap down

Index & Sector performance 5/28/15 The Market: Today started with a gap down but the major indices on the WSC Scoreboard were able to rally back to near flat on the session with the NASDAQ (QQQ) leading to the downside.  After two very volatile session, it appeared the market used today to take a breather.  FYI, tomorrow is the last trading day of the month. Transportation (IYT) was the clear loser on the WSC Scoreboard as it finished nearly 1% lower on the session.  We generally do not look to catch falling knifes and YTD the IYT has not been…

Greece rules headlines in slow session

Index & Sector performance 2/9/15 The Market: Losses across the WSC Scoreboard with the Russell 2000 (IWM) leading the way followed by the Dow (DIA), which was affected by McDonald’s (MCD) finishing down 1.35% after reporting a drop in January sales of 1.8%.  Otherwise traders seem focused on the continued fighting between Greece and the Eurozone. Energy was the only sector on the WSC Scoreboard to finish higher but it wasn’t by much and was helped by Oil continuing its recovery.  Today’s biggest laggard was HeathCare (XLV) which finished down 1.18% followed by Transportation (IYT) down 0.99% and Utilities (XLU)…

Back test of the 20 & down

Index & Sector performance 12/11/14 The Market: Strong optimism in early trading was attributed to better than expected Retail Sales numbers and Unemployment Claims along with the stabilization of oil but in midday trading, after the S&P 500 (SPY) had rallied back to re-test its 20 day SMA, oil started to slide and took the SPY with it.  While the table above shows the SPY up on the session, as it currently stands those gains have been entirely erased in the aftermarket. We will be watching the overnight session to see if the S&P can stabilize, reverse, or if it…

Overnight loses quicky negated

Index & Sector performance 10/30/14 The Market: In the overnight session the S&P 500 futures lost roughly 20 points and it appeared to be signaling for a rough Thursday but then recouped nearly all the loses by the open and managed to rally for the majority of the day.  All 4 indices from the WSC Scoreboard finished higher with the Dow (DIA) leading the charge helped immensely by Visa (V) which finished the session up 10.24% after reporting better than expected EPS and a new $5B Share Repurchase program yesterday after the close. In Individual sectors the clear standout was…

New Ebola scare helps market off highs

Index & Sector performance 10/23/14 The Market: The market was cruising along today until roughly 2pm ET when the market turned and then started quickly losing ground.  Traders pointed to news that a doctor who had treated Ebola patients was rushed to the hospital in New York City.  The sell off was not enough to give back all the days gains but we closed well off the intraday highs. Many sectors from the WSC Scoreboard participated in the rally with the biggest gainer the Industrials (XLI) finishing up over 2% helped greatly by Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) and 3M (MMM)…

Low volume give back after 3 solid days

Index & Sector performance 10/22/14 The Market: Today marked a give back after 3 solid days of gains.  The leader to the downside was the index that we have been watching closely for the past few weeks, the Russell 2000 (IWM).  The IWM’s underperformance throughout the year was a warning just as its outperformance near the recent bottom.  The IWM has put in work to find a bottom and start to move off the lows of last week but it is not our of the woods yet in our opinion.  First step is remaining above $107 and then the lows…

Volatility the new norm

Index & Sector performance 10/16/14 The Market: A session like today may look uneventful when scanning the WSC Scoreboard and looking at the end of day changes but it masks the large intraday swings.  An example is the S&P 500 (SPY) had a roughly 50 point range from high to low today (5 points in the SPY) which represents nearly 3% based on today’s opening price.  Traders and investors need to be prepared for an environment with increased volatility which could last for an extended period. The Russell 2000 (IWM) remains the clear leader of late finishing up over 1%. …

Utilities big loser ahead of Jobs data

Index & Sector performance 7/2/14 The Market: The WSC Scoreboard was relatively flat to mixed with the Dow (DIA), S&P 500 (SPY), and NASDAQ (QQQ) closing slightly higher while the Russell 2000 (IWM) finished 0.35% lower. In individual sectors, the Utilities (XLU) stood out as the biggest loser finishing 1.99% lower on the day and appears vulnerable to even more downside action after being the leader so far in 2014.  Every stock in the XLU finished down on the day with some finishing down over 3% including Exelon (EXC), FirstEnergy (FE), and Entergy (ETR) down 3.11%, 3.50%, and 3.25% respectively. …